Wow! Didn't see THAT one coming. Probably should have, though. This trade makes a lot of sense for both sides. It seems like it's a straight up deal except for $30 M going from Detroit to Texas to help offset Fielders gargantuan salary.
The Tigers had a logjam of 1B/DH types with Miggy Cabrera struggling to stay healthy while manning the hot corner, Fielder blocking Cabrera at 1B and Victor Martinez blocking both of them from being the DH. On top of all that, the Tigers have a blue chip prospect in Nick Castellanos whose primary position is 3B and who seems to be as ready for the Show as he'll ever be. They also had a need at 2B with Omar Infante headed into FA. They also had a lot of money tied up in Prince Fielder for a very long time. This trade pretty much solves all of those problems. Ian Kinsler will almost surely never see another 30/30 season again, especially playing his home games in Detroit, but he's still one of the better 2B in the game.
Texas needs a bopper in the middle of it's lineup. They also have a blue chip prospect named Jurickson Profar who plays middle infield and was blocked by Kinsler and Elvis Andrus. They take on some salary and solve both problems in 1 trade.
I'm going to call this trade even-Steven and say it helps both teams about equally. Fielder's salary will likely become a problem for Texas down the road, but he should help them in the immediate future.
The trade also has some interesting fantasy baseball implications as it opens playing time for Castellanos and Profar. It probably downgrades Kinsler's value in that he moves to a tougher park to hit for power in. I probably upgrades Prince Fielder's fantasy value in that he moves to a more hitter-friendly environment. Cabrera's fantasy value will hold steady for the next year, but probably got down a little after that as he moves off 3B.
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Cabrera bump. Kinsler might not see 30/30, but he might be a better bet to break 100 runs in Detroit, than in Texas.
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree: this look like a decent win-win trade.
This is kind of unbelievable to me. You spend $200M+ on a player, and ship him down the road after two seasons? I guess it just goes to show, Sabean isn't crazy for not wanting to go after big free agent hitters for huge amounts of money... no titles to show for the Fielder deal in Detroit (they were supposed to be All-World when they signed him).
ReplyDeleteThe Giants added Hunter Strickland to the 40-man, to avoid the Rule 5 draft. Interesting; he hardly pitched last year, but they must have seen something there long term. That one I didn't see coming. The rest (Brown, Duvall, Flores) were reasonably obvious.
ReplyDeleteHe was lights out in SJ and would have made the show according to multiple sources if he hadn't got hurt. The Giants snuck him off the 40, obviously didn't feel comfortable trying to sneak him back on. This means TJ surgery went very well and he'll be hitting spring training.
DeleteI think this will end up being a bad trade for the Tigers. You can't take a bat out like Fielders and expect to have the same team. Reminds me of when Kent left and we were never able to replace him with anyone to protect Bonds. Bad move for the Motor City IMO.
ReplyDeleteI'd disagree. The Tigers need payroll flex to sign pitching, they need better defense over hitting, and they really need to address their pen somehow. You think they might have wanted to use Javier Lopez for a couple of at-bats against a certain Boston lefty? You only get so many chances at that ring, and I think they blew it by not fortifying the pen. Fielder will help you get to the postseason, no doubt, and he should be a monster at Arlington, but when it comes time to lace the spikes on in October... I think he's pretty weak out the gate. One dimensional extremely expensive player.
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