Prince's Ransom

Two years ago, Prince Fielder arrived at home plate following a walkoff home run, leaped into a mob of his Milwaukee Brewers teammates and sent them tumbling backwards as if they'd just been bowled over.

The choreographed bit of theatrics in that 2–1, 12-inning victory over the San Francisco Giants ran contrary to baseball's long-standing culture of on-field stoicism, and rankled the game's deeply embedded anti- showmanship set. But it also made one thing abundantly clear: even in a lineup as punishing as a demolition crew, Fielder is still the wrecking ball.

That's worth keeping in mind as the 27-year-old slugger with the flashy smile, scraggly beard and fearsome swing gets ready to bowl over the Brewers, not to mention the wider baseball world, in an entirely different fashion once he hits the open market as a free agent after the World Series. All season long, his expected departure has hung over both the city of Milwaukee and the baseball team it dearly loves, essentially tagging an expiry date on a very talented core of players and a special partnership with left fielder Ryan Braun. In that sense, the highs of a club record 96 wins, the first divisional crown since 1982, and the subsequent post-season run, have had an end-of-high-school feel, like an era coming to a close.

Fielder's next move will serve as the catalyst for all that lies ahead, and not just in Milwaukee. Along with fellow first baseman Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Yankees ace CC Sabathia, (who can opt out of the $161 million, seven-year deal he signed three years ago), Fielder will be one of the most coveted free agents this winter, likely to see multiple nine-figure offers far beyond Milwaukee's small-market reach. He and Pujols will have many of the same suitors, and whoever signs first will leave the runners-up to fight tooth and nail over the other. As for the impact of Fielder's expected exit from the Brewers, no one can be sure what that will be. And that's true for Fielder just as much as the Brewers.

The seventh overall pick in the 2002 draft out of Eau Gallie High School in Melbourne, Fla., Fielder grew up hanging out in big-league clubhouses with his father, Cecil, the long-time Detroit Tigers slugger from whom he is now estranged. He rose through the Brewers' farm system with the likes of second baseman Rickie Weeks and right fielder Corey Hart, with ace Yovani Gallardo and Braun right behind them. Each eventually became a franchise cornerstone. Fielder made his big-league debut in June 2005, going 0-for-4 in a 5–3 loss to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He hit his first home run seven games later -- a pinch hit, three-run blast that carried the Brewers to a 7–6 win over the visiting Minnesota Twins. Fielder played 39 games his first year and was up with the big club for good in 2006, quickly becoming one of the game's most intimidating sluggers. Along the way, his young sons Jaydn and Haven have become fixtures in the Miller Park clubhouse, romping around like they own the place.

Before this year, Fielder's only trip to the post-season came in 2008, when the Brewers won the National League wild card, only to lose in four games to the Philadelphia Phillies. This year's run likely marks his last chance to win alongside the teammates with whom he's paid his dues and suffered through the highs and lows. Winning the World Series with the Brewers, he said, "would be perfect. It would be probably the best year ever."

Brewers owner Mark Attanasio and GM Doug Melvin, a native of Chatham, Ont., took a similar outlook last off-season. Rather than trade Fielder to maximize their return, they kept him and loaded up, sending prospects to the Kansas City Royals for ace right-hander Zack Greinke, and third base sensation Brett Lawrie of Langley, B.C., to the Toronto Blue Jays for solid starter Shaun Marcum. The bold strokes instantly made them favourites in the NL Central, and the July addition of reliever Francisco Rodríguez from the New York Mets only deepened the squad for the playoffs. "Last year a lot of people thought that our No. 1 goal was to trade Prince," Melvin said before the playoffs. "That wasn't our No. 1 goal. It was to try to put the best team we could together and get to the post-season. And I think [trading Fielder] was probably one of the best things we didn't do." The rub is that all the Brewers will be left with should Fielder leave is a pair of compensatory draft picks, which will do little in the short term to ease the sting of his departure.

The pain, however, could go both ways. Replicating the Milwaukee experience elsewhere will be nearly impossible for Fielder, who is quiet and reserved publicly, reluctant to offer much beyond surface-level answers to reporters. That wasn't an issue for him with the Brewers, where the media is mostly friendly and where he had Braun, who is more than comfortable in the limelight, to do the heavy lifting on that front. A similar approach won't play well in a larger market where the attention on athletes is far greater, at times relentless, especially for those who break the bank. How Fielder will handle the demands of a grander stage is an open question.

