Schadenfreude wrote:zong wrote:My guess is Rasmus + reliever/prospect
Depends on what Texas' motives were, I suppose. They were looking for at least a couple big bats, and it's also possible that their initial expectation was in acquiring that player through free agency before the Fielder deal presented itself, at which point something like Santos + prospect could have been more enticing than Rasmus (especially with the defensively-sound Leonys Martin in CF). Shift Kinsler's $16m on and they might perhaps have been players for Ellsbury/Cano.
Based on them getting Prince with serious salary relief, I don't think I would've liked what it would've cost for Kinsler. I absolutely loved him as a player, but I think he is 100% in a declining age curve and it will not get better. Sure, there's still room for blips and a weird season, but actual skills, actual ability, I think the Tigers will be lucky if it's just 0.5WAR per season curve. And here on turf, it would've been worse.
I know the common wisdom is Prince was a salary dump at least to some extent, but TEX got him on a 7/138 deal for a guy still short of 30, that's not bad in today's market for his skills. And unlike Kinsler, I don't think Prince is actually all that regressed. His power has gone down a couple years in a row, but watching the guy I can't see what's stopping him from getting back to .500-.550 SLG on .200+ ISO at least for the next couple years.
Obviously it's impossible to judge what was lost without knowing what was offered. If it was JBau, then **** no under any circumstances. If it was salary relief, I likely would've been happy. If it was Rasmus/Santos stuff, I doubt I would've been super happy about it, but that's mostly 'cause I am no longer a believer in Kinsler going forward, but YMMV obviously so I could see how some would've been ecstatic with that move.