Prince Fielder, who hit baseballs out of Tiger Stadium as a 12-year-old, is on his way back to Detroit, where his father, Cecil Fielder, starred for seven years. The Tigers have agreed to sign the free agent first baseman to a nine-year, $214MM contract, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports on Twitter. Fielder will play first base and Miguel Cabrera will change roles, Heyman adds.
The agreement will keep Fielder in the Motor City through his age 36 season for an average annual value of $23.78MM. The 27-year-old first baseman will join Cabrera in the middle of the Tigers' order and create more than enough offense to make up for the loss of Victor Martinez.
Though the market for Fielder seemed far from robust at times this offseason agent Scott Boras has found an unexpected suitor once again. Yahoo's Tim Brown first reported that the sides were close to a deal.