And then Prince Fielder signed a 9 year two-hundred-and-fourteen million dollar deal with Detroit.

I won't get too into the place where Prince Fielder decided to sign too much because who cares, but I will say this: it was about the money. It wasn't about playing first base because the Tigers already have a first baseman (who could move to thrid and be bad) and a catcher (who should probably move to first in the next couple years.) He'll be a DH in a year tops. It wasn't about winning (even though they are a lock for the AL Central for at least the next two years) because they are still in the AL and have to go through Boston and/or New York to get to the World Series. It wasn't about family because the chances of his family getting shot/hooked on drugs/turned out just went up about 5000%.

The reason Prince Fielder is a Detroit Tiger is because of the money and that's pretty much the only reason he is a Detroit Tiger. This isn't a bad thing. If someone is going to offer that to him he deserves it and he should take it. The Brewers certainly weren't going to (and thank god for that.) Good for you Prince. Get that money dog. I wish someone would pay me $214 dollars to write this site for the next nine years. I can't imagine what I'd do if you added six zeroes after that. That being said, Detroit? Really?

(While we're here how the hell does Detroit have the money to offer contracts like this? The population has dropped 25% in the last decade, the auto industry is a thing of the past and the city itself is going bankrupt. If I owned that team I'd be less concerned with Prince Fielder and more concerned with getting the hell out of Detroit.)

But enough about that, let's talk about Prince Fielder in Milwaukee.

Prince Fielder is one of the greatest Milwaukee Brewers of all time. No doubt. In my mind it goes like this:

1. Robin Yount
2. Paul Molitor
3. Ryan Braun
4. Prince Fielder

Is that wrong? Is it crazy to think that Prince Fielder should probably be higher? Consider this: Prince Fielder is the Brewers all-time leader in career OBP, second all-time in slugging, OPS and homeruns (#1 Robin Yount had almost 3x as many PAs); third in walks, sixth in RBIs, eighth in doubles and number one in our hearts. From the day Prince Fielder became a Milwaukee Brewer you just sort of knew he'd be one of our all-time greats and he never did anything to shake that feeling. He came up, he hit and he continued to hit until the day he left. He was everything we dreamed he'd be on draft day and more.

The thing that I will always remember about Prince Fielder in a Milwaukee Brewers uniform isn't one of his 230 homeruns, but all the balls he didn't hit. I can't think of another player who elicited more "oohs" and "aahs" when he missed than Prince Fielder. The phrase "murdered the ball" is thrown around a lot in baseball circles, but when Prince Fielder swung and missed you had no doubt in your mind that the baseball would have died if he had just managed to make contact with it. No player has ever drove an entire stadium's imaginations wild quite like Prince Fielder when he didn't hit the ball.

That isn't to say his hits weren't great too. You probably have never experienced true baseball joy until you've seen Prince Fielder leg out a triple. It wasn't just the idea of a fat man running either, it was the effort and the look of sheer determination on his face that made it such a spectacle. Prince Fielder only hit 9 triples as a Milwaukee Brewers, but I will treasure each and every one of them. Prince Fielder hitting a triple is why I watch, read and write about baseball.

And then there is his homeruns which were just spectacular. Each one seemingly going further than the last they were always a sight to be seen. The great thing about the Prince Fielder era was that it didn't matter if the Brewers won or lost, if you went to a game and Prince hit a homerun you always felt as if you got your money's worth. Still, so many of them came in key moments with the game on the line that you never truly thought the Brewers would lose as long as Prince had at-bats remaining. That's something that is very hard to quantify, but to a fan is extremely valuable. Believing that someone can always come through for you is what being a fan is all about.

We've been completely spoiled these last few years because we've had not one, but two players that we could believe in during those moments. In a strange way the existence of Ryan Braun has made Prince Fielder underrated. He's still one of the top five first baseman in the game, but I don't feel like we truly know what we're losing right now. Maybe it's the numbers obsessed society we live in that has made us this way. I'm guilty of this myself. I know that Prince Fielder's "production" has been replaced through the team's upgrades at shortstop and third base, but what I sometimes forget is that Prince Fielder can't be replaced. The Milwaukee Brewers could be a better team next year, but it won't be the same as these past few years. They'll be a team I still love, but they won't be remotely the same.

