New York, NY – The big baseball news this week is the Detroit Tigers landing all-star first baseman, Prince Fielder for $214 million over nine years. Fielder will try to hit homeruns out of the cavernous Comerica Park for the better part of the next decade as the Tigers first baseman.
The only problem is that the Tigers already have an All-Star first baseman by the name of Miguel Cabrera. Miggy hit .344 last season with 30 homeruns and 105 rbi, and will still be on the Tigers’ books for another four seasons and about $85 million or so. So for the next four years, the Tigers will be paying about $45 million a year for first base.
To make room for Fielder at first base, the Tigers will be expecting Cabrera to play third since Cabrera has played the hot corner in the past. But he was a much younger, and slimmer when he last played third. And he wasn’t very good then. Cabrera made five errors in the 14 games he played at third in 2008. Now add a few years, and a few inches to Miggy’s waistline and it all adds up to a hot mess at the hot corner in Detroit.
Cabrera’s bat should make up for some of his lack of fielding prowess at third. And Cabrera and Fielder back-to-back in the lineup should scare the pants off of most pitchers. It remains to be seen how the clubhouse will be affected with the Prince coming to town and Cabrera playing second fiddle. As long as the team is winning, things should be fine.
The other big news of the week is the Giants returning to the Super Bowl in a rematch against the New England Patriots. The Giants triumphed in Super Bowl 42 (f**k roman numerals) against the undefeated Pats thanks to a couple of miraculous plays. And the Giants beat the Patriots earlier this season.
Since then, the Pats have rattled off 10 straight wins. Tom Brady is in fine form after throwing for over 5,000 yards this season. The Patriots escaped by the skin of their teeth against the Ravens last week when Baltimore kicker Billy Cundiff did his best Ray Finkle in the dying seconds of the game. It remains to be seen whether he’ll become a transgender cop and kidnap Joe Flacco.
The Giants have been playing well too. They needed two wins in their last two games of the regular season to make the playoffs and they duly beat sexy Rexy’s Jets and the Cowboys. In the playoffs the G-men beat the Falcons in the first round and put the final nail in the coffin of the Discount Double Check in Green Bay. They won in a nail biter against the 49ers with the help of a couple of timely turnovers.
I fear that Brady and the Pats receiving core are going to abuse the Giants secondary on the turf in Indy. But the Patriots defense isn’t great and Eli will be able to put up some nice numbers. The game could go either way, but I’d bet the over (55 pts).
That’s it for me. Tune in tomorrow for the Public Professor.
