Report: Detroit Tigers Sign Prince Fielder
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Jamie Squire/Getty Images(DETROIT) — The Tigers have found their prince. Free agent slugging first baseman Prince Fielder has agreed to a nine-year contract with Detroit worth $214 million, according to ESPN.
The 27-year-old follows in the footsteps of his father, Cecil Fielder, who played for the Tigers from 1990 until 1996.
Drew Sharp, Tigers beat writer for the Detroit Free Press, says the fingerprints of the Tigers’ 82-year-old owner Mike Ilitch is all over the move.
“He feels if he doesn’t win a World Series in the next year or two, he’s not going to have a chance to,” Sharp said of Ilitch. “He decided, we will pull the trigger on this move, not worried about what this deal is going to affect the finances of the team down the road.”
Fielder spent his entire seven-year big league career with the Milwaukee Brewers, where he belted 230 home runs. He is a three-time All-Star who won the Mid-Summer Classic’s MVP award in 2011.
The move will give the Tigers the option to move Miguel Cabrera to third base or designated hitter, filling in for the injured Victor Martinez.
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