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Beltre Predicts Fielder Will Win AL MVP In 2014

ARLINGTON (CBS SPORTS) - How will the newly acquired Prince Fielder fare in his first season with the Texas Rangers? To hear his new teammate Adrian Beltre tell it, he will do just fine.

"He's going to get the MVP. It's his time to win it. My job is to protect him so that he gets there," Beltre told the Dallas Morning News about Fielder's 2014 outlook.

That's a pretty specific declaration on Beltre's part. To be sure, Fielder is perhaps reinvigorated by the trade, has reportedly dropped a good bit of weight this winter and will be batting regularly in the three hole. All of that plus the skills already in place could yield a big year for the 29-year-old slugger.

On the other hand, Fielder is coming off perhaps the least productive season of his career: 25 homers (a full-season career low), 120 OPS+ and some troubling trends in terms of plate discipline and raw power indicators.

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