Was The Prince Fielder Signing A Mistake?
By: Jeff Riger
There have been a lot of unflattering comments about the Tigers season so far, especially since they've won just 11 of their last 31 games, and a lot of those comments are truly justified. I have heard that Jim Leyland, along with Lloyd McClendon, needs to be fired, and while I disagree, I understand where those comments are coming from. I have heard that Rick Porcello should be traded for, uh, pretty much anyone after his erratic starts this season and again while I disagree, I comprehend it. I have even heard that Miguel Cabrera should be dealt and, ahh, OK -- I don't understand or agree with that comment. But you get my drift.
The Tigers right now are a colossal disaster and fans have every right to be angry. But you don't need my permission, Yell, scream, rant, heckle and threaten, you should, they have let you down. And, while I still believe this team will perform and win the division, I don't expect you to share those same, slightly delusional feelings.
Nothing is going right these days and everybody will blame somebody different -- except I have a guy who should not be blamed: That man is Prince Fielder.
In the mighty, unforgettable words of Dennis Green, "They are who we thought they were" or in this case "He is who you thought he was."
Let me explain.
I know! He was awful during the last three game series against the Indians, hitting just .083 in a 1 for 12 performance, however he wasn't the only one who lacked, well everything.
There were exactly three people who were not excited about the Fielder signing in January, and those individuals work for the Rangers, Dodgers and Nationals. Everybody else, especially in these parts, were geeked that the son of Cecil Fielder was coming back home. People knew what Prince had to offer and even though the Tigers, no doubt, overpaid for his talent in either dollars per season or numbers of years, nobody cared. And if you disagree with that last sentence, you are a liar.
Fielder was that one free agent everybody clamored for and when he actually signed the paperwork, everybody was thrilled. And, I do mean everybody.
But did you know what you were getting?
Well let me tell you…
Prince had played six full seasons prior to this one and during that time he has averaged 37 HR's, 106 RBI, a .536 SLG % and a .283 average. That's who he is. Sure, some years you will get more production and some years less, but that is what Fielder brings to the table. And, fans were more than OK with it.
So what has changed?
Prince is on pace to do the exact same thing this season. Don't believe me? Let me prove it to you.
The Tigers have played 44 games thus far and in those contests, Fielder is hitting .286 with 7 HR's, 25 RBI and a .458 SLG %. The above stats ranks Fielder 47th in the game in average, and 37th in homers and runs batted in. Now, you might expect 214 million to buy more than that, however he is on pace to finish with his average career numbers which we already agreed that you would be more than happy with considering you were when he signed.
Also over the course of Fielder's career through the first 44 games, he is right where he's always been as well. Fielder's averages through 44 games include a .284.5 AVG, with 8.6 HR's, 29.1 RBI and a .510 SLG %. So if you compare what Prince is hitting now to what he hits over his career through 44 games it's very similar.
Fielder has a better average at this point and is 1.6 HR's and 4.1 RBI shy of his normal numbers. That to me proves you are seeing the exact same guy that you are supposed to at this point -- and that is with him changing leagues and having the pressure of a giant contract. The one thing that could cause concern is the SLG % as Fielder is around 50 points shy of his career numbers, but if you look at how quickly his batting average rose in the span of about 6 games (from .260ish to .300ish when he went hitless in the Oakland series to getting 3-4 hits a game in the Chicago and Minnesota series) than getting that SLG % up should be no problem.
Fielder is even hitting with runners in scoring position, something that has killed the Tigers all season long. Currently Fielder is contributing at a .296 clip which is over 30 points better than his career number of .262.
Of course it's not just the hitting, or lack of, that seems to have fans fretting. Fielder has also been mucking it up with his glove.
If you remember, the only concern with bringing Fielder aboard was the fact Cabrera was forced to move back to 3rd base, which believe it or not, has not been a problem. However, Fielder at first lately has been one. In the last week or so, Fielder has committed a plethora of errors, and they have all been pretty ugly. Numerous times, the first basemen flat out dropped an out and then there was a miserable throw to home to try to get a base runner, yeah that didn't work either.
But, will it continue? I don't believe so. It hasn't over the course of his career, no reason to think it will become a major problem moving forward. After all, this is a guy who played damn near every game at 1st for the Brewers over the course of six seasons. Fielder is not thought to be a great defensive 1st basemen, but he is adequate, especially with the way he produces at the plate. I expect this season and his entire time in Detroit to be the exact same way.
Another gripe about Fielder this season has been his lack of so-called "passion" when answering questions. This too, does not bother me one bit. I believe 90 percent of what athletes say is to appease the fans. Do you really think that a pro player who makes millions lives and dies over the outcome of one or even five regular season games? Yeah, me either. The difference is Fielder doesn't pretend to, most other athletes do. The missing intensity or anger in Fielder's comments doesn't show his lack of caring or effort; all it illustrates is his lack of PR skills.
So do you still think that Fielder is the problem? Do you regret the signing?
I admit that he hasn't been the solution as much as we all would like, but he is the furthest thing from being the reason this team is losing. In fact, if you are looking for the real problem, it's Victor Martinez's ACL. V-Mart's average with R.I.S.P. with 2 outs last season was .375 and .394 with less than 2 outs. That's ridiculous, isn't it?
Don't blame Prince because he hasn't come close to replacing Martinez, blame him for being himself, and that is exactly what you wanted him to be back in January.