The Brewers just lost one of their four best players of all time. We're going to miss him. The team will be fine and life will go on, but there is no way that losing him doesn't suck. You can replace his numbers, but you can't replace the feeling.

In 2011, I started a business. I met my incredible now-girlfriend. Death From Above 1979 reunited, and I saw them in Chicago. The Packers won the Super Bowl and Brewers had an unforgettable season. Still, I look back on 2011 and I think it--for the most part--sucked maj dog-dick. Sure, it looked good, on paper, but I'm still a fish-lipped geek without heath insurance who's living in a shitty 2 BR upper on the Southside of Milwaukee. I have only 145 Twitter followers... almost all those are of the fake hot chick virus robot account variety. Almost every one of my major life goals remains unmet. Things could always be better. So it's nice to feel like the flipping of a calendar can bring change, usher in improvement and make room for personal growth... even though, you know, none of that stuff will probably happen.

The Brewers, too, enjoyed a decidedly good 2011. However, any season not ending in a World Series win is one to be improved upon. Obviously, the club aspires to win the World Series this year, even though the Alex Gonzalez signing seems to indicate otherwise (rim shot!). Beyond that, we can only speculate the resolutions of each individual Brewers player. And since signing Brooks Conrad and a lumpy ginger to minor league deals isn't exactly post worthy, speculate is exactly what I'll do. Here are your 2012 Brew Year's Resolutions.

Nyjer Morgan - Improve spelling and grammar to "some."

Ryan Braun - Finalize plans to endorse a chic new designer herpes medication, the world's first STD treatment in energy drink form. I know... this was not my best work.

Jeff Bianchi.

Jeff Bianchi - Get recognized by somebody. Anybody.

John Axford - Ironically grow another mustache on top of his current mustache. Also, incorporate more #stashing into his everyday life. Did you guys know John Axford has a mustache?

Prince Fielder - Find a new job, preferably not in Seattle.

Yovani Gallardo - Get a bobblehead made in his honor before George Kottaras does.

Joe Block - Redesign his website.

Mark Rogers - Learn to pitch by using his legs instead of his arms. This will come in handy later.

Aramis Ramirez - No resolution necessary.

Mat Gamel - Redeem himself in the eyes of fans after the drunken Twitter gaffe he's inevitably going to have.

Brock Kjeldgaard - Come to terms with his name being too difficult to spell for any writers to make a case for him making the 25-man roster, no matter how good his spring training numbers are.

Rickie Weeks - Calligraphy lessons.

Chris Narveson - Lay it to Front Row Amy while both of them remain at least somewhat relevant to Brewers fans.

Francisco Rodriguez - Get better at realizing when he's not wanted somewhere.

Tim Dillard - Win a bar tab with his impersonations at Comedy Sportz's open mic night. Probably pitching-related stuff, too.

Jonathan Lucroy - Get closer to Randy Wolf.

Randy Wolf - Get Jonathan Lucroy traded.

Zack Greinke - "Why would I need a resolution? This is stupid. I'm going back to bed."

Shaun Marcum - Instead of having all but five good-to-great outings, having exclusively great outings. He should have realized last year that Brewer fans, most of which had never heard of him 18 months ago, expect absolute perfection from our No. 3 starter.

Corey Hart - Probably something about him knocking his wife up all the time or having stupid tattoos. I don't know, man. This is like the 20th one of these I've done.

Carlos Gomez - Have a career year (this will happen).

Taylor Green - Tirelessly try and chase last season's popular "Beast Mode" celebration with a misguided Happy Feet Two pantomime.

Miller Park Drunk - Post more often.

Happy belated New Year, drunks.

The 2012 Milwaukee Brewers are going to look a lot different than the 2011 Milwaukee Brewers, but that doesn't mean they aren't going to still be freakin' awesome. I mean, let's just look at the 2012 infield. We lost/we're losing Prince Fielder, but overall the infield is going to be better than it was last year. I know that sounds crazy, but it's true! The Brewers are going to be better than they were last year without Prince. Believe that.

