Prince Fielder's career ends due to medical issues

[FVBrewerFan]

Insurance companies aren't dumb when it comes to finances.

 

Like AIG?

[Invader3K]

Pro wrestlers used to be able to buy lucrative insurance policies from Lloyd's of London. They eventually got out of that game when it no longer made financial sense. Maybe the same thing could happen eventually with baseball, given how salaries continue to escalate.

[Roderick]

Insurance companies aren't dumb when it comes to finances.

 

Like AIG?

 

They are still around, eh.

 

I should have said the insurance companies are pretty good at actuarial and time value of money transactions (insurance type of functions), which is what they would be using to negotiate a release of contract provisions.

 

The too big to fail companies try to act like banks/investment banks and got in trouble, right?

[JohnBriggs12]

Very sad to see Prince's press conference. Not being able to play anymore at age 32 will be very tough on him emotionally. I'm sure they'll be nights where he's dreaming about standing in there against any number of pitchers and he'll wake up only to realize it was all a dream.

 

Hoping he's able to resume a normal life and be there as a father to his boys. Who knows, maybe another Fielder will come along and he'll hit 319 too.

[1992casey]

Haven looks like a clone of his dad. Jadyn might be a speed and defense guy.

[brauny]

http://www.armchairallamericans.com/prince-fielder-retires-brewer-fans-reaction/

[I Heart Brewers]

Anyone see the mic drop he did at the end of the conference? Nice.

 

I hope Ice Cube plays old Prince him in his upcoming biopic.

 

http://i.imgur.com/ZlbMoC3l.jpg

[NYChez]

In 2007, Prince started the season as a 22-year old ... and hit 50 home runs!

[djoctagone]

fielder has not been designated for assignment, nor has he been released. he remains on the 60-day disabled list, and will until the season ends. at that point, texas can release him or trade him (likely forfeiting any insurance money), or they can add him back to their 40-man roster (which keeps him in the texas organization). come spring training 2017, fielder is a near-guarantee to be put back onto the 60-day disabled list, then back on the 40-man throughout the 2017-2018 offseason. keep repeating this until 2020, when his contract expires.

 

unless the rangers are super desperate for a 40-man roster spot in any of the next four offseasons, i can't see them cutting ties with fielder.

 

so, if you are hopeful that the brewers sign fielder, look for that to happen no earlier than 2021.

on 7 november, the rangers activated fielder from the 60-day disabled list and returned him to their 40-man roster. he will undoubtedly hold that roster spot throughout the offseason.

[brewmann04]

what a shame yes would like for him to retire a brewer

[AKCheesehead]

on 7 november, the rangers activated fielder from the 60-day disabled list and returned him to their 40-man roster. he will undoubtedly hold that roster spot throughout the offseason.

That would be a really annoying technicality. Not only do have to pay the guy, but you have to sacrifice a 40 man spot in order to have the insurance cough up their portion. Let me count the ways in which I'm thankful we did not re-sign The Prince.

[sveumrules]

Should be an interesting case study in how much teams' value their 40 man roster spots. The Rangers essentially playing with only 39 certainly puts them at a marginal disadvantage. Depending on how many guys Texas feels they need to protect the year before Fielder's contract expires I could see them releasing him and foregoing the insurance payment for the last season.

[djoctagone]

i would think that texas could also sign a player to a guaranteed minor league one-year deal but have the salary be for millions of dollars--with the full intention to have him on the 25-man roster all season once spring training ends.

[RobertR]

Considering that there have been qualifying offer free agents floating around into spring training the last few years, I don't know if having late flexibility is really a problem for Texas. Honestly, there's always that Loogy or other fungible reliever floating around too. I don't see the 40th guy on the roster being the difference between Texas competing or not competing.

