Prince Fielder Agrees to Sign With Detroit Tigers

The remaining prize of the free-agent class has landed as first-baseman Prince Fielder and the Detroit Tigers have reportedly agreed in principle on a nine-year, $214 million deal.

Fielder’s deal with Detroit is the fourth largest in Major League History. He’s coming off a season in which he belted 38 homers while driving in 120 runs and finishing third in the voting for the National League Most Valuable Player.

Fielder, 27, has averaged 38 home runs over six seasons and twice hit 46 or more. In his six big-league seasons’ he sat out eight times, playing in 99.2% of the Brewers’ game. He’s missed just one game in the past three seasons.

Detroit is coming off an AL championship series loss to the Texas Rangers, and the signing of Fielder fills a void left by the knee injury to slugger Victor Martinez.

The Tigers lost their primary designated hitter and cleanup hitter Martinez last week to a torn ACL in his left knee. He is expected to miss most or all of the 2012 season.

The Nationals, Rangers and Orioles all were reported to have interest in Fielder.