The Detroit Tigers would entertain potential trade offers for first baseman Prince Fielder this offseason, an AL exec has told Hank Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Tigers rumors: Detroit would listen on Prince Fielder trade offers
Prince has a no-trade clause in his contract, but that won’t stop Dave Dombrowski from at least sticking his ear out.
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There’s no telling whether the Tigers have listened to any propositions for the husky infielder, but their willingness to listen gives some indication of where Detroit stands with him. While Miguel Cabrera is about as untouchable as players get, Fielder may not be.
Fielder is owed $168 million over the next seven seasons -- $24 million per year -- and is coming off his worst offensive performance since he was a rookie in 2006. Of course, “worst offensive performance” comes with a rather large caveat where Fielder is concerned.
Prince still batted .279/.362/.457 with 25 home runs on the year, turning in the sixth-highest OPS in the American League at first base. He also played in all 162 games for the third-straight season, which adds a value all its own to the equation.
The likelihood of the Tigers trading Fielder this winter is decidedly slim, per Chris Iott of MLive, even before you take his limited no-trade clause into account -- he can block trades to all but 10 big-league clubs. Limiting your prospective buyers doesn’t usually help when you’re looking for someone to take on $168 million in guaranteed salary.
Fielder will earn full 10-and-5 rights -- meaning he’ll have the final say in all potential trades -- if he stays with the Tigers through 2016.
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