Still, all indications point to him going for the money. For one thing, he is represented by hardline agent Scott Boras. And then there are his actions over the past year. During spring training, he reportedly turned down a contract extension worth about $100 million over five seasons, a remarkable sum for the Brewers, but not in the strata of what a team like the Chicago Cubs, the Los Angeles Angels or perhaps even the renamed Miami Marlins -- looking to make a splash as they move into a new ballpark -- could send his way. Last month, Fielder, who made $15.5 million this season, said during an interview: "I'm signed for this year, but being real about it, it is probably the last year."

That's because the Brewers are unlikely to be able to offer much more. Combined with big contract obligations to Braun and Weeks, Milwaukee could end up with three players making a total of $40 million or more per season should Fielder re-sign, an unsustainable prospect for a team that must shoehorn 22 others into its payroll of about $85 million.

As intense as the bidding may get for Fielder, it may be even wilder for Pujols, the three-time NL MVP who to some is the best player in the game. Like Fielder, the 31-year-old Pujols is a homegrown star who has spent his entire career in the same place. Picked in the 13th round in 1999, one of the best draft day steals of all time, the hulking first baseman has become the heart of a franchise that will suffer immensely if he leaves.

His negotiations with the Cardinals in the spring -- when he reportedly turned down a contract extension approaching $200 million -- dominated baseball news. Pujols was likely undervalued in recent years and he now seems intent on making up the difference. Matching or exceeding the $275-million, 10-year deal Alex Rodriguez extorted from the Yankees after he opted out of his previous $252-million, 10-year contract in 2007, is not out of the question for Pujols.

Making that type of deal with the three-time MVP may be out of reach for the Cardinals, who already have nearly $75 million committed to just 10 players next year. That amount is about three-quarters of their total 2011 payroll, so unless the mid-market club with the passionate fan base seeks to hike up its spending for the coming years, surrounding a highly compensated Pujols with the necessary talent will be a challenge. That's why they beefed up before the July 31 trade deadline, knowing their window of opportunity to win with Pujols may very well be shut this winter, even if the feeling among some in baseball circles is that he is more likely to stay put than Fielder, given both his relationship with the Cardinals and his hero status in St. Louis. But all that can change quickly once the dollars start flying.

Sabathia, meanwhile, may set off an entirely different chain reaction if he opts out of his deal with the Yankees. The heavy-set left-hander would instantly become the top pitching attraction on the open market, and any number of teams seeking an ace would get in on the action.

The 31-year-old Californian has been through this before, having been traded from Cleveland to Milwaukee for prospects in the summer of 2008, helping Fielder and Co. win the NL wild card that year. Sabathia became a free agent right afterwards, and in the face of speculation that he would sign with the Angels or Dodgers in order to be closer to home, he took the money from the Yankees. The dollars thrown his way this time may be even bigger. For the Yankees, more than any other team, Sabathia is a must-get, as they already have $153 million in payroll obligations for 2012 and need their only pitching stud to make the rest of the roster function. The Boston Red Sox were undone by their pitching during a stunning September collapse, and signing Sabathia would help in that regard while weakening the Yankees at the same time. How could they resist?

A similar question could be put to Fielder, who seems to have it all right now in Milwaukee -- except for the big contract. It's easy for fans to criticize athletes for taking the money, but how could he resist nine-figure contract offers?

Perhaps there are deeper issues at play, too. Though he long ago emerged from the hefty shadow cast by his father, eclipsing his dad's accomplishments has been important to Fielder in the past. In 2007, when he became the youngest player to ever hit 50 home runs in a season, he said reaching 52 was a bigger goal for him because his father's career high was 51. "Then, he can't say anything," Fielder said, in reference to comments Cecil was making about the source of his son's talent. Earlier that summer, during a visit to Toronto, Cecil told reporters: "I led the way for him to do what he's doing. He needs to understand that. If it wasn't for me, he wouldn't be where he is." When asked about the "MVP" chants he received from Milwaukee fans that summer, Fielder told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "That's not something I think about, besides the fact my dad never did it. If I do get it, that shuts him up again."

In 1993, Cecil signed a $36-million, five-year deal with the Tigers. It was extraordinary at the time, but most of his career earnings disappeared in a string of lawsuits, gambling debts and bad investments once his playing days were over, leading to the end of his marriage. The younger Fielder sided with his mother and later accused his dad of taking $200,000 from the $2.4 million signing bonus he received from the Brewers in 2002. This off-season is a chance to blow his father's earnings out of the water, and a rare opportunity to strike it really, really rich. That home run doesn't lead to home plate, but to the bank, and when he gets there, Fielder likely won't find his Brewers teammates waiting to celebrate.

Shi Davidi is the MLB Insider for sportsnet.ca. Come back to read his insight and opinion regularly.