Was Prince Fielder worth more than $200 million to the Milwaukee Brewers? Hell no. That's why they let him walk. When the stakes got higher for the first baseman slugger, general manager Doug Melvin took a pass.
"Scott (Boros) is an agent that didn't push us to the point," Melvin said of Fielder's agent, who negotiated the nine-year, $214 million deal for his client with the Detroit Tigers. "Once he started saying that he was going to get $200 million for (Fielder), I just went, 'Oops! That won't work here.' "
We didn't expect to see Fielder at this year's Brewers On Deck at the Frontier Airlines Center on Jan. 29 and neither did we expect to see NL MVP Ryan Braun. I don't recall either player attending last year's fan fest.
Correct me if I'm wrong. This year, Braun was on the original list of players to attend the event until the team made a last minute change in the program.
Unfortunately, and understandably, it was best that he stayed away. Braun's recent hearing in New York the day before he accepted the MVP award to answer questions on his test results from using a banned substance makes this a sensitive subject.
Principal owner Mark Attanasio didn't want Braun to face the same scrutiny from local fan sand media. It didn't make sense for Braun to suffer any public embarrassment about the issue,especially when he's facing a 50-game suspension from Major League Baseball. As of now, he's still a Brewer.
"Doug and I decided after we heard the news that the only way to manage through this process is to proceed that Ryan is still a member of the team, and whatever happens, we'll proceed as though he's still playing," Attanasio said. "We're proceeding that Ryan is a part of this team until we hear otherwise."
From the more than 12,000 fans in attendance, it appeared that there was more excitement because there was a feeling that the Brewers can win the NL Central again. They have a first baseman in Mat Gamel who will replace Fielder. That area is covered.
What about a leftfielder? We got that covered too in case Braun has to sit out. If Braun is sidelined, he can join the team in L.A. on May 31. What a treat for No. 8. He might be at home in California and he doesn't have to leave that state to come to the club. The club will come to him.
I'm not sold on the new Japanese outfielder, Norichika Aoki, but Melvin is. He bought the rights to the former Japanese all-star because he won some batting titles over there and he brings a different dimension to the team. Can somebody tell Melvin that we don't time to experiment with a guy that signed a two-year deal with the Crew? We're trying to go to the World Series.
After I heard what the team brass had to say about the team they put together and put fannies in the seats at Miller Park and try to win more than 96 games (which I think won't happen), I had enough. But before I exited stage right, I stopped by a collector's table to buy an autographed photo for half off the $10 price of a young Gorman Thomas in a throwback V-neck Milwaukee Brewers uniform from the '70's with blue stirrup socks and a blue helmet with the "M" logo sticker on it.
He was worth the price of admission back then, and he didn't need$200 million to stay in the Brew city.
