One of the highest profile free agents in baseball this year is/was Prince Fielder. It was believed that he was looking for a deal in the neighborhood of eight years, $200 million.

And obviously, he wasn’t worth that because no one would give it to him. Hell, that’s why he was on the market for so long.

But, it only takes one team. And that team is the Detroit Tigers.

According to SI’s Jon Heyman, the Tigers have signed Fielder to a nine-year, $214 million contract. Seriously.

Fielder is a phenomenal hitter, but is he really worth that much? He’s only 27-years old, which means I automatically like this deal better than Pujols’ deal with Anaheim. But, Fielder hit a career high .299 last year and you have to think that won’t happen again as he’s .282 for his career. He’ll always get you 30 HR’s and might even get 40 or 50. For that money, he better be north of 40 every year.

Time will tell if it’s truly a bad signing, but right now, I can’t see committing that many years and that much money to one guy.

Hope you like chubby guys, Detroit. ‘Cause you just got a very pricey one.

Have you heard all the rumors regarding Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder and where he might sign? No? We haven’t either. It’s been pretty damn quiet for the chubby guy this offseason, and when it’s this quiet surrounding someone that’s this good, it probably means that your demands are too damn high.

Just ask Jimmy McMillan. His demands are TOO! DAMN! HIGH!

So, there were some reports floated that it’s possible that Fielder would be willing to accept a three-year deal at $26 million per year. Hardly unreasonable. But, his agent Scott Boras says those reports are absolute nonsense.

“Not only is that inaccurate and delusional, but it seems that some people have gotten into their New Year’s Eve stash just a little bit early this year,” Boras told ESPNChicago.com.

Sure, who would want to bank a quick $78 million and then hit the free agent market again when they’re only 30? But no, Boras has said that the bidding starts at seven years.

“It appears some baseball people are just bored,” Boras said. “That’s when you hear ideas like that floated.”

You’ve probably heard by now that the reigning 2011 National League MVP may have had some help this year. Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun had an outstanding year, but it would seem that he cheated. It came out a couple days ago that he tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs and is facing a 50-game suspension.

And, according to the New York Daily News, it wasn’t just some slight bump in his testosterone levels that triggered a positive test. A source tells the paper that Braun’s testerone levels were “insanely high.”

Photo Caption: “I am SO f’ing pumped for BASEBALL!!”

The source added that it was “the highest ever for anyone who has ever taken a test, twice the level of the highest test ever taken.”

Wow.

But, wait! Braun’s camp says that he didn’t do it. Phew! Now that that’s out of the way!

“There are highly unusual circumstances surrounding this case which will support Ryan’s complete innocence and demonstrate there was absolutely no intentional violation of the program,” Braun’s spokesman Matthew Hiltsick said. “We are confident he will ultimately be exonerated.”

David Cornwell, Braun’s attorney, also told the Daily News that his client’s positive result had nothing to do with taking anything illegal.

“He did not take performance-enhancing drugs,” Cornwell said, apparently with a straight face. “And anyone who writes that is wrong.”

Braun plans to appeal the failed test, but it won’t be easy. MLB is 13-0 in its appeals with this kind of thing. Of course Braun continues to say that this is total nonsense and that he didn’t do anything wrong, but he has to understand that no one is going to give baseball players the benefit of the doubt at this point.

One of the bigger names out there on the market (sort of) is Milwaukee Brewers overweight first baseman Prince Fielder. He’s one of the best sluggers in all of baseball, so one would think that the Brewers will do everything they can to keep him.

However, he’s supposedly looking for something in the neighborhood of $200 million over eight years. Good luck with that.

But, Andy McCalvy of MLB.com tells us that the Brewers will offer Fielder arbitration.

“#Brewers just made moves official: Offered arbitration to Prince Fielder and Francisco Rodriguez, declined on Yuniesky Betancourt,” he tweets.

Fielder is a Type A free agent and will yield two draft picks in return when someone else signs him.

The St. Louis Cardinals picked a bad time to lose 99% of their lineup. They are currently tied for first place in the NL Central with the Milwaukee Brewers and have now lost one of the best hitters in baseball.

