2014 MLB Offseason

[McCall]

So Miggy moves back to 1st and Castellanos gets to play 3rd rather than shifting to LF.

[TBGKon]

So Miggy moves back to 1st and Castellanos gets to play 3rd rather than shifting to LF.

Presumably and Profar plays 2B in Texas.

[FiddySicks]

So Miggy moves back to 1st and Castellanos gets to play 3rd rather than shifting to LF.

Presumably and Profar plays 2B in Texas.

Or, Texas could go full blown retarded and throw everything but the kitchen sink at Cano.

But, I'd assume that they're smarter than that.

[drdougfresh]

Doesn't surprise me at all. Prince played like crap this postseason, definitely looked like a shadow of his former self to me. Miggy moving back to first and Castellanos at 3rd would be awesome. Free up the money for Scherzer and MAYBE for a LF (the idea of Don Kelly or Andy Dirks starting every day kinda scares me) or some bullpen help. I like this move.

I think it's a win for both teams though, depending on how much of Prince's contract the Tigers are responsible for.

[Perfect Zero]

I'm hearing that the Tigers will eat $30m of his contract. I think both teams made out really well here.

[The Six]

I'm hearing that the Tigers will eat $30m of his contract.

What does Prince get to eat?

[dbadefense1990]

I'm hearing that the Tigers will eat $30m of his contract.

What does Prince get to eat?

Well he is headed to DFW, so expect him to devour himself on Sonic, Whataburger and Dr. Pepper.

[NJTank]

Steak and ribs

[mania]

I definitely like the move.

I don't think that last year's Fielder was the real Fielder. Of course, you could make the case that the last two years, Kinsler might not have been the real Kinsler.

Fielder moves to a stadium where just the dimensions, being far more forgiving to left handed power, will result in a turnaround, as well as the ball flying a lot more in the heat. Those warning track shots are going over in RBiA.

With the money thrown in, it results with the Rangers taking on, on average, another 5 million per year than they were currently on the hook with. Yes, the actual money doesn't get included until the latter part of the Fielder contract, it's still something that I'm sure gets budgeted by Davis and Simpson.

This is an undoubtedly bold move for the Rangers. They've been relatively risk-averse in recent years, which has helped keep them competitive, and helped keep the farm system in-tact, but this is a move that defines the direction of an offseason. These aren't the Rangers that are going to flirt with a Justin Upton trade or negotiate with everyone but sign nobody. This is a throwing your dick on the table move, because it very possibly could backfire, and it's not a manageable backfire if it does... but the chance it works out makes it absolutely worth it.

[charger77]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hixt2L-kou4&feature=youtu.be

[sportst]

This is a good idea....

[dfwabel]

I definitely like the move.

I don't think that last year's Fielder was the real Fielder. Of course, you could make the case that the last two years, Kinsler might not have been the real Kinsler.

Fielder moves to a stadium where just the dimensions, being far more forgiving to left handed power, will result in a turnaround, as well as the ball flying a lot more in the heat. Those warning track shots are going over in RBiA.

With the money thrown in, it results with the Rangers taking on, on average, another 5 million per year than they were currently on the hook with. Yes, the actual money doesn't get included until the latter part of the Fielder contract, it's still something that I'm sure gets budgeted by Davis and Simpson.

This is an undoubtedly bold move for the Rangers. They've been relatively risk-averse in recent years, which has helped keep them competitive, and helped keep the farm system in-tact, but this is a move that defines the direction of an offseason. These aren't the Rangers that are going to flirt with a Justin Upton trade or negotiate with everyone but sign nobody. This is a throwing your dick on the table move, because it very possibly could backfire, and it's not a manageable backfire if it does... but the chance it works out makes it absolutely worth it.

Kinsler's agent, Jay Franklin gives us a little code.

