MLB Free Agents 2012: Why Prince Fielder, Jose Reyes Will Land in Small Markets

Timing is everything in sports.

Hitting with runners in scoring position is just as important as when you hit the open market.

The big names in the 2012 free-agent class include Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals, Prince Fielder of the Milwaukee Brewers and Jose Reyes of the New York Mets.

With the incredible postseason run the Cardinals are currently experiencing, it looks as if Pujols has earned the 10-year mega deal he has been seeking.

Yet the other two may not be as lucky.

Because of a lot of unrelated situations, the Yankees, Red Sox, Phillies, Angels, Mets, Dodgers, Giants and Cubs won’t be looking to add a $100M contract to their payroll.

The two players could go the way of Jayson Werth and take a huge deal from a smaller market. Werth is currently in the middle of a $126M deal with the Washington Nationals.

Evan Burrell of the CBS Sports Eye on Baseball blog talks about potential mid-to-small market options:

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The Orioles have been linked to Fielder for years now; the Mariners may attempt to solve their offensive problems in one fell swoop; the Brewers could replace Fielder with Reyes; the list goes on -- and none of these teams are anyone's idea of a big-market power dominating year in, year out.

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It’s pretty clear that both players are driven by money, regardless of where it comes from.

Reyes pulled a highly questionable move by bunting for a base hit in the final regular-season game of the year before taking himself out…all to ensure he would win the 2011 NL batting crown…putting a great bargaining chip on the resume.

Fielder has done everything short of tell the media he has already sold his house in Milwaukee. He shows zero loyalty and is going to be looking for the most amount of money he can possibly get.

It’s great to think that parity may be back in baseball, but it also speaks to how athletes are more often than not going to follow the money.