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The reason teams were scared of Pudge was because he only averaged about 100 games over the previous three years. He looked like a catcher breaking down which is scary for a guy heading into his thirties. By taking a one year deal he showed he could still play a full season which dramatically boosted his value.
That isn't the case at all with Fielder. Teams are weary of him not because of his past (he's played every single game but one the last three years and had a great season in 2011) but because of his body and there is nothing he can do about that. If he signs for one year it won't make teams feel any better about paying him until he's 34 but if he gets hurt or plays poorly it would kill his value. He needs to get as long of a deal as possible right now while his value is still high because it's the only way he can count on getting big bucks well into his 30's. He could easily end up like Juan Gonzalez who turned down a huge long term deal only to see his career nose-dive and that risk is completely not worth it. If 150 million bucks are on the table you have to take it instead of trying to get another 20 or 30 million.