Will There/Should There Be a Prince of Charm City This Season?

Rumors and talks and whatnot have been circulating for months about slugger Prince Fielder coming to the Orioles. Now before you wet yourself with excitement, first things first: It. Is. Not. Gonna. Happen. Period.

Read my take after the jump

I know MacPhail’s gone but do you really think the new GM that comes in here, with his first off-season, is going to spend $150 million on some 5 or 7-year contract for an offensive machine. Absolutely not. And yes, the contract will have to be that huge because why would one of the best players in the league want to come play for (basically) a minor league team. (Actually, some minor league teams are arguably better than the Orioles.) For one, I’d argue he’s not worth that big of a contract. And two, a new GM isn’t going to be all about blockbuster trades that won’t do much for the team this season.

Before you chew my head off, I’m not saying Prince isn’t a good player. I’m not saying he’s not a great player, because he is. But. He will not be the one factor that gets this team to the playoffs or even to a winning record….or even to a .500 record. Because the one thing the O’s were actually good at least season was offense. The Orioles hit 191 home runs this season, which is 7th most all-time for the Baltimore Orioles organization. The team also led the league in most home runs from July through September. Clearly, the offense is not in need of a $150 million upgrade. Money needs to be spent on pitchers. That’s it. I know there aren’t many out there (and I’ll do a post on this at some point) but the Orioles need to find anyone better than this season’s Matusz (how about he just goes back to the old Matusz…) and (probably) a replacement for Guthrie and a 5th starter. Prince should not even enter the conversation of the 2012 roster list.

On top of it all, we have a power first basemen. Yes, Reynold’s isn’t close to being the overall player that Prince is and I’m not saying that at all. However, Prince’s first base defensive skills aren’t much above average and based on what we saw Reynolds do at first last season, I rather him be there. Fielder hit 38 homers compared to Reynolds’ 37. Obviously their averages are very different because Prince doesn’t just hit for power, like I said.

I know everyone dreams of seeing big boy Prince in the orange and black next season and taking this team out of the basement of the AL East but it’s not going to happen. We don’t need him, he won’t work miracles for the team like an upgraded pitching staff would, and the new GM, whoever it is, won’t make that sort of blockbuster deal right away. Oh, and if you’re Prince Fielder, would you really want to come to the Orioles for more money? I mean, he isn’t Jayson Werth.