Prince Fielder out of the picture in Texas - and that's a good thing

OK, fine, I'll admit it: I went to bed numerous nights in the past week dreaming of a Texas Rangers 2012 opening day lineup with super slugger Prince Fielder in the middle of it. With Fielder's presence, the Rangers would have boasted one of the best lineups of all-time.

As it turns out, Fielder won't be joining the two-time defending American League champions, instead opting to sign with the Detroit Tigers. Prince Fielder won't ever wear a Rangers uniform. And, the way I see it, that's a good thing.

You see, when I was dreaming up those Fielder-in-Texas scenarios, there was a small part of those dreams that contained logical thoughts. At no time did it enter my mind to entertain the thought of nine years and $214 million. The Tigers pulled the ultimate trigger, however, and signed Fielder, at age 27, to the fourth-richest deal in MLB history (behind Alex Rodriguez twice, and Albert Pujols).

If Fielder expected an offer north of $200 million, there was no way Texas general manager Jon Daniels was going near that bait. In nine years, Fielder will be a 36-year-old aging slugger being paid more than $20 million. In a single year.

No thanks.

These types of superfluous deals for any player over the age of 25 become particularly scary once the back end of the contract kicks in and the player's natural talent starts declining. You're basically pressured to capture a title in the first four or five years of the deal, because the player won't be in his prime on the back end, and the team (unless it's the Yankees or Red Sox) consequently won't have many additional major dollars to spend on premier players.

The Rangers, instead of throwing an asinine amount of money at one player, can shift their focus on keeping their core players:

• Josh Hamilton (age 30): free agent after 2012
• Mike Napoli (age 30): free agent after 2012
• Nelson Cruz (age 31): free agent after 2013
• Ian Kinsler (age 29): free agent after 2013

These folks are now the priorities. And considering the price Fielder was asking, that's a good thing.