A Tale of Two Fielders
So as you may have heard, the first blockbuster trade has officially been reported this off-season and it has the proportions of a Fantasy Baseball-esque deal. The Detroit Tigers have traded their first baseman, and five-time all-star, Prince Fielder for the Texas Ranger's second baseman, and three-time all-star, Ian Kinsler. It’s extremely hard to wrap your head around such an enormous deal, so let’s try to break it down a little bit:
WHAT THE TIGERS RECEIVE:
  Ian Kinsler is easily one of the top second baseman in the league. No questions about it. Over his 8 years in the league he’s become a .273 hitter with an .804 OPS (On-base + slugging) and has received MVP votes in three different seasons. Besides his outstanding hitting ability for a middle infielder, he has a fielding percentage of .978.[1] Not too shabby.
Kinsler fills a pretty serious need in the Tiger’s line-up as well. Omar Infante vacated their second base position at the end of last season leaving a serious hole in their infield. Without the addition of Kinsler, they would have had the always reliable Hernan Perez with his mighty .206 BA playing 2B. It’s good they went out and got a solid 2B that’s attached to a 5-year deal. After adding Jose Iglesias this past year by way of trade, and Kinsler this off-season, the Tiger’s middle infield is deadly.
Miguel Cabrera probably also really loves this deal because he can now move back to his native first base position. After his injuries over the last couple of seasons moving back to first base might be just what he needs to play a full 162-game season. Once Cabrera moves, the Tigers can take advantage of the third base position by bringing up their top hitting prospect Nick Castellanos and give him a shot at the majors. If not, they could potentially sign a third baseman and use his talents in the outfield.
Another potential winner from this deal is 2013 Cy Young winner Max Scherzer. The Tigers had talked about trading Scherzer because of his potential earning power and value but with all this recently freed up money they can easily pay him what he deserves and probably lock down Miggy with a new contract extension too.
 WHAT THE RANGERS RECEIVE:
  Prince Fielder is a monster, plain and simple. In his 9 years in the league, he’s put up a .286 BA and .916 OPS during the regular season. These are outstanding numbers by any means, but the reason I mention it was during the regular season, is because he forgets how to swing come playoff time. His abilities are just wiped clean. He has competed in 8 different playoff series and in those series he’s batted an abysmal .194 with an OPS of .620. Texas is a playoff contending team every year and these numbers will definitely not aid their attempts at a World Series title. Again, to put these numbers into perspective, Ian Kinsler, the player the Rangers traded away, has hit for .311 with an OPS of .905 in his 7 career playoff series. There is a huge gap there the Rangers are going to have to make up for come October.
In addition to the star power Prince Fielder brings to an organization, the Tigers also sent over $30 million dollars to attempt to cover part of his salary, which is $24 million dollars a year over the next 7 years. That’s Bieber money. And while we’re talking about money, a quiet part of this whole deal is the new TV contract the Texas Rangers singed in September with FOXSPORTS Southwest. The deal is apparently valued at about $1.6 billion dollars over the next 20 years which breaks down to $75-80 million dollars a year. The part of this deal that intrigues me the most is the “signing bonus” the Rangers are receiving for penning the deal. Just a casual $80 million dollars will be given to the Rangers before the 2014 season, just in time for them to bring in CRAZY names to get those ratings. Crazy names like Prince Fielder, or perhaps Cliff Lee? (Speculation) This TV rights money could also pay for a catcher, like Brian McCaan, now that Nelson Cruz is a free agent. It’s not definite whether or not this new TV contract had any impact on the Rangers interest in one of the most exciting hitters in the game, but I find it hard to believe an organization like Texas, run by Nolan Ryan, one of the best pitchers to ever throw the ball, would trade such a great pure baseball player like Kinsler for a 275 pound homerun machine without having some tricks up their sleeve for a serious payout.
Back to baseball, the Rangers, like the Tigers, have a prospect that can replace Kinsler in the field. Jurickson Profar (that’s really his name) and Elvis Adrus will hold down the middle infield now instead of sitting on the trading block. Not bad defensive options at all.
 I think the Tigers definitely got a better deal when everything is broken down. Not that Prince Fielder doesn’t dominate the regular season, because he absolutely does, but Kinsler is just a better fielder, post-season batter, and has a much better WAR (wins above replacement[2]) than Fielder, and to a Pennant-Competing team, that makes a HUGE difference.
[1] In case numbers aren’t your thing and these averages are useless to you, let me try to put them in perspective. Joe Morgan, Hall of Fame second baseman and ESPN baseball analyst, had a career .271 batting average, an .819 OPS, and .981 Fielding%. Kinsler’s numbers are very similar to these and it's still very early into his career.
[2] WAR is so complicated to explain, I’ll just link a professional explanation: WAR Definition and Uses