Let's meet the new and improved Milwaukee Brewers 2012 infield.

THE ELDER STATESMAN

NAME: Rickie Weeks
POSITION: 2B
STATUS: Awesome
AWARDS: 2003 College Player of the Year, 2011 All-Star, 2009 Cosmopolitan's Sexiest Baseball Player, 3-time Miller Park Drunk Player of the Year
NICKNAME: Miller Park Drunk's Best Friend
BILL JAMES STATISTICAL OUTLOOK: .355/.453
MPD OUTLOOK: Look, Rickie Weeks is my favorite player so I am obviously not going to say anything negative about him here. He's never going to be the greatest player on this team as long as Ryan Braun exists, but he is highly above average at a premium position and he's ours. He is the man. Say something bad about him and I will sock your nose.

THE JOURNEYMAN

NAME: Alex Gonzalez
POSITION: SS
STATUS: Not Yuni
AWARDS: 1999 All-Star, 2003 World Series Champion
NICKNAME: The internet says it's "Sea bass", but I think we can do better than that. Ideas: A-Gone, A-Gonz, Gonzo, AlGo, Gonzy, Alex "Shortstop"Gonzalez, Gonzamania, Alistair Gonzawley, Big Al, Beaker
BILL JAMES STATISTICAL OUTLOOK: .278/.381
MPD OUTLOOK: As the #1 Yuni defender allow me to say this: Alex Gonzalez is a pretty big upgrade over Yuni. Could actually see a slight statistical uptick from playing in Miller Park. He will still hit towards the bottom of the order and he could even hit exactly the same, but he'll be a better defender and that's what we'll need if we're going to be starting this next guy.

THE VETERAN SLUGGER

NAME: Aramis Ramirez
POSITION: 3B
STATUS: Holy crap, can you believe Aramis Ramirez is a Brewer?
AWARDS: 2-time All-Star, 2008 Hank Aaron Award, 2011 Silver Slugger
NICKNAME: Rammy (not to his face)
BILL JAMES STATISTICAL OUTLOOK: .350/.500
MPD OUTLOOK: The closest replacement to Prince Fielder we have and for the price in comparison to what Prince will get I think it's a good one. Sure, he'll be awful at defense and he might decline in the later years, but the bat plays and I think he gives the Brewers a great chance to compete in 2012. Like Alex Gonzalez I could also see a few more balls leaving the ballpark because of Miller Park. Also, he's replacing Casey McGehee who was clearly a burden on this team last season. Really loved this signing and can't wait to see him play for us.

THE ROOKIE

NAME: Mat Gamel
POSITION: 1B
STATUS: Please be good.
AWARDS: None
NICKNAME: Gammy, Mat with one T
BILL JAMES STATISTICAL OUTLOOK: .342/.476
MPD OUTLOOK: If he hits that I will be very pleased. Mat Gamel isn't the Ryan Braun 2.0 we all want him to be, but he might be Lyle Overbay 2.0 and that's pretty valuable for the Brewers at this time. If he can get on base at that clip and hit around 20 homeruns the Brewers should be looking real nice next season.

OVERALL THOUGHTS:

According to this dude at SweetSpot's calculations the Brewers are better off. Here's what he says:

McGehee to Ramirez

Offensive difference: +51 runs
Defensive difference: -10 runs

Yuni to Sea-bass

Offensive difference: +2 runs
Defensive difference: +21 runs

Fielder to Gamel

Offensive difference: -28 runs
Defensive difference: 0 runs

That's +36 runs. Woo.

Beyond that though I think we'll just be happier with this crew. Casey McGehee, as good as a person that he is, drove us frickin' nuts last year. It'll be nice to have some consistency and reliability at third base for the first time since Jeff Cirillo left town. Alex Gonzalez should prove himself to be a perfectly acceptable major league shortstop. While Mat Gamel will be just fun to watch. He won't hit even close to Prince, but it's always fun to see the young guys you drafted come up and do something, anything worthwhile.

2012 should be fun.

After failing at that the reporter interviewer random dude with a camera decides to bring up Barry Bonds (timely!) to see if Matt Kemp will say anything about him and again, he fails.