That’s right, Albert Pujols is going bye-bye with a fractured forearm. The team is saying that he’ll miss the next 4-6 weeks, but we know how the Cardinals get down, don’t we? They tend to be a little rosy when it comes to injuries, so it’s possible that he can be out even longer.

Pujols collided with a runner at first on Sunday and had to leave the game. We’re sure that Cardinals fans are thrilled.

Lance Berkman, who has been pretty damn good so far this year, will probably take over at first base, with John Jay then taking his place in the outfield.

Actually, we don’t think they had anything to do with it. But, how great would that be if WikiLeaks was the first media outlet to break the news of Rickie Weeks’ new contract? What if Julian Assange was Weeks’ agent?

Anyway, you may have heard by now that the Milwaukee Brewers have signed 2B Rickie Weeks to a new contract. Initially, it was reported as a five-year, $50 million contract. That’s not exactly the case. The Associated Press is reporting that it’s actually a four-year, $38.5 million deal, with a 2015 option that could push the total value of the contract to $50 million.

Photo Caption: The new contract is contingent on Weeks staying out of street gangs.

The fifth year could become guaranteed if certain benchmarks are reached. But also, the club can void that fifth year if Weeks isn’t an everyday player in 2013 and 2014. At first, we thought this was way too much money for a career .253 hitter who hit .269 last season. But as the details have emerged, it looks like this could be a good deal for Milwaukee.

Multiple sources tell Tony Jackson of ESPNLosAngeles.com that the Los Angeles Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers could be working on a blockbuster deal. Specifically, the deal would theoretically send Prince Fielder to the Dodgers in exchange for James Loney and Jonathan Broxton.

The Brewers have to believe that they can’t sign Fielder to a long-term deal. He is in his final winter of arbitration eligibility, so he could be come a free agent after the 2011 season. He’s only 26-years old and is full of power, so it’s not a performance issue.

On the other hand, the Dodgers like Loney, but they don’t love him. His defense is superb and his bat isn’t bad, but he doesn’t really hit for power. He’s never had more than 15 HR’s in a season, and that was back in 2007. Last year, he hit a whopping 10.

As for Broxton, I’m sure the Dodgers are done with him. If they had any hope that he could be a quality closer for them, they wouldn’t move him. Kuo will probably be the guy if Broxton moves on.

Stay tuned.

Let’s be honest. No one cares about a Chicago Cubs vs. Milwaukee Brewers game right now. Neither team is in it and no one cares.

But apparently, someone slipped a fake press release into the press pack, and we’re pretty sure that Cubs GM Jim Hendry didn’t find it amusing. Check out the image, it’s pretty hysterical.

Brewers Vice-President of Communications Tyler Barnes said they are looking into what happened, but that it’s “impossible to know where it came from.”

“You’ve got people credentialed from every city in the country around here,” he said. “Without knowing who did it… It’s an unfortunate incident. It’s a lousy attempt at a practical joke and in that way we’re certainly sorry. But without being able to know who did it…”

We disagree. We think it’s a brilliant practical joke. Of course, if we were involved we’d be fuming, but from our vantage point, this is great comedy.

The one thing that could quell all the trade talks involving Milwaukee Brewers 1B Prince Fielder is a contract extension. Eligible for free agency after the 2011 season, Fielder and the team are not discussing a new contract right now according to GM Doug Melvin.

“There’s nothing going on at this time,” said Melvin.

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel says that the word around the clubhouse is that Fielder and agent Scott Boras rebuffed the Brewers’ initial offer and that kind of shut down the talks.

“I’m not going to get into any of that,” said Melvin. “I’m sure his name will come up in trade rumors. It always does with any player that’s not signed (for the long-term).”

Melvin says that he actually would prefer to trade position players in the offseason when you aren’t just dealing with teams in contention.

“You can get more teams involved,” he said. “Pitching, you can trade at any time. Pitching probably has more value at this time of the year. A pitcher can fit on anyone’s staff.

“A position player has to be a perfect fit. There are only so many teams competing for the players. A lot of them have certain positions filled. So, you’re only talking about one or two teams (to trade with).

“In the off-season, things change. Players go to other teams as free agents. Teams lose players. You can get more teams involved.”

