ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney speculated Monday on the possibility of Prince Fielder landing with the Red Sox. Buster spoke to some talent evaluators who were lukewarm to the idea, but those evaluators found another possibility even more intriguing: Fielder to the Giants for pitcher Matt Cain.

Buster says Fielder is a star slugger who would immediately help the Giants with their desperate need for offense and Cain is a star pitcher who would immediately give the Brewers an excellent 1-2 punch at the top of their rotation, teaming with Yovani Gallardo.



• I threw out a guess here Monday that I thought Prince Fielder would land with the Red Sox in 2010. But several executives flatly disagreed, saying that they thought the only way that Boston could land Fielder would be to part with Clay Buchholz and other young pitchers, and that Red Sox GM Theo Epstein will be reluctant in the near future to deal pitching after sending Justin Masterson to the Indians in the Victor Martinez trade. "They've got to rebuild their stock of young pitching," one AL talent evaluator said. "[Josh] Beckett is not getting younger, and they have to keep that pipeline flush."

The same evaluators found this possibility much more intriguing, at this point (and to be crystal clear, this is purely conversational speculation, the kind of thing that goes on in this sport all the time, and 99 percent of it leads nowhere, for one reason or another): Milwaukee swaps Fielder to the Giants for pitcher Matt Cain.

Fielder is a star slugger who would immediately help the Giants with their desperate need for offense. Cain is a star pitcher who would immediately give the Brewers an excellent 1-2 punch at the top of their rotation, teaming with Yovani Gallardo.

Fielder and Cain each has two more years before he is eligible for free agency. Fielder is under contract for next season for $10.5 million and then will be arbitration-eligible prior to the 2011 season. He is represented by Scott Boras, so in all likelihood he is going to become too expensive for the Brewers to keep, so they may want to move him this winter to get proper value for him. Cain is locked into a Dan Haren-like contract that guarantees him $4.25 million for next season and $6.25 million, in the form of a club option, for 2011, the kind of deal that is like a gift from the heavens for a mid-market team like the Brewers.

One executive suggested that if the Brewers deal Fielder, they would be more inclined to swap him for young prospects. But Milwaukee owner Mark Attanasio is developing a reputation for wanting to win -- as in, win now -- and swapping Fielder for a couple of prospects might not be as appealing as landing a frontline starting pitcher who would give the Brewers a real chance to contend in the next two seasons. They know this: They will not seriously contend until they have more quality depth in their rotation. The Brewers could use the savings from the Cain contract to help land a veteran bat, or maybe more pitching, and perhaps they could just try Mat Gamel at first base.

The Giants' lineup would be transformed by the presence of Fielder, who could bat behind Pablo Sandoval and hit cleanup and give them their first real power threat since Barry Bonds.

All fodder for the winter.