With all the excitement surrounding the Prince Fielder signing in Detroit, there’s still some very real concerns in regards to the speed on the base paths and the defense.
ESPN’s Buster Olney who first hinted that the Tigers could be in on Fielder just hours prior to it actually happening touched on the potential defensive problem for the Tigers…
Cabrera already had hopes of moving back to third base, writes Lynn Henning, and he appears as if he’s in better physical condition than in years past. The view from here: The chances are about 100 percent that the infield defense is a significant problem the Tigers will have to overcome, and can overcome.
How much of a problem will their infield defense be? (More on that below.) How much will Max Scherzer and Rick Porcelloprogress?
• The signing of Fielder shows that Mike Ilitch isn’t messing around, writes Bob Wojnowski.
• GM Dave Dombrowski says Ilitch can do whatever he wants, as far as he’s concerned.
• Brandon Inge isn’t a happy camper about all this, said Jim Leyland.
• Fielder didn’t talk about his dad. I hope the media leaves that angle alone going forward, out of respect for Prince’s privacy.
The move for Cabrera will have it’s drawbacks but in the end I’m pretty confident that Cabrera will make a nice adjustment. Keep in mind this is a guy that worked very hard turning himself into a good first baseman and I don’t think there’s any reason to believe otherwise that he won’t do the same at third.
Ref: ESPN.com, Getty (image)
