Major League Baseball

Would Fielder opt for security with Brewers?

Published Mar. 5, 2010 8:00 p.m. ET

Ken Rosenthal

The floor for Prince Fielder's next contract might be five years, $95 million — $15 million for his final year of arbitration, $20 million per season in his first four free-agent years.

The Brewers probably would not balk at such a number for their first baseman — they offered left-hander CC Sabathia a five-year, $100 million contract before losing him as a free agent.

But would Fielder take it?

John Boggs, the agent for Padres first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, has said that if his client became a free agent, their goal would be Mark Teixeira's eight-year, $180 million contract.

Scott Boras, the agent for Fielder, surely has a similar idea in mind.

Gonzalez is a superior defender to Fielder. But Fielder owns the higher career OPS-plus — that is, his OPS adjusted to his park and league.

Boras almost always prefers that his high-profile clients establish their values on the open market. His meeting with Brewers general manager Doug Melvin and assistant GM Gord Ash on Wednesday sounded rather preliminary, judging from Fielder's account to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

Still, certain dynamics actually work in the Brewers' favor: