How many PO wins did we have with Palmeiro putting up huge numbers at 1B? Nice stats and nice check. I will take 130 games of head first slides and crashing into walls. It is a pleasure to watch JH play the game of baseball. It would also be fun to watch Fielder hit 4 or 5 times a night.

I forgot that Fielder was the 2011 NL MVP. OK 25 mil/yr...

@ dcaggie: Saying they want to extend Colby is like syaing they want to extend Josh. True, as long as it's at the right price. Which means a large home-town discount. Which won't happen. But they say it because (a) it's true, they do want to extend him (if he takes a below market rate), (b) it needs to be said to keep the player's head right (I think they knew they would never pay CJ market rates all season, but you don't want him thinking that), and (c) it keeps Colby fans like yourself happy. The market rate for Colby if he has a season in the same range as his last 2 will be 3/$30m. No way they pay that to a 4th/5th starter with Perez/Ramirez coming behind him.

@ slider: Josh's body will break down in 2-3 years tops. He'll miss an entire year with injury, then never come all the way back from it. Let some other sucker be stuck on the hook for $22m/yr for a by-then-marginal player.

"We’re going to take a step back and look at it, but based on kind of where we are, I think that’s unlikely. That’s not a criticism of Prince, we’d love to have him, but sometimes you can’t have everything."
Jon Daniels on Ben & Skin this AM. I personally think they are not going to get him due to finances, but I would love to see him in the middle of that line-up. I simply put that quote here, because I know you're reading here still Ricky, and that quote clearly states they'd love to have him....kinda blows a hole all in your "they are not interested" boat I'd say. They clearly are, but it comes down to $$ sense, and its clear unless some drastic concessions are made on Fielder and Boras' end, this just isn't going to happen, but I say again, would be historic if it did.

How many PO games did we play with palmeiro at first...?

r88..to comment on your early post here..I love the way you're thinking about the press conference and the surprise of Fielder being there to, but it's on Friday because as of Wednesday when Darvish's deal was completed, he was still in Japan finalizing his divorce. Needs the 36 hours to make it to Texas to be presented to the media and fans..but your dream presser would be nice.

The last two seasons Fielder has averaged 35hr's, 100 rbi's, .280 ba and played in all but 1 game. JH averaged 28/97/.330 and missed about 70 games. In a 134 games last year MM was a comparable bargain at 1B - 16/51/.259. Also, Fielder does nothing for roster flexibility. Where would MY play at NL parks? Where would MY play when Napoli needs to DH? That is a lot of money for good stats and little else. This team has plenty of power. I may be wrong, but I don't see Fielder as a real need.

@slider: I love Josh, I really do, but I think his future with the Rangers is in jeopardy, mostly for reasons mentioned by others. Prince or no Prince, I think it's unlikely the Rangers will offer Josh the "market rate" contract he's been alluding to. Hence, it seems unlikely he'll be a Ranger next year.

Consider also Cruz, whose contract is up after 2013, I think. He might command a decent salary after that, which the Rangers also would rather not pay. Plus, like Josh, he seems to have a penchant for injuries. Then there's Napoli, who played like a hall-of-famer for 3 months. He's also up for FA after this year if the Rangers don't extend him. And, of course, there's Young, who while he doesn't really hit for power much, is one of the best contact hitters in the league.

Short of extensions, all of these guys will be free agents before 2014. Some of them might get extended or re-signed, but likely not all of them. How are the Rangers going to sustain their offensive productivity?

I'm not really sure, since apparently our farm system has many prospects that can do everything except hit for power. That offense needs to come from somewhere. Prince has one of the best bats in the game right now, and he'd be here for several years at least if they signed him. This is why so many people think he makes sense.

You might be saying, "why don't they just extend Josh? It would cost the same or less." It might. Both Josh and Prince come with possible risk factors and uncertainty about their future. If they decide they can have one of them long-term but not both, it probably will not be an easy decision to choose which, for a myriad of reasons. If they choose neither, they'd better look for someone to replace them. And elite power hitters don't just grow on trees.

@andy: I agree there are a lot of risks with all of these options. I didn't like the union comments that Josh made, but It could just be posturing. I think there would be some discount to sign here and I just don't see the risk as excessive with a 5 year deal with an option for 6. I expect 3 really strong seasons and slight decline in 2 more. Cruz, he is another one I would like to keep but he can't bat any higher that 5th or 6th. The highs and lows are too severe. He can carry a team or he can't make solid contact to save his life, but he is still a work in process and is capable of having a monster year. If Cruz and Hamilton played 150 games each they might combine for 80+ hrs and 225+ rbi's.

I don't think Josh Hamilton has any room to posture. The Rangers are the team with all the leverage here, not just with Josh Hamilton but also with Prince Fielder. Josh Hamilton needs to realize, if he actually believes in a realistic union between he and Texas from here on, that the Rangers are going to win a lot of games whether he's here on the DL or somewhere else on the DL.

JD was asked on hot stove on MLB network "Can you officially write off, no possibility at all, signing prince fielder?". JD answered "We don't want to write it off completely because of the talent he is and the impact he would make. We also need to be realistic and fiscally responsible. Ive used the term unlikely because based on what prince is rightfully looking for on the market place and what our budget is, not just this year but the next couple of years, he would be a tough fit." He refused to close the door, but depending on how you look at it they could be out or simply posturing. He could have easily said the rangers will not be adding fielder. From the sounds of it though it would take some real creativity to get it done. Also of note there may be a clue in there stating his asking price is still too steep and maybe the talk of his asking price dropping being over blown.

Tough Fit? get rid of Feldman and his $7.5 million and it wil be a looser fit.. his role is undefined anyway especially if Ogando is back to the pen..anybody can pitch in the blowouts dont need a $7 mill reliever to do that