So there you have it. Fielder’s name will continue to be thrown around in trade talks, but Melvin is probably better off sitting on him and allowing to get hot, thereby increasing his trade value. Right now, he’s hitting .260 with 15 HR’s.

The Milwaukee Brewers have finally decided to put their foot down when it comes to pitchers that stink. According to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, they have cut ties with 35-year old RHP Jeff Suppan. Suppan was pulled from the starting rotation after just two starts this year and was relegated mostly to mop-up duties.

Suppan was 0-2 with a 7.84 ERA this year. Many baseball experts think that’s unacceptable.

He was in the final year of a four-year $42 million mistake and owed $12.5 million for the season. $8.3 million remains to be paid and the club will owe him $2 million for a team-option buyout clause for 2011.

Photo Caption: “I don’t think the umpire is necessarily squeezing us. I think it’s more of an issue of you not throwing the ball where it’s so god damn easy for them to hit it and drive it over the wall.”

In short, he must have been butt awful for the team to be willing to shell out all that dough for a guy that won’t throw another pitch for them.

According to SI’s Jon Heyman, the Milwaukee Brewers will attempt to lock up Prince Fielder with a long-term deal this offseason. Talks aren’t expected to get going until January, and while they really need to address their pitching, this is probably still a very smart move.

Fielder hit 46 HR’s with 141 RBI’s and a .299 average this year. Tough to argue with those numbers. If you think you can replace that production, not sure where you’d find it.

There are persistent rumors that the Brewers want to pay Fielder in cheeseburgers, raspberry cheesecake slices and bacon grease. Whispers from the Fielder camp indicate that they would be inclined to do that deal if he were able to put all if it in one bowl with gravy and chocolate sprinkles.

The Milwaukee Brewers have sent shortstop J.J. Hardy to the Minnesota Twins in exchange for speedy centerfielder Carlos Gomez. Hardy hit .229 with 11 HR’s in 2009, and many experts think that stinks. It’s not a shock that he was traded although many speculated that the Brewers would get pitching in return.

Gomez came to the Twins in the Johan Santana deal with the Mets. He was a top prospect for the Mets with blazing speed, with the only question being whether or not he could hit.

SIDE NOTE: Doesn’t that mean “we don’t know if he can play baseball”?

While Gomez hit just .246 last year, he can definitely play defense and is only 23.

Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Corey Hart is done for the season (the WHOLE season??) with possible compression fractures in his hand. He injured the hand on Tuesday when diving back to first base.

“It sucks,” Hart said, making excuses. “I started off so bad when I came out (of spring training). Every time I start to feel good I get hurt or have something taken out.”

Hart had been 9 of his last 28 with one home run and an eight-game hitting streak. He ends the season with a .260 average with 12 HR’s and 48 RBI’s. How the Brewers can afford to lose this kind of production in their lineup we just don’t know.

Photo Caption: It’s still possible that Hart will continue to wear his sunglasses after the sun goes down.

A major-league source tells Foxsports.com’s Ken Rosenthal that the Milwaukee Brewers have placed a handful of players on waivers, including closer Trevor Hoffman, outfielder Mike Cameron, infielder Craig Counsell, catcher Jason Kendall, right-hander Braden Looper and second baseman Felipe Lopez.

Given our last post, could the Phillies be interested in Trevor Hoffman? He has no-trade protection and is happy in Milwaukee, but is not interested in returning next year as a setup guy, a source with knowledge of the thinking tells Rosenthal.

Phillies fans keep an eye on this one. Your prayers may have been answered.

The Milwaukee Brewers have optioned struggling shortstop J.J. Hardy to Triple-A. We aren’t sure if they meant the minor leagues or the road-side service.

Hardy has been stinking up the joint this year hitting just .229 with 11 HR’s and 45 RBI’s. To replace him, they have brought up 22-year old SS Alicedes Escobar.

Milwaukee Brewers manager Ken Macha was on 1050 ESPN Radio New York this afternoon with Michael Kay when he was asked if Willie Randolph wanted revenge as the Brew Crew got set to play the New York Mets tonight.

Macha said he didn’t know if it was revenge so much as “justice.” He also added that it would be like if they played an interleague game against his old team, the A’s.

It’s not often that you’ll get a sports figure to be so candid. They usually offer the stock response about every game being equally important and blah blah blah.