"Free-agent first baseman Prince Fielder will sign a contract before the first pitch of the spring, his agent said on Wednesday.

"Certainly we're going to have him signed well in advance of Spring Training," said Scott Boras, who was at the Owners Meetings on Wednesday to discuss contracts for his various clients. "I can't give you the exact date. These things take some time. That's why we have January and early February. Spring Training doesn't start until late February."

Fielder is the highest-profile free agent left on the market, and Boras certainly has a history of taking things down to the wire. In 2009, Boras negotiated with the Dodgers for Manny Ramirez well into Spring Training. The Dodgers didn't sign the then-free-agent left fielder until March 4. This year, camps don't open until the week of Feb. 20. "