Hello and welcome to the latest in our series of PRINCE FIELDER WATCHes. I was going to write this PRINCE FIELDER WATCH last night until I didn't because I wanted to exercise instead. Now I am writing this PRINCE FIELDER WATCH...at this writing...even though it's two in the afternoon and I haven't had a bite to eat for like five hours. You know how children get really surly and short-tempered when they're hungry? The same goes for me, except even moreso. The way I figure, I'm bigger than a child, so the magnitude of my bad attitude is bigger than that of a child. Just in case you can't tell I got my college degree in science. And not one of those shit sciences like biology. A science that makes you think. If fields of scientific study were urban food trucks, biology would be a carpet cleaner company van. (They don't have food.)
Has Prince Fielder signed a contract?
No.
Has Prince Fielder signed a contract with the Seattle Mariners?
No.
Is Prince Fielder close to signing a contract?
According to Barry Bloom, whose name reminds me how much I like hiking in August, Fielder will sign with somebody before the start of spring training. At least, that's what Scott Boras says. If Scott Boras is telling the truth, then Fielder is closer to signing a contract than he was the last time we did this. If Scott Boras is not telling the truth because he is Scott Boras, then who the hell knows, maybe Fielder will quit baseball and join a monastery (with a kickass softball team). Fielder has so many options in front of him. Not all of them involve continuing his playing career. Only a very small fraction do!
What does your gut tell you?
That I'm starving. Didn't you read the first paragraph? I'm so hungry I could eat at Arby's somewhere just a little better than Arby's!
What is the latest?
I'm glad* you asked! Yesterday, in the surprise to end all surprises, there were somewhat conflicting reports. One came from Bill Ladson, and the other came from Adam Kilgore.
* not glad
Both Ladson and Kilgore write about the Nationals, which is why they figure so prominently. Ladson led with a sentence stating that there's a "99 percent chance" the Nationals won't sign Fielder. That's a pretty strong sentence. Ladson subsequently softened his lead sentence, saying that the Nationals are only interested in Fielder if his price comes down, which should be obvious. If someone were willing to meet Fielder's current price, he probably would've signed. Ladson passed along word that members of the Nationals organization fear that Fielder could be a DH pretty soon. Not with them, though. Because they don't have the DH. Haha idiots
As for Kilgore, he led with a sentence basically saying "don't mind the Ladson report." A source told him that the Nationals are pursuing Fielder "patiently and aggressively," which are two words that I don't equate with one another. Baseball owners have been meeting in Arizona, and in Arizona, the Nationals' owners met with Scott Boras. Boras is trying to negotiate with ownership, rather than with front offices, so they were presumably meeting about Fielder. The Nationals' owners were not the only owners with whom Boras met.
From all this, per usual, we have learned nothing. One guy told me on Twitter that Peter Gammons said flat-out that Prince Fielder doesn't want to play in Seattle, so take that for whatever it's worth. It's probably worth nothing, but the same could be said of everything else. I think the last report we've had of actual value was Prince Fielder Becomes Free Agent.
The Rangers are supposedly out on Fielder if they sign Yu Darvish. No guarantees. The deadline to sign Darvish is next week. The Rangers will almost certainly sign Yu Darvish. Boras presumably won't allow Fielder to sign until he knows for sure where the Rangers stand. There exists some possibility that Boras gets sufficiently frustrated that he has Fielder sign a one-year contract so as to re-enter the market after the season. This possibility is slim.
Are the Mariners still in the thick of things?
I see no reason to believe otherwise.
There are reports that it could snow in Portland this weekend!
We've all heard that one before. We've all heard that one before. :(
3 recs | 47 comments
Snow is nice in theory but idiotic in practice and you should feel bad for wanting it all over your roads.
abender20 - January 12, 2012
I'm not planning to drive anywhere
Jeff Sullivan - January 12, 2012
Yeah, the whole point of snow in the Northwest is that you can be a lazy bitch and stay home.
mebpenguin - January 12, 2012
I'm not planning to stay home either
druuuuuuunk
Jeff Sullivan - January 12, 2012
This is what I love about the western half of OR and WA
Snow is basically an excuse to skip work and go get drunk.
pdb - January 12, 2012
We do the exact same thing in San Diego, except with the sun
seattlebruin - January 12, 2012
We don't do it once a week here because it doesn't snow very often!
pdb - January 12, 2012
I have a medical thing to go through so snow just means looking out the window
and that’s okay. It also tends to get really quiet, like the end of the world.
ignacio - January 12, 2012
Not east of the mountains!
Where people know how to drive in the snow and are equipped for actual weather!
GJS - January 12, 2012
Yeah try driving on hills in the stuff.
skwid206 - January 12, 2012
Snow tires!
There are hills east of the Cascades, you know!
