Prince Fielder chooses Detroit Tigers over Washington Nationals

The majority of the baseball world had deemed the Washington Nationals the odds-on favorite to land first baseman Prince Fielder, the kind of free agent slugger who could transform them from a team on the rise to a contender that had arrived. And then Tuesday afternoon came, and the Detroit Tigers made a stealth bid, one the Nationals had no intention of approaching.

The Tigers swooped in and claimed Fielder with a contract, according to widespread reports, worth $214 million over nine years, pending a physical. When the winter began, Detroit had no room for Fielder, with Miguel Cabrera at first base and Victor Martinez at designated hitter. But then Martinez tore his anterior cruciate ligament, and the Tigers offered a massive sum for baseball’s premier remaining free agent.

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Free agent first baseman Prince Fielder and the Detroit Tigers agreed Tuesday on a nine-year, $214 million contract that fills the AL Central champions' need for a power hitter, a person familiar with the deal said. (Jan. 24)

Nationals ownership met with Fielder once and continued discussing him with Scott Boras, the representative for Fielder and a gaggle of prominent Nationals. Could they have lured Fielder with a sizable offer before Martinez’s injury made the Tigers a factor? The Nationals likely would not have met Boras’s price, anyway. They were wary of offering more than six or seven years, according to one person familiar with the Nationals’ thinking, and Boras believed from the start he could get Fielder a contract of $200 million.

The Nationals will be content to play 2012 with Adam LaRoche at first base, with Michael Morse, now slated to play left field, in the wings if LaRoche’s recovery from labrum surgery falters. The Nationals will pay LaRoche $8 million this year, the final guaranteed season of his two-year contract. Last week, the Nationals signed Morse, a breakout star in 2011, to a two-year, $10.5 million extension.

Fielder would have represented a significant upgrade, which is no offense to LaRoche or Morse. The rare player who became a free agent at 27, Fielder has hit 230 home runs in six-plus seasons, including a career-high 50 in 2007. He finished third in the MVP voting last season, hitting 38 homers with a .299 batting average, .415 on-base percentage and a .566 slugging percentage. For his age, he ranks among some of the best sluggers in major league history.

“I think everybody wanted [Fielder’s] bat in the lineup,” Nationals Manager Davey Johnson said. “He’s a lethal weapon. I was perfectly comfortable having Adam LaRoche, having his bat in the lineup, having the nimble feet he offers around the bag. I was not pushing for the club to break the bank. I think the club was right. If it was a short-term deal, that’s one thing. Long-term commitment, really, I think we have some other issues that are more pressing.”

The Nationals’ best player agreed with his manager. Third baseman Ryan Zimmerman hoped the Nationals would sign Fielder, but he felt comfortable with LaRoche — “he doesn’t get as much credit as he should,” Zimmerman said — and supported the front office, both in its prudent tact with Fielder and their transactions this offseason.

“I think they went after a guy they wanted, and they had a line where they were going to stop, and they didn’t go any further,” Zimmerman said. “[General Manager] Mike [Rizzo] and the Lerners, they have a very definite plan of what they want to do.