Milwaukee Brewers’ first baseman Prince Fielder is coming up to his final year of arbitration eligibility in 2011, and he’s expected to earn around $16 million. Before he becomes a free agent, the Brewers may trade him since they cannot afford the $200 million contract that Fielder and agent Scott Boras reportedly want.

Ken Rosethal of FOXSports says that the Brewers may have a hard time this winter trying to move Fielder since there will be many available players at first base:

• Left-handed hitters (like Prince): Adam Dunn, Carlos Pena, Adam LaRoche, Aubrey Huff, Lyle Overbay, Russell Branyan.
• Right-handed hitters: Paul Konerko, Derrek Lee, Jorge Cantu.
• Switch-hitter: Lance Berkman.

Rosenthal says the Brewers should have pushed harder to trade Fielder before this year’s July 31st trade deadline, but there was no obvious market for him. The team may have to wait until next July if they want to find any serious suitors. Any trade with two months left in his contract wouldn’t fetch much of a bounty.

The Brewers are in desparate need for pitching. They tried to acquire pitchers Madison Bumgarner and/or Jonathan Sanchez from the San Francisco Giants in July in exchange for outfielder Corey Hart, but the Giants were unwilling to part with either of those young pitchers.

Milwaukee could second baseman Rickie Weeks. Weeks who recently chose Greg Genske as his new agent is eligible for free agency after the 2011 season. The Brewers have Brett Lawrie in Double-A who could replace Weeks. The Brewers also have outfielder Lorenzo Cain as a trading chip to get pitching.

Rosenthal concludes that the Brewers may need to lower their expectations if they want to move Fielder. They may be able to go after a pitcher who is closer to free agency along with mid-level prospects as opposed to a superstar pitcher or prospect.