MLB Free Agents 2012: With King Albert Gone, It's All About Prince Fielder Now

Now that the King has been served it's time for a Prince to get his due. 

On Thursday morning, one huge domino fell as Albert Pujols agreed to play for the Los Angeles Angels for what ESPN is reporting to be a ten-year deal worth $254 million. 

The market works from the top down. Teams looking at one of two star first basemen were no doubt waiting to see Pujols clear out before they decided to get in on the Prince Fielder sweepstakes. 

As the future Hall of Fame player moves west, we can now concentrate on where the perennial All-Star from Milwaukee will land. 

First off, we can cross the Marlins off the list. It seems that Miami was willing to deal with a traffic jam with Gaby Sanchez over Pujols, but not with Fielder. 

Fox MLB reporter Ken Rosenthal tweets what is behind the Marlins passing on Fielder going forward. 

Jon Morosi of Fox Sports reports a great wealth of teams could vie for Prince Fielder. Morosi puts the Mariners at the top of the heap with the Nationals, Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays bringing up the rear. 

Each one of those teams sounds like a great fit. You have to admit that the Mariners are dying for any amount of offensive infusion. Fielder would drive in runs and drive up tickets sales. Yes, win-win scenarios are always highly thought of. 

The team that I have pegged to make a move is the same one that SI.com's Jon Heyman does as well. Heyman tweets two possible targets that the Cardinals could use to assuage the masses. 

Let's stroll into the land of obvious assumptions for a second. There is no replacing Albert Pujols. The man long since dropped being a human in St. Louis, donning legendary status. 

This is Babe Ruth in a Cardinals jersey, at least that is how he will be received decades from now. The Cardinals did the right thing by not selling the franchise to re-sign an aging slugger. But they have to do their best to fill the giant chasm with like talent. 

This is a rare moment when the Cards have a suitable replacement, statistically, in Prince Fielder. He will never be King Albert to the people, but he will warrant just as many wins. 

It isn't often that you lose a Hall of Fame player and find a like talent just lying around. It's as simple as swapping a Prince for a King. 

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