Prince Fielder traded by the Tigers to the Rangers for Ian Kinsler

The first trade of the offseason was a shocking blockbuster, as the Rangers acquired five-time All-Star first baseman Prince Fielder from the Tigers in exchange for second baseman Ian Kinsler.

Pay per head services know that Fielder still has $168 million remaining on the nine-year, $214 million contract he signed with the Tigers as a free agent prior to the 2012 season and he also agreed to waive his no-trade clause to facilitate the trade.

He hit a career-high .313 with 30 home runs and 108 RBI and played all 162 games in his first season with the Tigers. Those numbers declined last year, as he hit .279 with 25 home runs and 106 RBI before struggling in the playoffs for a second consecutive year.

Ian Kinsler is a three-time All-Star who put together a pair of 30-30 (home runs, steals) seasons in 2009 and 2011.

Kinsler batted .277 with 13 home runs, 72 RBI and 15 steals last season while being limited to 136 games by an intercostal muscle strain. Over eight major league seasons with the Rangers, he owns a .273 average with 156 home runs, 539 RBI and 172 stolen bases.

Kinsler was deemed expendable by the Rangers with prized prospect Jurickson Profar ready to assume an everyday role.

In this video you can see that Fielder and Kinsler even discussed a trade in this 2010 ESPN Sunday Night Baseball commercial, which is an interesting coincidence. To me it’s a risky trade that both teams needed to make to move forward. Only time will tell if it will pay off for any of these franchises but I wouldn’t be surprised if both come out as winners as each player fills specific needs.