Could Fielder Become Prince of New York?

What are the chances of Prince Fielder landing in New York?

So there's some speculation about the Milwaukee Brewers feeling out the trade market for slugging first baseman Prince Fielder. The young Son of Cecil is only 24-years-old and has put up a total of 84 home runs, 221 RBI the last couple of seasons.  Combine that with the 742 pies of pizza and you're talking about one huge bat that would be a welcome addition to any team's lineup. 

So will the Mets or Yankees be making a play? Let's break down the chances for both teams:

New York Mets: The Mets have a lot of obstacles in place for a Prince Fielder deal. 

1. Delgado is currently slotted for 1B in 2009. And the Mets could (should!) consider trading him, but even if they do it just opens them up to the rest of the 1B market where a less costly stopgap option probably makes more sense.

2. The Mets don't need offense (they were tied with the Phillies for second most runs scored in the NL), they need to spend their money on pitching. In fact the very reason the Brewers may deal Fielder is because of the Mets possibly being in on their free agent starters, CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets. This also adds fuel to the third obstacle.

3. The Brewers and Mets are becoming rivals. The chase for the wild card put this on the radar, but if Willie ends up managing there it is going to be tougher for these two teams to see eye to eye.

All that said, it's tough to argue against a lineup featuring Reyes, Beltran, Wright and Fielder to open up Citi Field for 2009 and beyond. 

New York Yankees: The Yankees are a much better bet to have the interest and resources to make a deal. 

1. The Yankees need the position filled. After shedding the Jason Giambi contract, Fielder would make for a nice breath of fresh air at first base. 

2. Their young pitching is more expendable this offseason.  Guys like Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy were untouchable last year; but after both players delivered very little in 2008, expect the Yankees to do a lot more listening this time around.

3. Fielder might fit best as a DH. The option to mitigate Fielder's subpar defense makes him a less risky commodity for an AL team.

An offseason where the Yankees dealt some pitching for Fielder, then spent the big dollars on CC Sabathia is both plausible and very exciting.

All in all Mets fans probably don't need to waste the energy fantasizing, while Yankee fans may very well want to get cross their fingers and hope for a little luck.

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