According to multiple sources, the Detroit Tigers have signed now-former Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder to a nine-year, $214 million contract.
The Tigers were apparently the "mystery team" involved in the process, and are the same club that Fielder's estranged father, Cecil, played for seven of his 13 Major League seasons.
Other teams said to be in the hunt for Fielder's services were the Rangers, Nationals, Mariners, Cubs, and Red Sox. The Brewers were said to have given Fielder a courtesy offer, but clearly knew that it would not be enough to re-sign their sixth all-time leading run producer and second all-time home run hitter.
Even during the season, Fielder made no secret that 2011 was his last in Milwaukee. He finishes his career with the Brewers batting .282 with 230 home runs and 656 runs batted in.
Doug Russell has been covering Milwaukee and Wisconsin sports for over 20 years on radio, television, magazines, and now at OnMilwaukee.com.
Over the course of his career, the Edward R. Murrow Award winner and Emmy nominee has covered the Packers in Super Bowls XXXI, XXXII and XLV, traveled to Pasadena with the Badgers for Rose Bowls, been to the Final Four with Marquette, and saw first-hand the entire Brewers playoff runs in 2008 and 2011. Doug has also covered The Masters, several PGA Championships, MLB All-Star Games, and Kentucky Derbys; the Davis Cup, the U.S. Open, and the Sugar Bowl, along with NCAA football and basketball conference championships, and for that matter just about anything else that involves a field (or court, or rink) of play.
Doug was a sports reporter and host at WTMJ-AM radio from 1996-2000, before taking his radio skills to national syndication at Sporting News Radio from 2000-2007. From 2007-2011, he hosted his own morning radio sports show back here in Milwaukee, before returning to the national scene at Yahoo! Sports Radio last July. Doug's written work has also been featured in The Sporting News, Milwaukee Magazine, Inside Wisconsin Sports, and Brewers GameDay.
Doug and his wife, Erika, split their time between their residences in Pewaukee and Houston, TX.
