Featured autograph - Prince Fielder

Longevity seemed like it was always going to be an issue with Prince's body type and while an iron man of sorts for the bulk of his career, he'd already been in decline - his slugging percentage had dropped from 2011-2013 while he was limited to 42 games in 2014.

Prince had sort of a bounce back bounceback year in 2015 and while I hoped he would continue slugging his way back into prominence - he labored for much of this year and a neck injury cuts his big league career short at 32.

While there should is a little mourning over the apparent end, Prince maxed out his talents - ever since he tagged along with his big league father and hit home runs at old Tiger Stadium as a chubby 12-year old, Prince was expected to be like his dad.

Unlike his father, Prince swung the bat from the left side and while the body type was similar, Prince was a bit shorter than Fielder the elder - while father and son each hit 319 home runs for their careers, Prince seemed to be a better all-around hitter, with four seasons of 150 OPS+, compared to one for 'Big Daddy.'

Ranking the 30 MLB teams on my watch - Detroit Tigers #7 of 30

Prince Fielder has been knocked around in recent years - the narrative is he's all sorts of overrated because he's fat and getting paid $24 million a year until 2020.

He's not a good defender because he's fat, he is a base clogger and worst yet - he's going to turn into Cecil soon enough.

For a number of reasons, I don't think he's never been as lovable as his girth has suggested - he's no teddy bear and while might be a decent guy, he seems like he's all business.

Is he ever going to hit 40 or 50 home runs again [?] - seems like he really took a step back this past year, even if he was dealing with an apparent divorce.

It's going to be compelling to see how Prince does next season - after the Tigers' postseason failures in recent years, Tigers fans are wondering what they are going to be getting from Fielder going forward.

2013 Topps Heritage blaster recap #2

Pack one
#166 Dustin Ackley
#102 Kirk Gibson
#328 Patrick Corbin
#104 Jonathan Papelbon
#385 Glen Perkins
#222 J.P. Arencibia

#475 Edwin Encarnacion - SP
#54 Ron Gardenhire
#308 J.J. Putz

Pack two
#5 R.A. Dickey / Clayton Kershaw / Cole Hamels - 2012 National League Strikeout Leaders
#180 Carl Crawford
#169 Elvis Andrus
#50 Curtis Granderson
#386 Jared Burton
#182 Felix Doubront
#NF-J Jeopardy - News Flashback insert
#387 Bobby Parnell
#120 Josh Beckett

Pack three
#275 Kevin Youkilis
#72 Chase Utley
#118 Robin Ventura
#6 Justin Verlander / Max Scherzer / Felix Hernandez - 2012 American League Strikeout Leaders
#363 Neftali Feliz
#381 Fernando Martinez
#TN-FH Whitey Ford / Felix Hernandez - Then and Now insert
#309 Michael Cuddyer
#227 Jason Motte

Pack four
#384 Ryan Doumit
#167 Christian Garcia / Eury Perez - 2013 Rookie Stars
#313 Stephen Drew
#192 Brandon McCarthy
#324 Terry Collins
#388 Ali Solis / Casey Kelly - 2013 Rookie Stars
#NAP-BB Billy Butler - New Age Performers insert
#31 Asdrubal Cabrera
#333 Mike Minor

Pack five
#238 Joe Nathan
#359 Wilton Lopez
#401 Alex Presley
#28 Anthony Gose
#117 Colby Rasmus
#424 Logan Forsythe

#464 R.A. Dickey - SP
#124 Ryan Cook
#20 James McDonald

Pack six
#423 Matt Cain / Buster Posey - Tops in NL
#223 James Loney
#170 Jon Lester
#51 Kenley Jansen
#134 Daniel Descalso
#366 Jason Castro
#BF-CY Carl Yastrzemski - Baseball Flashback insert
#389 Frank Francisco
#175 Alfonso Soriano

Pack seven
#106 Mike Leake
#79 Chris Johnson
#14 Josh Wall / Paco Rodriguez - 2013 Rookie Stars
#420 Bronson Arroyo
#235 Jhonny Peralta
#109 Zack Cozart

#454 Gio Gonzalez - SP
#80 Jay Bruce
#130 Philip Humber

Pack eight
#364 Russell Martin
#276 Nick Swisher
#344 Andrew Bailey
#267 Marco Estrada
#315 Rajai Davis
#171 Derek Holland

#250 Prince Fielder - Walmart blue border variation
#232 Bob Melvin
#10 Miguel Cabrera / Curtis Granderson / Josh Hamilton - 2012 American League Home Run Leaders

Featured autograph - Prince Fielder

It's great that Prince Fielder finally signed with a team - as a baseball fan who likes to read the occasional baseball forum or Web site, I was tired about reading the doubt generated by skeptics about how the free agent market had shrunk for the fat slugging first baseman and how agent Scott Boras' tactics had finally been dismissed as bunk.

