Even After Signing Darvish, Rangers Still Want Prince Fielder

The Texas Rangers made a big move Wednesday afternoon by signing Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish to a six-year, $60 million deal. When considering the posting fee paid just to negotiate with the right-hander, that means the Rangers spent over $110 million to get Darvish on board.

After spending that kind of dough it would be reasonable to assume Texas is done dipping into the free agent pool. Not so fast dear readers.

The Rangers are apparently still very interested in landing first baseman Prince Fielder, and Fielder is still very interested in heading to Texas.

The Rangers and Fielder met last week before Darvish was signed, and according to multiple reports, the franchise has enough money to bring in both players. The question is, will they?

Earlier in the week Jon Morosi reported that the Rangers were downplaying the possibility of landing both Darvish and Fielder. That may actually just be posturing though, since we know they have the money to make both deals. Apparently right as the deal with Darvish was wrapped up today, it was being reported that the Rangers would like to bring Fielder in on a short-term deal. And also that the left-handed slugger has made it clear that he Texas is his preferred destination.

That said, if Fielder could get a blockbuster, long-term deal from a team like the Washington Nationals or Seattle Mariners, he may end up taking it simply because he couldn’t afford to pass up that kind of money.

What we take from all of this is that the Rangers can get Fielder if they want him. Now they just have to decide how much money and how many years they’re willing to commit to him.