Heyman: Rangers, Tigers swap Fielder for Kinsler

November 20, 2013 by Mike Axisa 65 Comments

Via Jon Heyman: The Rangers and Tigers have agreed to a trade that will send Prince Fielder to Texas for Ian Kinsler. It’s a one-for-one swap and the Rangers will get some cash as well.. The trade has some affect on the Yankees since the Tigers and Rangers were potential suitors for Robinson Cano, moreso the former. Detroit now has a second baseman and the Rangers just took on a huge contract that runs though 2020. Hot stove!

steve (different one)

holy crap.
Thomas

Well that escalated quickly. It looks like a good deal.
Nuke Guy

Detroit has to get much more than just Kinsler for Fielder. I guess the offseason has officially started.
- Need Pitching & Hitting
  
  Depends if/how much of Fielder’s contract Detroit is eating.
  If Texas is taking the whole contract, Kinsler is probably a more than fair return.
  - Nuke Guy
    
    Any ideas on why they’re already getting rid of Fielder after just two seasons? I’d say they could do a lot better than just Kinsler.
    - Need Pitching & Hitting
      
      Fielder is already looking overpaid and has 7 years and massive $$ left on his deal.
      This could give Detroit more payroll flexibility and let them move Miggy back to 1B.
      - Nuke Guy
        
        Forgot all about Miggy. Maybe they’ll try and extend him and Scherzer with some more money now. A pretty surprising move though. I would never have guessed that Fielder would be going anywhere this offseason.
        
        mustang
        
        THIS!!!
      - Jonathan
        
        THANK YOU!!! Everyone thought Fielder would age poorly and has ZERO baseball skills besides his bat. On top of that at age 29 he had his lowest slugging % ever and dropped off quite a bit. After seeing Pujols/Agonz/Tex decline with their huge contracts this is going to be way worse. At age 29 Prince was worth about 2 fWAR aka he was an average player. So an extremely overweight player with no skills but his bat (so he doesn’t have anywhere else to makeup value) is getting paid $24MM for another 7 years and he’s already an average player on the decline. This could get ugly. On top of that they get to move Miggy to 1B and hopefully keep him healthy and move Castellanos in to 3B.
        
        Does anyone think Prince gets 7 years and $165MM after posting a .457 slugging percentage while being awful on defense and the bases? Robbie had a better year at the plate while playing good-great defense at 2B and that’s a reasonable contract for him. I can’t believe people think the Rangers didn’t just completely screw themselves.
        
        Robinson Tilapia
        
        Actually, there were more than a few people on here who argued the Yanks should have given him that deal. I always thought that kind of contract for Fielder was bonkers.
    - BigLoving
      
      Probably a big part of it is so they can move Miggy back over to 1b. Maybe the Rangers will make a run at Cano and try to trade Andrus?
      - JonS
        
        Profar…
    - qwerty
      
      Well, if you look at Fielder’s advanced numbers you see a disturbing downward trend for the last two seasons when it comes to his ability to get around on the hard stuff compared to his best years in Milwaukee. His BB% is also way down. That’s not a good sign for someone who’s only 29 and signed for 7 more years. Fielder may only have two good years left in him before we see a big dropoff coming. Daniels must be desperate for a championship.
    - D$1184
      
      Tigers want to keep Cy Young winner Max Scherzer who is set to be a free agent after 2014 and Justin Verlander’s contract kicks up to $28 million in 2015. This move saves the Tigers about $76 million.
kenthadley

Doesn’t leave much wiggle room for Cano.
- The Troll Monger
  
  They could still sign Cano, move either Robbie or Kinsler to 3B.
  - Havok9120
    
    Yeah, but you’ve got Castellanos waiting in the wings, apparently. Plus you need some money for Scherzer/Miggy.
    
