Report: Prince Fielder To Retire
By: Evan Jankens
@kingofthekc
Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports is reporting that Prince Fielder's career is over after spending three seasons in Texas.
Sources: Prince Fielder's career appears over. #Rangers expected to hold press conference tomorrow.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) August 9, 2016
#Rangers' Fielder underwent his second neck surgery on July 29. He is guaranteed $24M annually through 2020. Not known if TEX has insurance.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) August 9, 2016
To be clear: Prince Fielder is not retiring. He is medically disabled and doctors will not clear him to play, sources say.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) August 9, 2016
When a player retires, he effectively renounces the rest of his contract. Fielder is not doing that. Again, the money is guaranteed.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) August 9, 2016
Fielder, the son of former Tigers first baseman Cecil Fielder, has been around baseball his entire life. The 32-year-old underwent his second neck surgery last month. Since being traded to the Rangers he has only had one successful season. In 2015 he hit .305 with 23 home runs and 98 RBI while being named to the AL All-Star team.
After neck surgery, Prince Fielder to retire, per @Sullivan_Ranger: https://t.co/D8LVdvOU04. Club hasn't confirmed. pic.twitter.com/v3gfT9KT8f
— MLB (@MLB) August 9, 2016
If this indeed is it for #Rangers Prince Fielder, he will be retiring with exact same number of HRs as his father, Cecil Fielder: 319 homers
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) August 9, 2016
If Fielder does indeed retire, he will have played 12 season in the big leagues and will finish with a lifetime .283 average, 319 home runs and 1,028 RBI.
He also had some pretty memorable moments in Detroit.
When he returned to town with the Rangers for the first time -- after fans in the D had loudly expressed their disdain for his play, and his attitude -- he said, 'I Don't Give A F— About The Detroit Series.'
"I don't give a f— about the Detroit series," the slugger told reporters Tuesday. "I just want to get back."
Fielder has missed the last three games for a herniated disk in his neck, a condition that ended his consecutive game streak at 547.
Who can forget about Fielder saying he "has kids" and doesn't take "his work" home in response to questions about how much losses affected him personally, following the loss to the Boston Red Sox in 2013.
I reminded Prince about the fans and how they might not be able to understand how he was already past being knocked out of the playoffs. "Because they don't play," Fielder said. "If you have responsibilities, you shouldn't take your work home. I still have to be a father and take care of my kids, so you got to move on."
On a lighter note, famously hefty Fielder once ate a fan's nachos while trying to field a foul ball.
"I don't even think he noticed it" Fielder said when asked if the fan noticed his chip being swapped.
Fielder claims this is the first time borrowing food from the fans. "I've never taken a chip man, it looked good, the cheese would have been better though" Fielder said.
His belly flop in the 2013 ALCS is probably a moment he would like to have back. Again, "famously hefty," and enough said about that.
Rather than go to first base for the double play, he threw home to keep Prince Fielder from scoring.
Fielder played two seasons with the Tigers, playing every game in 2012 and 2013. He hit 55 home runs, added 214 RBI while hitting .295 while appearing in two All-Star games.
Looking back, was Fielder a good signing for the Tigers in the two seasons he played?
Let's step into the wayback machine, if you will, and remember the rejoining from Tigers fans on Jan. 24, 2012, when first baseman Prince Fielder signed a 9-year $214 million deal. Detroit Tigers fans praised the team, Dave Dombrowski and Mike Ilitch.
Fast forward, and those same fans rejoiced again when the Tigers traded Prince Fielder to the Texas Rangers on Nov. 20, 2013.
Detroit acquired Ian Kinsler and fans were ecstatic Fielder wouldn't be wearing the Old English D anymore. A seemingly bad attitude and poor play had flipped fans' estimation of his appeal in near-record time.