By Cody Marshall-Sultan of Sports

DETROIT, Mich–When you take a look at the players who were free agents heading into this offseason, you could probably make a competitive lineup out of them. You’d already have sluggers Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder, and a nice pitching staff to go along with them. However, Pujols has now signed with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and yesterday, Prince Fielder made his move to the American League as well.

Fielder landed in the Motor City as he agreed to a 9-year/$214 million deal that would keep the former Brewer in Detroit until 2020. For those of you who don’t want to do the math, but dream of large salaries, that’s $23.78 million each year. Prince will be entering his 8th season in the majors, but his first outside of Milwaukee and in the American League. The question is: Is Prince Fielder truly worth this kind of money? Well, let’s take a look at his stats. In his relatively short career, Fielder is hitting .282 with 230 home runs and 656 RBIs. If we’re talking averages that’s about 29 home runs and 82 RBIs a year. However, when you consider the fact that Fielder has hit at least 32 home runs in each of the last 5 years, including his 50 in 2007, as well as driving in at least 102 RBIs in 4 of those 5 years (Fielder only drove in 83 in 2010).

However, this deal should come to no surprise to anyone. Earlier this winter, Albert Pujols signed a 10-year deal worth $254 million dollars. Since he’s a first baseman and Prince’s former rival, there was no doubt that someone would have to give Fielder this kind of money in order to lock him up. Personally, I feel that this is the right sum to pay for a player who is as durable as Fielder is. Despite his size, Fielder has stayed healthy better than more athletic players in the league and has more inside-the-park home runs than anyone in history who is his size. There is no doubt that Prince will help contribute to a Detroit organization that has been a few players away from a World Series contender, especially after the hit they took with Victor Martinez tearing his ACL.

For those of you who are curious about the money situation in the MLB, Fielder’s contract makes him the 2nd highest paid player, behind the New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez. Pujols’ deal put him at 4th, with his new teammate Vernon Wells being the only one separating him from Fielder. Currently, Rodriguez’s deal has him making $32 million a year, just under $4 million more than Fielder’s new deal.