Prince is to 2011 as Adrian Gonzalez is to 2010. Whether or not he gets traded before the deadline is completely dependent on the Milwaukee Brewers’ place in the NL Central standings by July.
Teams like the Milwaukee Brewers usually need to pick and choose who to spend their money on.
Take the Padres for example: did they feel like they would sink into the abyss if they don’t sign Adrian Gonzalez to a large contract, or they feel like it was better for the franchise to trade him for some prospects like they did with Jake Peavy in 2009? Could they try to replace at least 65 percent of Gonzalez’s production with cheap signings and shift to a more pitching and defense team with a small-ball-oriented lineup?
Prince Fielder had a bit of a down year Pujols-style last year with 32 home runs, 83 RBI and a .261 batting average. Unlike the Padres’ Gonzalez situation, the Brewers have power outlets in their lineup other than Prince.
Fielder is just one of five Milwaukee hitters with more than 20 homers and 80 RBI. They locked up one of the five by signing second baseman Ricky Weeks to a five-year, $50M contract just recently. They already have Ryan Braun locked up, and they will have third baseman Casey McGehee for a while.
And to top all that off, they now have a newly assembled, young and proven starting rotation to take care of.
Truth of the matter is, the Milwaukee Brewers don’t really need Prince Fielder. They want to have him, they would like to have him—but they don’t need him.
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