There was a fake tweet today that Prince Fielder to the Nationals, on an eight-year contract, was a done deal, which caused an initial burst of excitement, until it was revealed as a hoax.

But not more than 10 minutes later came a real tweet from the respected Tim Brown of Yahoo:

That's quite a shocker, considering the Tigers have never even been mentioned until today, when Buster Olney threw out a one-year scenario. The theory was that Fielder could be a one-year stopgap in Detroit to cover for the loss of Victor Martinez, and then Fielder would be able to hit a more robust free-agent market next year (when the Dodgers and Mets presumably would have their financial problems solved).

Well, this is more than a stopgap -- this is a major commitment by the Tigers, who clearly want to make another run at the World Series. Fielder and Miguel Cabrera would be the top one-two punch in baseball -- or very close to it. And Prince goes back to where his father, Cecil -- with whom he's been famously estranged -- had his greatest glory.

Now more tweets are coming in confirming Brown's scoop. Jon Heyman of CBS Sports says the deal is for nine years, $214 million. Wow! Heyman also says that Fielder will play first base and Cabrera, the incumbent first baseman, will take a new role. The average annual value of the deal is $23.78 million. Fielder will be 36 when it expires.

Not to gloat, but I've said from the start that Boras would get the mega-deal he wanted, and to discount indications and speculation otherwise.

My final sentence from the Jan. 3 post: I still expect a jaw-dropping deal for Prince Fielder.

My jaw has officially dropped.