    They could still do it, sure, but that’s a lot of moving pieces.
dars

Cano is the biggest loser on this! He better agree to the Yankee offer or he will find himself with no one to take him and signing a 1 year deal somewhere where he does not like….
I insist the Yankees are better off without Cano, and rather use the money to create depth, with what they are likley to pay Cano, they can get Peralta, Drew and Infante and still have money for McAnn and Beltran. A team with Drew at SS, Peralta at 3B and Infante at 2B is much better than one with Cano, Brendan Ryan and David Adams….
- Dale Mohorcic
  
  If Cano signs a one year deal I’ll eat Kabak’s hat.
  - Havok9120
    
    Yup.
  - Deathstroke Heathcott
    
    Goddammit, someone must eat that damn hat!
- Robinson Tilapia
  
  Smokin’ crack, son.
mustang

Another side bar does this now take Texas out of the McCann race?

They picked up a big bat and $$$$ so maybe they don’t want to add another big contract.
- Havok9120
  
  Depends on who is sending how much money where. I can see this actually meaning they go harder after McCann to add some power.
  - Need Pitching & Hitting
    
    I think Texas has plenty of money to spend.
    - Havok9120
      
      Yeah, sure looks that way. Especially since they’re getting enough money to make Prince cost under 20 million/year.
      
      Just not sure they’re gonna have an offseason planning to make as many moves as that would indicate. Plus I’m not sure they’re willing to take payroll into the 160 million range without picking up some more pitching.
- Tom
  
  The other impact beyond money – they now have a future long term DH (playing 1st base for a while) in Fielder.
  
  So if folks really think McCann will be moving off catcher toward the end of his next deal, it does set up a bit of a logjam. (still two slots assuming one could play 1st though)
  
  The other aspect is they are both lefties, which I think might make them a bit less inclined now toward McCann as they really need right handed power.
  - D$1184
    
    I don’t know about that–a 3-4-5 of Fielder, Adrian Beltre and Brian McCann, that would make the Rangers a dangerous team.
HateMclouth (formerly I’mVernon)

So now Detroit will be in the market for a third baseman as well.
- Havok9120
  
  The commenters on MLBTR seem to thing that hole is filled by somebody named Castellanos.
  
  I have no idea who that is, but that’s what they’re saying.
  - http://twitter.com/IsaacforPrez Isaac
    
    Arguably Detroit’s prospect, and a top 20 prospect in all of baseball. Power hitting Outfielder/third baseman
  - The Wiz
    
    First name Nick. Selected 32 overall to the… Oh wait.
  - HateMclouth (formerly I’mVernon)
    
    Ahh I always thought of him as an OF prospect, never knew he originally was at 3B.
    - D$1184
      
      I believe they had only recently moved him to the OF, presuming that 3B and 1B would be blocked for years by Miggy and Fielder.
Handsome B. Wonderful

A 300-pounder in 100-degree Texas heat every day in the summer? Are they high?
- nycsportzfan
  
  I think Fielder has played in hot weather enough to deal with it. Playing in Texas heat isn’t gonna change anything hes gonna do with the team.
- Eselquetodolosabe
  
  Bravo ! And ironically, he’s a vegetarian. Must be eating ho-ho’s, ring dings and cheez whiz. Shaking my head ! I saw a player who looked to be on the decline. His power numbers were down, which was key to his value, along with carrying a huge residual balance on that mammoth, ill-advised contract, as well as being considerably over-weight. Someone asked, if Kinsler was all Detroit was getting ? Are you kidding me ? Unless they’re eating part of this contract, Detroit is doing back-flips and cart-wheels.
nycsportzfan

The other day i was sayng how it was alittle quiet and i was sick of all the rumours and no one doing anything, albeit, i did mention i don’t need to see all the big signings, but at least something to wet the appetite, and boom, here you have it! A few signings over the past couple days with Latroy Hawkins, Carlos Ruiz,and Tim Hudson, and now a blockbuster trade with Prince and Kinsler.