[joepepsi]

fielder has not been designated for assignment, nor has he been released. he remains on the 60-day disabled list, and will until the season ends. at that point, texas can release him or trade him (likely forfeiting any insurance money), or they can add him back to their 40-man roster (which keeps him in the texas organization). come spring training 2017, fielder is a near-guarantee to be put back onto the 60-day disabled list, then back on the 40-man throughout the 2017-2018 offseason. keep repeating this until 2020, when his contract expires.

 

unless the rangers are super desperate for a 40-man roster spot in any of the next four offseasons, i can't see them cutting ties with fielder.

 

so, if you are hopeful that the brewers sign fielder, look for that to happen no earlier than 2021.

on 7 november, the rangers activated fielder from the 60-day disabled list and returned him to their 40-man roster. he will undoubtedly hold that roster spot throughout the offseason.

This is what the Orioles had to do with Albert Belle for several seasons.

[Thurston Fluff]

When can he be returned to the 60 day DL? I assume it can't happen before opening day but I really don't know.

[MadThinker88]

When can he be returned to the 60 day DL? I assume it can't happen before opening day but I really don't know.

 

Once Spring Training begins (and by theory - once play resumes).

There are no DL lists during the off season.

[1992casey]

That's a good question. We know that teams utilize the 15-day DL during spring training, although there's no roster implication until Opening Day. The main reason for doing that is that a player can come off sooner.

 

I don't recall players going to the 60-day DL during spring training, but I guess it can happen. Prince will certainly be going back as soon as he can and as soon as the Rangers can use his roster spot.

[djoctagone]

on 13 february 2013, the yankees put alex rodriguez on the 60-day disabled list. that was 10 days before the yankees' first spring training game.

[djoctagone]

detroit does not have insurance on the $6 million they pledged to pay fielder for 2017, so they're on the hook for that full amount as agreed upon when they traded him to texas.

[djoctagone]

I'd like to see the Brewers sign him too.

fielder is not retiring. if he were retiring, he'd forfeit what's guaranteed to him through 2020. he is part of the texas rangers organization, and is being paid by texas (and the amount pledged by detroit when they traded him).

 

fielder has not been designated for assignment, nor has he been released. he remains on the 60-day disabled list, and will until the season ends. at that point, texas can release him or trade him (likely forfeiting any insurance money), or they can add him back to their 40-man roster (which keeps him in the texas organization). come spring training 2017, fielder is a near-guarantee to be put back onto the 60-day disabled list, then back on the 40-man throughout the 2017-2018 offseason. keep repeating this until 2020, when his contract expires.

 

unless the rangers are super desperate for a 40-man roster spot in any of the next four offseasons, i can't see them cutting ties with fielder.

 

so, if you are hopeful that the brewers sign fielder, look for that to happen no earlier than 2021.

the texas rangers settled with their insurance company, allowing them flexibility to remove prince fielder from their 40-man roster in the offseason. they exercised that right by releasing fielder today.

 

obviously, his 40-man spot can now go to any prospect or free agent, so this is advantageous to the rangers as they plan their 2018 roster.

[DocLuna7]

Do we have any idea what the Rangers settled for with the insurance company? As a poster mentioned above this is a very interesting case study on the value of a 40 man roster spot.

[DHonks]

I'm sure they gave the insurance companies a small discount on the settlement. even $500k or $1M is a savings. What I'm curious about is why the insurance companies were willing to insure Prince, especially his back. If I gain 5 lbs, I can feel it. He was the heaviest sub 6' player in MLB history.

[tmwiese55]

Prince had been one of the most durable players in baseball before he signed the contract, never missed games. They'd have no reason to think it would go like this. It's very rare that you can't insure a player, situations like Jabari Parker's upcoming contract, Joel Embiid's upcoming contract, Amare Stoudemire is famously one that couldn't be insured due to his knee injuries. Plus, baseball is the least injury risk sport especially for position players.

[EauClaireNWL]

I loved Prince when he was a Brewer, but Melvin made the right move by extending Braun over Fielder if they were only going to do one or the other back in 2011.