By landing a 9-year, $214 million deal with the Detroit Tigers - Fielder gets the contract that pays him like a superstar and his agent proves once again to be the grand wizard of professionals who can negotiate contracts for these pro athletes.

After having Ryan Braun in left field and Prince Fielder at first base as sort of their power core in the middle of the lineup through the last four seasons - I'm sure the Milwaukee Brewers are looking forward to having new Japanese import Norichika Aoki in left field [maybe for the first 50 games of the 2012 season, maybe not] and someone like Mat Gamel at first base.

Angels off-season - wishing for Prince and bracing for realistic moves

Under new management, the Angels have to start somewhere, with moves to be made and hoping for better fortunes in 2012 - I'd love to see the organization go out and sign Prince Fielder, since it would like when Vladimir Guerrero fell into their laps back in the 2004 off-season.

Getting an impact bat like Fielder's in the middle of the Angels lineup may not be realistic but a Fielder changes the Angels middle of the lineup immensely - right now the Angels don't really have that intimidating presence and they need more offense.

Other moves the Angels may make maybe to fill holes here and there - the Rangers maybe the class of the American League West, but the Angels maybe able to close a bit of the gap, at least on paper by doing the following:

1.) Signing Aramis Ramirez - if the Angels could sign him, he'd be a legitimate power-hitting third baseman to build on for the next few years. He's getting older and just maybe he has gotten somewhat of a bum rap in Chicago, but Ramirez isn't done.

In reality for the Angels, a stop gap like Casey Blake [even at 38 or 39] could be an answer the team maybe willing to consider - maybe re-sign Alberto Callaspo and splitting duties with 24-year old prospect Luis Jimenez.

2.) Sign Heath Bell - even after making the All-Star team in 2011 and picking up 32 saves, maybe Jordan Walden isn't quite ready to be the late-inning guy for the Angels yet. Having Bell as a mentor for the next couple of seasons allows Walden to step back just a little and not be overused at a relatively young age.

3.) Sign or trade for a catcher that can hit .250 with moderate power - the options aren't great but maybe a Ryan Doumit, Chris Snyder or Kelly Shoppach could be given an opportunity, with the idea you can't afford Jeff Mathis earning playing time behind the plate when he has shown no ability to hit Major League pitching.

Ramon Hernandez maybe a better idea - though he might be past his prime to command the salary he might be asking for.

4.) Sign a No. 4 or No. 5 pitcher - Hiroki Kuroda hasn't been spectacular but he has been serviceable and doesn't have to leave Southern California to continue his MLB career. If the Angels could give Joel Pineiro $16 million for two-years once upon a time, then it should have a problem trying to sign Kuroda to a similar deal.

Thoughts on Ryan Braun and the investment the Milwaukee Brewers made on his legacy

With the news of Ryan Braun's extension, it is fascinating to see Major League teams make value judgements as to which player they have otherwise annointed their face of the franchise - to maintain their organization's brand.

A player like Braun is a public trust more than ever before and making sure he is a a lifelong Brewer was something important to that franchise - to build fan confidence.

Maybe I used to think Major League Baseball players produced and got big contracts and little else mattered - but someone like Braun sort of becomes royalty and their status becomes even more inflated among fans, advertisers, media.

If a team spends $100 million to extend Braun - it means they view him more that just a guy who is obviously expected to be an All-Star performer.

I don't know what it says for the wishy/washy way the Brewers have dealt with Prince Fielder's contracts - I guess they don't consider him as special with regards to his value to the organization and will have no problems 'not being able to afford his demands' when it comes down to paying for him.

However, the lament of 'modern day' professional athletes in Major League Baseball not staying with one team anymore seems antiquated - bitching about a young player getting squeezed such as being kept in the minors due to service time / arbitration issues seems out of place when even seemingly non big market MLB teams are willing to step up and lock up their franchise guys.