MLB Free Agents 2012: Prince Fielder Will Be Highest Paid Player on Opening Day

Prince Fielder is about to become a very wealthy man. I’m not talking about rich, as comedian Chris Rock would say, I’m talking about wealthy.  

Not only will he make which ever team he signs with a World Series contender, but he will sign a contract that will be the highest out of the free agents in the 2012 free-agent class.  

The free agency period has begun and teams can start to make offers to players who are no longer going to be resigned by their teams.  

There will be some insane contracts that will be given out to such free agents like, pitcher C.J. Wilson, shortstop Jose Reyes, outfielder Carlos Beltran and first baseman Albert Pujols.  

Each player is like Fielder, in that which ever team that they do sign with will become favorites to win their division.  

With Fielder, he is the youngest player out of those four players that have hit the open market. At 27 years old, he is just coming into his prime as a baseball player. If a team would throw an eight-year contract at Fielder, he would be able to continue to play at a high performance at the tail end of his contract.  

But, I’m just a gasbag with an opinion, however Ryan Campbell from Fan Graphs can back up my claim that Fielder will get the higher contract out of the free agents, especially Pujols.  

“Looking at his stats, we see a player who has accumulated 15.3 WAR (Wins Above Replacement) over the last three seasons and is a perennial threat to launch 40 home runs and get on base over 40% of the time.”  

But what about the fact that Fielder is a big guy, who’s body could breakdown later on in his career, “Prince is good enough that he has a lot of talent to lose before he becomes a replacement level player, there is not the risk of him immediately bottoming out.” 

Baseball now is all about signing players to bigger (more expensive) contracts than the last person in the previous year. There will be a team that will throw a figure like $17 million per year to Fielder for eight to 10 years total on the contract.

It’s the way baseball’s system is ran, as the rich teams can afford players like Fielder, while the poor teams have to nickel and dime their way to the second tier of free agents. 

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