What do we make of Prince's comments on his unhappiness with his salary for 2008?
After reading this story, it seems to me like the Brewers' position is pretty defensible. Prince is the highest paid player in his service class. He's making less than Ryan Howard did last year, but, you know what? Howard hit .313 with 58 home runs and 149 RBIs and won the NL MVP the year before getting his $900,000 salary. Prince had a great year last year - but it wasn't Ryan Howard great.
It sounds to me like Prince is (or should be) mad at the system, not at the Brewers. If the two sides had come to an agreement on a contract (i.e. if Scott Boras wasn't Prince's agent) then Prince might be getting more money, but they didn't so he isn't. Guys with less than 3 years of service just don't have any leverage in this situation...his leverage will start kicking in after this season.
Will this hurt the Brewers' chances of signing him to a long-term deal? Maybe...but the Brewers can more than make up for it by agreeing to a higher number in his arbitration years, or even agreeing to a 3 or 4 year contract to buy out a year or two of his free agent years. Let's face it, based on Howard's arbitration win last month, Prince is going to get his $10 to $12 million in 2009 if he has another huge year at the plate. If he's still pissed after that, then what can you do?
I think this is really a non-story.
Monday, March 3, 2008
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6 comments:
My first reaction to the story is that a pissed-off Prince is a dangerous Prince. I think it bodes well for The Crew this season.
The fact is we have him for a few more years, which is an eternity in baseball. A couple hundred thousand bucks won't matter much when he's making 8 figures starting next year. If the Brewers are willing to pay market value, there is a good chance he'll stay. He won't be giving any "hometown discount" but I don't think he was planning on doing that before this happened anyway.
Prince Fielder is a man driven by spite. A sort of man I like.
At best, the Brewers would have to lock him after this season to something along the lines of 4 years, 75M (buying out all arbitration and 1 FA year). It's just not gonna happen.
Prince is going to get big money when he becomes a FA, and then he's gone...and I don't blame him. I say we take him year by year, and then dump him at the deadline 4 years from now before he goes FA. He'll already have two World Series Rings, I'd be ok with that.
Plus, if you make exceptions to your pre-arbitration compensation "system" for Prince, then you don't really have a system any more.
Completely agree with your last comment Matt. If they made an exception for Prince, what do they do with Braun next year?
Boras probably told him to say all of this.
Where does Willis (the mini-horse, not the pitcher) fit in on the Chuckie Hacks compensation system? Is he getting more oats this season? Do mini horses eat mini oats? so many questions.
Everything is nice and rosy in Brewer land. Good to see.
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