OT: Prince Fielder dealt to Texas for Ian Kinsler
November 20th, 2013 at 8:27 PM ^
I like that the story on CBS says "we havent confirmed any contract details or talked to anyone involved, but we learned that it's happening." Great to get rid of that contract and keep Scherzer on going forward.
November 20th, 2013 at 8:31 PM ^
November 20th, 2013 at 8:36 PM ^
wow, if true...well wow.
November 20th, 2013 at 8:42 PM ^
Supposedly, Fielder's contract had a limited no-trade clause which named the Rangers, but from the sound of things right now, that doesn't appear to be an issue. I believe the Rangers were in the running for him when Detroit came to him with a few wheelbarrows full of cash two years ago as well. There's also a rumor that it might involve another player, but no information on who that might be.
November 20th, 2013 at 10:12 PM ^
November 20th, 2013 at 10:19 PM ^
November 21st, 2013 at 1:05 AM ^
November 20th, 2013 at 10:24 PM ^
They saved a shit load of money by trading away Prince. That's a major win in my book. Prince is on a decline (ditto with Kinsler) and that does not justify his current contract. Kinsler's WAR is better than Prince.
November 20th, 2013 at 11:07 PM ^
If you think Kinsler is meh now, I'd love for you to see Prince at the end of his contract. And to me, 25 HRs/100 RBIs from a $20mil/year player isn't too great either.
November 21st, 2013 at 5:57 AM ^
November 20th, 2013 at 11:16 PM ^
Below average defense, not a great base runner and had an OPS barely better than Don Kelly for most of the season. This was a contract that most baseball people said would be an issue once his play starts to decline.
By offloading that big contract, they can keep their Cy Young winner, and get a better corner outfielder than Andy Dirks. Personally, I'd go after Ellsbury and stick him in left field and have him bat leadoff. Probably wishful thinking, but it's something I'd look into.
November 21st, 2013 at 2:02 AM ^
The Greatest base runner.
November 21st, 2013 at 8:18 AM ^
<inserts gif of Fielder doing a belly flop and getting tagged out>
November 21st, 2013 at 8:49 AM ^
Moneyball, yo.
Would you rather spend more money and have:
- 1B: Fielder
- 2B: Whatever rotting corpse you can find
- SS: Iglecias
- 3B: Cabrera
Or spend less money and have:
- 1B: Cabrera
- 2B: Kinsler
- SS: Iglecias
- 3B: Castellanos / resign Jhonny / Whomever
November 21st, 2013 at 9:29 AM ^
Iglesias***
November 20th, 2013 at 11:50 PM ^
We need to figure a way to work out both have this avatar.
Meet me in the alley for a dangerous game of rock/paper/scissors.
November 21st, 2013 at 2:09 AM ^
No, it should be which one of you can eat the most elk penis in a light cream testicle sauce topped with diced pig bladder.
November 21st, 2013 at 2:28 AM ^
I respect the effort, but...
wtf?
November 21st, 2013 at 2:40 AM ^
Oh, come on, you chose that avatar and don't know about the Fear Factor skit (skip to 4:10 for the relevant part - NSFW)?
November 21st, 2013 at 4:38 AM ^
" I don't know if you know this Joe Rogan, but I smoke rocks"
November 20th, 2013 at 8:31 PM ^
Geez gotta be fast around these parts, was just going to post it, too slow by 3 minutes.
I say thank you rangers. It will be interesting to see how much salary Detroit has to eat. Kinsler makes 13M. We need playoff performers and this moves Cabrera back to first I think (or V Martinez can go there) which helps in NL parks as we can play a normal catche.
November 20th, 2013 at 8:29 PM ^
THis would be HUGE for the Tigers. Fielders numbers have been declining each year, we could resign Scherzer, move Cabby to first base, and play Castellanos at his natural position at third. Would improve our defense dramatically.
November 20th, 2013 at 8:35 PM ^
Defense was never really the issue though. It gets blown way out of proportion because people always assumed it would be bad with Cabby and Prince in the same infield but Cabrera was actually very good at third until he got injured. Plus, with the amount of strikeouts our rotation gets the defense doesn't have to be stellar anyway. The issue is the streaky offense, and the fact that they frustratingly always seem to go cold as a team rather than one at a time. This will improve the defense, but not dramatically. The biggest thing we gain from this is resigning Scherzer.
