By Joey McGraw
Now, this is a story all about how
My life got flipped-turned upside down
And I’d like to take a minute
Just sit right there
I’ll tell you how I became the prince of a town called Bel-Air (or in this case Arlington, TX)
…You know the rest.
Anyone remember Prince Fielder co starring with his dad Cecil Fielder promoting the McDonald’s Triple Cheeseburger? If not, check it out on YouTube. Wow have times have changed for Prince. He has grown from a sweet child to one of the most feared hitters in the game. Or has he?
During the past offseason, I was excited to say the least about the trade to get Prince Fielder and bid farewell to Ian Kinsler. I thought it was a strong move by Jon Daniels to step up and become the man in charge, and this was his “Big Splash”-no pun intended. As of this article Fielder is 9-51 to start the season, with a batting average of .148, 0 HR, 3 RBI, 4 runs over a 13 game stretch. These production totals (minus the hits) are what he can do in one game to erase the doubters. You know who you are.
While the Rangers did get the Detroit Tigers to eat some of the contract by 30 million, its still a lengthy contract. The Rangers are on the hook for $138 million over the next seven years, and we have seen how well the Angels have done with their enormous long contracts with Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton. The Rangers understand how important these first few years of the contract are as father time will eventually catch up and make each at bat an even more of a premium.
The elephant in the room is the health of Adrian Beltre. As he goes, the team goes, and Fielder will see fewer pitches to hit. Why would they? I wouldn’t. Even batting .148 just his presence, potential and power would make it an easy decision to walk him or pitch around him. Hopefully we will see the same Prince Fielder that took Nelson Cruz a few years back to the home run derby. Globe Life Park is certainly made for the five time All-Star. One thing is for certain to give the Ranger fans a piece of mind is that he has the longest active Major League game streak with over 500 games.
Hang in there, the sample size that we have seen is too small, even though it would be easy to second guess the trade. I am still a fan of the move and hopefully the slow start will just be an outlier moving forward.