Reports of the Prince's demise may have been greatly exaggerated. Home run number one for 2015 is finally on the books, thanks to his 8th inning no-doubter off of Arizona reliever Daniel Hudson on Tuesday night.
He'll need to hit a few more (and a little more often) before we can confidently say that the Rangers have the Prince Fielder that they thought they were getting when they shipped off All-Star second baseman Ian Kinsler, but so far – this version of Prince Fielder will certainly do.
The trade that brought Fielder to Texas may never be vindicated. When compared head-to-head and without context, it's tough to see Fielder ever being able to match Kinsler's overall value (at least in terms of WAR), especially having already lost virtually all of the 2014 season. Kinsler, who is off to his own hot start, plays a premium position at second base and brings the Tigers value with both his bat and glove while Texas must simply hope that Fielder's bat is still good enough to let us forget about his glove until they can convince him to leave it at home.
And then there's the money: Kinsler is owed $46 million over the next three years (including 2015) while Fielder's $114 million* over the next six seasons represents considerably more risk. It's fairly easy to see the scenario where Texas is hampered by Prince's salary on the back end of his deal.
*$114 million represents the Rangers net commitment to Fielder, and does not include the $30 million subsidized by the Tigers as a part of the Ian Kinsler trade.
When you place the rationale behind the trade back into context, Prince Fielder never had to be more valuable than Ian Kinsler for the trade to have made sense for Texas. The Rangers believed that Prince Fielder plus Jurickson Profar (or perhaps, Rougned Odor) would yield a greater sum than Ian Kinsler plus Mitch Moreland. The verdict for 2014 is obviously a massive failure. The verdict for 2015-2020 is still out.
The back end of baseball's big free agent contracts are never pretty, and teams generally understand that when they enter into one. The bet is that the production extracted from the player in the first part of his contract will outweigh the detriment to flexibility that his salary represents in the final years. After losing 2014 to a neck injury that required cervical fusion, the concern that Fielder may never be the middle-of-the-order hitter they so badly needed began to creep in.
But the past is the past and what is done is done. After an offseason of recovery, workouts and a renewed appreciation for the game, Prince Fielder now looks the part. Despite the recently-snapped home run drought, Fielder has carried the offense, putting up a slash line of .367/.424/.483 (a .907 OPS). And it isn't just the numbers giving everyone hope, he's passed the eye ball test so far as well, mashing pitches and using all fields, yielding the aggressive shift most teams employ against him far less useful.
The rejuvenation has not been limited to on-the-field, either. Fielder has reportedly become an important and recognized leader in the clubhouse, an important element for a team raising the youth of Rougned Odor, Ryan Rua, Delino DeShields and Keone Kela, among others and with more youth on the way.
With a hot start and virtually no obvious signs of being hindered by his neck injury, the time may come when $114 million owed Prince Fielder looks less like a liability and more like an asset, particularly in the current MLB environment in which power is scarce. The 2014-2015 offseason saw the likes of Pablo Sandoval, who has not recorded an OPS above .800 since 2011 receive 5 years and 95 million for his age 28-33 seasons. Fielder's former teammate, designated hitter Victor Martinez capitalized on his huge 2014 season with a 4 year, $68 million deal for his age 36-40 seasons. If Fielder was suddenly made a free agent tomorrow, isn't it conceivable that he could potentially receive something close to the remainder of his current contract? And wouldn't arbitrarily making him a free agent in late April be a ridiculous scenario?
It's hard to foresee a contending Rangers team in the near future without a healthy and productive Prince, and if Fielder keeps this up – it might be time to shift the conversation away from his contract and back to his production.
You can follow @Bob_Pike as he keeps tabs on Prince Fielder's attempt at becoming modern day Tony Gwynn.
