First reported by Jon Heyman of CBS Sports, the Tigers sent first baseman Prince Fielder to the Texas Rangers for second baseman Ian Kinsler.
Fielder for Kinsler agreed to. Prince has texas on no-trade list but is expected to approve deal. http://t.co/9D3YUw36G5
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) November 21, 2013
In addition to the deal the Tigers will also send $30 million dollars to the Rangers which will bring Fielder’s deal down to $138 million over the course of the next seven seasons. Meanwhile for Detroit with the addition of Kinsler the team will save roughly $76 million dollars and remedy their hole at second base with the impending departure of Omar Infante.
For the Rangers this gives them a monster bat and a guy they were originally chasing before the Tigers signed Fielder to that massive 9-year, $214 million dollar contract two years ago. It also gives them pretty good value considering they’ll get Fielder at much more reasonable contract of $138 million as opposed to the $168 million still owed.
And for the Tigers flexibility may be the biggest gain here.
Sure Kinsler is a plus player but it could open the door for other options this offseason including bringing aboard Joe Nathan as the new closer and perhaps the return of Curtis Granderson in the outfield who Dave Cameron of FanGraphs believes all three could be had for less than $76 million (Kinsler of course already being on board).
Tigers fans too may not be tremendously disappointed in this deal considering Fielder had one extra base hit in 40 postseason at bats while simply brushing off an ALCS loss to Boston like it was no big deal.
