The Brewers seemingly have two options when it comes to Prince Fielder: trade him now, or trade him later. Either way, they’re going to have to trade him at some point because Scott Boras is going to make sure that in a year and a half, Fielder is richer than Bill Gates’ personnel chef.

Fielder signed a two-year, $18 million contract extension with the Brewers in January of last year. Only $4.34 million remains on that contract through the end of the season and then Fielder becomes arbitration-eligible for the 2011 season. After making another $15-16 million in arbitration next year, Boras will ensure that the slugger makes $100 million once he hits free agency in 2012.

A bidding war over a home run commodity like Fielder isn’t something the small market Brewers are prepared for. They could break the bank in hopes of re-signing the slugger, but the more likely scenario is that GM Doug Melvin will seek a top-pitching prospect in a trade for Fielder now or in the offseason.

If Melvin waits, he’ll probably have more suitors interested in the first baseman. But if he trades him at the deadline this year, he might find a desperate general manager who is willing to give up a top arm in order to acquire a slugger for the stretch run.

There are several teams that could be interested in Fielder’s services, although you could make an argument for and against every one of them. The Brewers scouted White Sox pitcher Daniel Hudson on Monday night, but it’s doubtful that he could be the centerpiece in a deal for Fielder. At least not when the Rays (Jeremy Hellickson and Wade Davis) and Giants (Madison Bumgarner and Zach Wheeler) have more highly touted arms and could be interested in Fielder as well.

The Angels are another interesting trade suitor for the Brewers, although with Kendry Morales set to return for the 2011 season, it’s highly doubtful that the Halos would try to acquire Fielder this season. Thus, the top three teams at this point would probably be the Sox, Rays and Giants. (Although you can never count out teams like the Mets or Dodgers either.)

The Giants are an interesting case because they appear to be the best fit for both Fielder and Melvin. They have no shortage of arms at every level and they could obviously use another bat to go along with Buster Posey, Aubrey Huff and Pablo Sandoval (who has recently started to look like the hitter he was in ‘09) in the middle of their lineup. We also know that Melvin likes Bumgarner, Jonathan Sanchez and Matt Cain, so if Giants’ GM Brian Sabean put together an attractive enough package, he could probably acquire Fielder by the end of the month.

That said, Sabean would more than likely be reluctant to part with Bumgarner, Cain or even Wheeler. Sanchez has been on the trade block before, but he alone couldn’t swing a deal for Fielder and thanks to Sabean, the Giants are woefully short on position talent in their farm system. Therefore, they probably couldn’t put together a package built around Sanchez that would entice the Brewers enough to part with Fielder.

So it becomes a waiting game with Fielder in Milwaukee. These next couple of weeks should be interesting.

There’s no way Brian Sabean will overpay for Corey Hart.

Brian Sabean won’t overpay to get Corey Hart, will he?

Oh God, Brian Sabean is going to overpay for Corey Hart, isn’t he?

If the Giants’ GM has taught us anything over the years, it’s that he’ll sell his wife, kids and soul just to get the player he covets. See Edgardo Alfonzo, whom he overpaid for in 2003 despite the third baseman’s well documented back troubles. See A.J. Pierzynski, whom he inexplicably acquired from the Twins in exchange for Joe Nathan, Francisco Liriano and Boof Bonser because the Giants needed a catcher. See Barry Zito, whom he gave a $126 million contract to after outbidding himself.

For as great of a job as Sabean has done building one of the best pitching staffs in baseball, he’s done an equally horrendous job developing position players (Buster Posey being the exception, of course). Because he wasted years signing past-their-prime veterans instead of building through the draft, Sabean has had to overpay when it comes to free agents and trades. So when I read that the Giants are interested in Corey Hart, my palms and forehead get sweaty and the room starts spinning.

Hart is a fine player and he’s having a stellar year. His career OPS of .810 is far and away better than any current Giants’ hitter outside of Aubrey Huff and he’s heading to the All-Star Game next week.

But what’s to say that Hart isn’t the next Aaron Rowand? You remember Rowand, don’t you? The guy that Sabean drooled over after he hit .309 with 27 dingers in his final season with Philadelphia? Well that guy is now a platoon player in the Giants’ outfield because AT&T Park swallowed him whole. He, just like Hart, played in a wiffle ball park before arriving in San Francisco and now, three years and $60 million later, he’s struggling to hit .270.

If I’m Doug Melvin, I’d trade Hart in a second. The Brewers probably won’t have enough to pay both Hart and Prince Fielder next year and Hart’s value has never been higher. Milwaukee needs pitching and fortunately for them, the Giants have a surplus in that area.

Even more fortunate for Melvin and the Brewers is Sabean’s penchant for overpaying. Melvin might be able to squeeze Jonathan Sanchez and a prospect or two out of Sabean for a player in Hart that doesn’t have a long-term future in Milwaukee anyway. He’d be foolish not to fleece the Giants.

So here we are. The Giants are currently wrapping up a four-game series in Milwaukee as I type and there’s no doubt Sabean’s heart is racing like a school girl on her first date at the thought of acquiring Hart. In the right package, it certainly wouldn’t be a bad thing for San Fran to acquire a good hitter. But if Sabean follows through with his overwhelming desire to be had in every trade he’s ever been a part of, then Hart’s name will probably be mentioned along with Alfonzo, Pierzynski, Zito and Rowand’s the next time I want to bitch about Sabean (which will likely be in about an hour).

Brewers’ GM Doug Melvin was miffed that the Yankees made the kind of offer they knew the Brewers couldn’t match–$130 or $140 million over six years, where the Brewers were hoping for more in the $100 million range. The Dodgers reportedly are getting set to offer CC between $110 to $120 million, plus the comforts of living on the west coast and getting the chance to swing a bat every five days. The Dodgers are also interested in trading for Toronto’s Roy Halladay, who suddenly is being mentioned in trade rumors. If the Dodgers are not able to sign CC or trade for Halladay, word is they will put their resources into re-signing one Manny Ramirez. Oh, and the Giants are also talking about making CC an offer. Imagine CC and NL MVP Tim Lincecum at the top of the rotation, something that could shift the balance of power in the NL West.

There is likely to be a bidding war between the Red Sox, Jays, Yankees, Orioles, Braves and Phillies for righty AJ Burnett, the most coveted pitcher in the free agent pool not named CC.

If you saw the Mets’ bullpen blow about a quarter of their losses last season (okay, maybe more), you know that GM Omar Minaya has made the pen a priority in the off-season. So not only are the Mets looking to sign a free agent stud like Francisco “K-Rod” Rodriguez or Brian Fuentes, they are also looking to trade for Seattle’s JJ Putz or newly acquired Rockies’ pitcher Huston Street. The terribly ineffective Aaron Heilman is being dangled as trade bait, but for the names they’re looking at, the Mets would probably have to offer up a lot more than that.

Talks seem to keep breaking down about the Padres trading Jake Peavy…first with the Braves, then with the Cubs (after they re-signed Ryan Dempster)….and now the Yankees are being mentioned. Hmmm.

And Mark Teixeira is being mentioned in the same breath as the words “Washington Nationals.” Raise your hand if you saw that coming…..