Now the Hot stove is cooking alittle bit, which is what i expected.
Now Batting

It must be really nice not to have your better players come with no trade clauses.
- CashmanNinja
  
  We even manage to get scrubs with no trade clauses. I personally think the Yanks should stop handing them out so freely.
- BFDeal
  
  Fielder had a limited NTC that included TX. He waived it.
  - Now Batting
    
    Good stuff
- Havok9120
  
  I guess you’d have to ask the Rangers. Detroit wouldn’t know.
  - Now Batting
    
    Detroit has one player with a full no-trade clause, Justin Verlander.
    - Havok9120
      
      You just moved the goalposts on me there, though that’s more my fault for forgetting partial vs. full NTCs.
https://twitter.com/KramerIndustry Kramerica Industries

Without the full details, I’m inclined to think the Tigers just made out like bandits here.
- Havok9120
  
  Yeah. Depends on where the money is going and if there’s another player, but it looks pretty good for them so far.
- Ethan
  
  They’re taking on a lot of payroll though. I’m not sure, I think Detroit won this trade. They got the best of Prince’s years and are shipping the decline off to someone else.
  - Ethan
    
    With the Tigers only paying 30M of his contract I think the Tigers “won” this trade.
TWTR

Ninja GM move.
TheRealGreg

Jeff Passan ?@JeffPassan 5m
Source: Detroit will be sending $30 million to Texas in the Prince Fielder deal.
qwerty

It’s always amazing how easy other teams are able to move unmovable contracts, but we’re always “stuck” with whomever signs with us.
- Farewell Mo
  
  Shit, I’d jump for joy if the Yankees got Kinsler for Teixiera and $30 million.
Dale Mohorcic

Looks like the Rangers got hosed. Arlington plays better than Comerica, but I think that Texas heat might kill fat Fielder.
- Havok9120
  
  Forget that, I’m not sure trading those contracts is the way too go no matter whether it makes room for Profar or not. Don’t know you want 7 years of Prince, especially when he doesn’t seem to be The One Missing Piece.
Tipsie

Prediction: Cano to Detroit. Kinsler 3B / Iglesias ss / Cano 2B / Cabrera 1B
- D$1184
  
  Detroit can’t do that AND sign Max Scherzer.
  - Dave
    
    Quite the contrary — they just took a huge chunk of money with Fielder off the books and were only at 148 million last season. Assuming both Cano/Scherzer get $50 million between the 2, they are still under the cap. Not too mention, they have close to 25 million coming off after next year with Hunter/Martinez. Scherzer is actually arb this year too so they don’t even have to extend him until mid season if they want to avoid any chance of going over the cap this year.
    
    All said, while they probably won’t max out the cap, they could sign both and stay under it…
    - Greg
      
      They didn’t just take a huge chunk of money off the books. They dropped Fielder ($24mill) picked up Kinsler ($16mill) and shipped an additional $30mill to Texas ($4.28mill per year over the 7 on Prince’s deal), so they save less than $4mill in each of the next 4 seasons.
- qwerty
  
  You’re forgetting the part where they probably have the best third base prospect in the minors ready to come up and play full time.
Robinson Tilapia

Smart of Detroit to get out of the rest of that deal. Really questionable to give it to him in the first place, and they’ve looked like perennial bridesmaids thus far. Perhaps a small shakeup helps.

Hey, maybe these sorts of moves show the Yanks it’s going to take being active to be this competitive thing they say they want to remain.
- qwerty
  
  The yankees just acquired Dean Anna, what more do you want?
Lukaszek

Didn’t see that coming…
Neil

Would it have been possible to trade Texiera for Kinsler?

I’m not sure if I would have done it, but I just wonder. There is no way that Kinsler/Morales makes us a better team than Cano/Tex. Granted I suppose that money could be used to sign Choo/McCann.
http://riveraveblues.com Mike CT

I think this opens up Cano going to Texas with the Rangers then trading Profar as part of a deal for another piece (Price?, Tavaras?) Which I’m fine with I’ve really had enough of the whole Cano thing. Time to move on.