Ian and his wife made their home in Texas. After [the Rangers] got rid of Josh [Hamilton], Ian was arguably the last player people could relate to. It’s not that he wanted to leave...But he saw things (general manager) Jon Daniels was trying to do going forward and could see the picture on the wall, that they were going in a direction that he did not want to be a part of.

people?

[NJTank]

Maybe he means people who were the core of the Rangers World Series teams, because it looks like Nelson Cruz is on his way out the door too.

Also who is more Texas than Prince Fielder?

[Still MIGHTY]

Angels trade Peter Bourjos and Randal Grichuk to Cardinals for David Freese and Fernando Salas.

I kinda hoped Bourjos could be flipped for a starting pitcher (especially with Vargas now gone), but we had extra outfielders and needed to lock down 3rd base and add something to the bullpen. Good move.

[FiddySicks]

This is a really strange one. I get that they needed a third baseman, but they basically just downgraded and took on even more payroll to do so. I don't get this one at all.

I'm wondering if the Angels are ever going to learn that you can't just throw wads of cash at older players and hope it works.

[Funky Bunky]

Dave Cameron:

"To get Bourjos, the Cardinals sent Anaheim third baseman David Freese and reliever Fernando Salas. Salas is basically nothing, so this can be seen as essentially a Freese for Bourjos swap from the Cardinals perspective. And it’s hard not to love that exchange for St. Louis. Freese has value and is a decent buy-low candidate for the Angels, but his offensive performances have always been heavily driven by BABIP, and his defense went from okay to terrible last year. Even if you expect a nice rebound season, Freese still projects as an inferior player to Bourjos, he has one less year of team control, and will be more expensive in his final two seasons of arbitration. Oh, he’s also older, and not exactly the picture of durability himself.

It’s hard to see any area where Freese is better than Bourjos. This trade will be sold as speed-and-defense for power, but Bourjos actually has a higher career Isolated Slugging mark than Freese does. This is an average hitting elite defender for a slightly above average hitting meh defender, only the meh defender costs more and is closer to the end of his career."

The Angels could've waited for a much better offer from somebody else, but since DiPoto has to get stuff done to try and salvage his job, he got desperate and made a bold move. I don't like it at all.

Angels trade Peter Bourjos and Randal Grichuk to Cardinals for David Freese and Fernando Salas.

I kinda hoped Bourjos could be flipped for a starting pitcher (especially with Vargas now gone), but we had extra outfielders and needed to lock down 3rd base and add something to the bullpen. Good move.

Freese is older, more expensive, bad at defense, and had a down offensive year. He's had a few injury problems too.

Don't know how you like this.

[Kramerica Industries]

Kinda have to agree with Funky with the analysis regarding David Freese. If there was ever a player living off the laurels of one game, it's David Freese, and I'm glad that the Yankees never came anywhere near that guy.

[dfwabel]

Maybe he means people who were the core of the Rangers World Series teams, because it looks like Nelson Cruz is on his way out the door too.

Also who is more Texas than Prince Fielder?

Cruz, really?

The following "people" have left since the 2011 World Series:

Hamilton

CJ Wilson

Napoli

Young

Murphy

You could also add Nathan to the names the agent was afraid to name.

[monkeypower]

I'm not sure what I think about this trade.

Bourjos was one of the odd men out recently because of his injuries and the Angels looking at Shuck and Calhoun to fill the spot. But Freese doesn't really help the Angels besides giving them a "full time" third baseman.

I would guess that Kendrick and Trumbo are on the block for pitchers. Kendrick could be replaced by Green and Trumbo could be replace by a platoon (whoever of Pujols, Hamilton, Shuck or Calhoun wasn't playing), but I don't want to see Trumbo go.

On the plus side, the Angels are trying to retroactively win the 2011 World Series

Stole from reddit

[ninersdd]

Kinda have to agree with Funky with the

analysis regarding David Freese. If there was ever a player living off the laurels of one game, it's David Freese, and I'm glad that the Yankees never came anywhere near that guy.

In a way he is baseball's version of Matt Flynn.