But yeah, some of the hills in Seattle are nasty. I’ve spun out several times just in the rain, so I’d want nothing to do with some of those places in snow.
GJS - January 12, 2012
Low gear, use the clutch to give you exactly as much torque as your wheels need to move and not a bit more, get a running start wherever possible
It’s doable
Corco - January 12, 2012
It's everywhere and I don't get snow days :(
abender20 - January 12, 2012
There better not be snow in Portland this weekend, I have to move my shit back down there for school.
Cascadian Man - January 12, 2012
Oh God I hope it snows!
Snow is fun!
Eric Sogard - January 12, 2012
Who negotiates on behalf of Mariners ownership?
This is one of many times when it looks rather amateur to not have visible and accountable ownership.
hova9 - January 12, 2012
Zuh?
Mariner John - January 12, 2012
You don't honestly expect negotiations to take place in public, do you?
pdb - January 12, 2012
You should ask Mariners in the other thread
seattlebruin - January 12, 2012
Or, you know, Howard Lincoln is supposed to represent ownership.
Patrick Stites - January 12, 2012
I'm guessing this is a question regarding Boras negotiating directly with owners over Fielder.
If Boras won’t negotiate with Z and will only talk to the owner, then Howard Lincoln represents the ownership group. Since there are multiple people in the ownership group I can only assume Lincoln has been told what the ownership group is willing to spend and is negotiating based on that.
KC Mariner - January 12, 2012
THERAPY
lemonverbena - January 12, 2012
TheRapists, please, for 300 Alex.
skwid206 - January 12, 2012
If it's gonna snow it goddamn better do it on a work day so I don't have to go to work
Weekend snow is bullshit.
pdb - January 12, 2012
But I hear it will be on Monday, which is MLK day.
beastwarking - January 12, 2012
I ALREADY HAVE THAT DAY OFF
pdb - January 12, 2012
Sucker!
I really hope it snows Monday, because otherwise I have to figure out how to get to work when the bus by my house doesn’t run.
joof - January 12, 2012
A good friend once bet that he could eat $30 worth of food at Arby's
he was doing well until I started reading the nutrition facts out loud
seattlebruin - January 12, 2012
I'm surprised he could hear you read them over the sound of his cells screaming
abender20 - January 12, 2012
The cells didn't have to scream as loud to be heard since all the arteries shut down and the blood stopped whooshing back and forth
pdb - January 12, 2012
I read very deliberately
seattlebruin - January 12, 2012
When I was in Junior High the McDonalds near me in Port Orchard had an all you can eat night on Tuesdays
My friends and I used to go about once a month and having eating competitions. My personal record was $22 worth over a six hour span (this was back when the meals were only $2-$3). I honestly was not hungry for about two days after that and didn’t eat anything over that span, nor feel the need to.
TIFO - January 12, 2012
All you can eat at Fast Food places
is good for drunk people. We had a Weinerschnitzel (not sure if I spelled that right) that had all you can eat hot dogs for 2 bucks on Sunday after 4pm. We used to get waisted watching football then go there and challenge one another. Plus they even served pitchers of beer! Awesome. Although every Monday I had a hard time going to work.
datboyeddiep - January 13, 2012
I had a friend do 6 melts in 2 1/2 minutes
He spent the next hour clutching his stomach and moaning like an idiot.
MT Olson - January 12, 2012
That's nasty
I worked at an Arby’s when I was younger. I used to like eating it before I saw what it looks like! How the hell is “roast beef” so damn bad for you. I think a Regular at Arby’s with no cheese has 35 grams of fat. Roast beef is actually healthy.
datboyeddiep - January 13, 2012
Rule of thumb, everything in a restaurant is twice as unhealthy as it would be at home
usually because of a copious amount of butter or oil added
Matthew - January 13, 2012
And sodium.
InSpokane - January 13, 2012
Ace cropping job on that photo.
sanford_and_son - January 12, 2012
Needs more Japanese pitcher
pdb - January 12, 2012
I kinda miss Arby's
Not as much as I miss a lot of other things, but still.
Aussie Mariner - January 12, 2012
Fielder is closer to signing now than before
even if Boras is lying.
Paytheline - January 12, 2012
Well, yeah, it's not as if he's going to sit out the season. That would be incredibly stupid.
So, technically every day that passes he’s closer to signing.
ThomasG - January 12, 2012
Snow is really good.
Robert - January 12, 2012 via Android app
Don't be a rump ranger
Poochie - January 12, 2012
I'm starting to think he could help the Mariners
Maybe we should make an offer?
Poochie - January 12, 2012
Prince Fielder hits. The Mariners do not.
Opposites attract?
JY - January 12, 2012
Who wouldn't want to make it wit a cartoon cat
Poochie - January 12, 2012
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