November 20th, 2013 at 8:39 PM ^
Cabby was a below average defensive Third baseman and Fielder is a below average defensive First baseman.
November 20th, 2013 at 8:59 PM ^
I think you're overestimating the "quality" of the Tigers' defense with Prince and Miggy at the corners. That Miggy was better than expected does not mean he was good. His range was quite limited. And Prince's was worse. The Tigers had one of the most porous infields in baseball. Now that issue is largely rectified. And defense matters a lot. With our starting pitching, plus a greatly improved infield, opposing teams are gonna have a hell of a time scoring.
November 20th, 2013 at 11:19 PM ^
That lazy ass effort he made in the ninth inning of Game 2 for Iglesias' low throw was enough for me. He looked disinterested. He did go through a divorce, so I'm sure that had an effect, but I mean he started out the season fine. Then he just because pretty average, definitely not worth the money he's making.
November 20th, 2013 at 8:40 PM ^
Fielder's numbers have not been declining each year.
November 20th, 2013 at 8:44 PM ^
OBP and Slug %, but you're correct maybe I exaggerated a bit.
November 20th, 2013 at 8:30 PM ^
November 20th, 2013 at 8:30 PM ^
November 20th, 2013 at 8:30 PM ^
I did not see this coming. Not sure how I feel about it. I think Fielder just had a down year and will be back. If it turns out he never regains his Brewer form though this will go down as one of the best Tiger moves I can remember.
November 20th, 2013 at 8:33 PM ^
There is no downside ... the deal is egregious. Only a guy like Cabrera should get the contract Fielder got. Ilitch negotiated against himself, there is probably $6M a year extra every year in that contract versus what Fielder would have received in the open market.
November 20th, 2013 at 8:34 PM ^
Love the MLive trolls who deride 'Dumbrowski'. Yes mr. I opened up his check book but he's made some very shrewd moves.
November 20th, 2013 at 8:39 PM ^
Yep. Tigers are like Red Wings of yesteryear...all that matters is playoff performance at this point. I could care less if Fielder hits 50HR and has 150 RBIs in regular season - he does not perform in the playoffs.
November 20th, 2013 at 8:31 PM ^
November 20th, 2013 at 8:34 PM ^
But I'm sad. I like Prince.
November 20th, 2013 at 8:36 PM ^
November 20th, 2013 at 8:50 PM ^
I've got his Bobblehead. But it was free....so....
November 20th, 2013 at 9:15 PM ^
November 20th, 2013 at 9:00 PM ^
Definitely a better ballpark for the long ball, but that guy is going to melt in the mid-July Texas heat. As a big man who lived in Dallas, I speak from experience.
November 21st, 2013 at 8:38 AM ^
November 20th, 2013 at 8:32 PM ^
So happy the Tigers made this move. Move Miggy back over to 1st. Should be solid defensively now.
November 20th, 2013 at 8:35 PM ^
Fielder has been a better player than Kinsler his entire career, but if this allows up to keep Scherzer and improve our defense, so be it.
November 20th, 2013 at 8:43 PM ^
LOL. Noone is saying Kinsler is a better player. Fielder has $168M owed over next 7 years. Kinsler is signed through 2017 with a front loaded contract it appears so he will begin to drop fromthe $13M go forward from here. (total was 5yr $75M with an option for 6th)
November 20th, 2013 at 10:37 PM ^
November 20th, 2013 at 9:25 PM ^
November 20th, 2013 at 8:40 PM ^
I hope this means that Texas is just making room for Profar and not clearing 2B for Cano.
November 20th, 2013 at 8:44 PM ^
Profar is too talented not to be on the roster and bench. Dude is legit good. Texas has Andrus locked up for years to come at SS which locks out Profar if they still have Kinsler.
November 20th, 2013 at 8:45 PM ^
What does this do to Infante? He was one of our strongest pieces and a key guy to have towards the bottom of the order because he never strikes out. I was really happy when we reacquired him.
Also Fielder offered some vital protection for Miggy in the lineup. VMart can provide that but the middle of the order looks a lot less scary now.
November 20th, 2013 at 8:45 PM ^
I won't mind if that's the case. That mean defense should be good except at 1B where Miggy is average at best.