It should be noted that TMZ.com (Your #1 source for celebrity gossip! Check your local listings!) posts this video with the headline "Matt Kemp: Don't Call Ryan Braun A Cheater... Yet" despite, you know, Matt Kemp never saying that or anything close to that.

This is pretty stupid, but it shows how far this story has gone. As much as we all want to be even keeled about this whole thing and as much as people want to pretend that everyone is being "easy" on Braun because he's white, this is where we are. Yes, there are a few outlets who are playing this thing the right way (or safe, however you care to view it) and waiting until more facts come out, but we still have this. We still have Mike Golic on ESPN saying Braun should lose the MVP. We still have A-dub taking everything he learned about Braun in Milwaukee and throwing him under the bus with it. We still have two million facebook statuses and twitter updates saying Braun is a cheater. (And if ESPN (or WWE) has taught me anything it's that what people tweet is more important than any other thing in the world.) That's not even counting the blogs, the Yahoo Contributors and the Bleacher Report ding dongs. This isn't going away. Not in a world where everyone thinks their opinion matters.

The story should be "Did Ryan Braun use PEDs? Is he guilty?", but instead the story is "Ryan Braun is guilty and here's what we think they should do about it." This might just be the way we consume information in the 2011 or it might be something else. Like everyone is really dumb now and people like us, not necessarily smart but at least intelligent people, are the minority. As my friend Larry of wezen_ball said on twitter "It must suck to have a mind that refuses to wait for a (relatively) full array of facts before casting judgment. Must be a sad life."

When Ryan Braun is exonerated of these charges (and I truly believe that he will be) we will still hear about this. Maybe not from the media, although I fully expect Braun to not be a first ballot Hall of Famer (like he should be) because of this, but from the fans. (And yes, I realize I just called Ryan Braun a first ballot Hall of Famer when he has only played four seasons. What of it?) We are going to hear this from annoying fans and haters for the rest of our lives and that sucks because Cubs fans are annoying enough as it is and Ryan Braun doesn't deserve that.

Now if you'll excuse me I have some live coverage of Lindsay Lohan's probation progress report I need to watch. Only on TMZ!

Free Ryan Braun.

And now, with the ceremoniousness of an AHL All-Star Game, the tact of a sack tap, and the speed of a curry BM, Casey McGehee's tenure as a Brewer has concluded. It seemed like only yesterday he was a glaring hole in Milwaukee's lineup.

As easy as it is for us Brewer fans (and, evidently, Doug Melvin) to be rid of Casey in favor of two-time All-Star slugger Aramis Ramirez to play third instead, the times weren't all bad.

There were those times we all incorrectly pronounced his last name for a while. How young and foolish we all were! His imperfect physique combined with his absence of good looks and try-hard white guy tendencies allowed us (also lumpy, hideous and predominately crackers ourselves) to dream of one day being penciled in a default third baseman for a mid-market franchise operating under tight fiscal constraints. Remember that day game in August when McGehee hosted his belated 2011 coming out party (and immediate going back in party) when he smacked around Edwin Jackson to the tune of three homers... almost a quarter of his season total? That was kind of cool. I mean, yeah, I was at work when it happened. But I'm aware it occurred.

McGehee leaves the Brewers for Pittsburgh in much different fashion than when he came to town. Of his 407 career hits, 403 came with a barley sprig on his jersey. Each of his 52 home runs and 1 (HA!) stolen base was tallied when he was a Brewers employee. The club even saw reason to reward McGehee with his own bobble head last season, though, in fairness, it was probably just part of the ongoing practical joke the organization is playing on Yovani Gallardo. Though a less-than-ideal situation for McGehee, he'll likely see regular ABs and have a chance to be a fan favorite in a great city. Plus, he can (and, let's face it, probably will) eat at Primanti Bros. every day.

The way I'll remember Casey McGehee is as the player moved to make space for an exciting free agent acquisition; a player traded to give the Crew a return of Jose Veras, an affordable, dependable and much-needed relief pitcher; a necessary casualty of a team looking to keep its brief competitive window ajar as much as and for as long as it can. So farewell, Casey. You were pretty OK... or whatever.