When the Prince IS the Pauper
/Hitter A: .172 BA, 2 HR, .328 SLG, .566 OPS
Hitter B: .192 BA, 2 HR, .280 SLG, .521 OPS
Hitter C: .088 BA, 1 HR, .333 SLG, .417 OPS
As you read stat lines such as these, you really begin to understand the call to have the DH added to the National League game and avoid embarrassing, wasted plate appearances one out of every nine hitters.
Wait…...what do you mean that only one of those stat lines comes from a pitcher? The others must be utility infielders, right?
Well, kind of.
Hitter A is the utility infielder for the San Diego Padres and the overly excited Rangers fan favorite Adam Rosales, sporting the highest OPS of the entire group.
Hitter C is none other than the spry, young, incredibly svelte slugger Bartolo Colon, making the most of his occasional pitcher at bat and hitting his first career homerun at the age of 42.
Hitter B is the Rangers designated hitter, who remains in the cleanup spot making $24 million a year ($18 paid by Texas), Prince Fielder.
And therein lies the problem…….
What do the Texas Rangers do with Prince Fielder?
At this time, Prince shows no signs of being the player who JD thought he was trading for, due to a combination of age regression, after effects of his neck fusion surgery, and just not being very good at baseball. It has reached the point where the fanbase gets excited on social media every time Prince puts a ball in play, unleashing quotes such as “That ground ball only resulted in one out! Nice job avoiding the DP, Prince!” and “Prince hit it hard enough that the flyout was to the centerfielder, maybe this is a turning point”.
Hope is dwindling.
With that said, here are my three ideas of potential trade partners with the Rangers to attempt to find a new home for Prince, while opening up DH at bats for characters such as Choo upon his return, Joey Gallo once he is healthy and ready, and the carcass of Josh Hamilton whenever they decide to put it into the batter’s box Weekend at Bernie’s style.
As usual, this is nothing but me spitballing while mildly attempting to be logical, but openly admitting that I am both not a GM and also not very smart.
Trade Option #4:
San Diego Padres get Prince Fielder, Jurickson Profar, Luke Jackson, Patrick Kivlehan, $10 Million
Texas Rangers get Derek Norris, Melvin Upton Jr, Drew Pomeranz, Michael Gettys
Things we know AJ Preller likes: Jurickson Profar and Luke Jackson.
This one is more of just a thought following the off season rumors of Norris, who is still under club control, making his way to Texas to fill the offensive void from the catcher’s position. Norris has scuffled at the plate through 28 games this season, hitting only .173, which may help lower his price tag. Pomeranz is that classic pitcher who has not lived up to the hype that JD always seems to be interested in as a method of adding depth to the staff.
For San Diego, they get two guys that Preller was involved with in the Rangers organization, with AJ fully understanding the potential that Profar still carries. San Diego has shown that they are willing to eat some bad contracts to build for the future, and Texas can help soften the blow of Prince’s albatross by taking on the $16.45 million SD owes Upton next season.
Trade Option #3:
Boston Red Sox get Prince Fielder, Chi Chi Gonzalez, Travis Demeritte
Texas Rangers get Rusney Castillo, Roniel Raudes, Trey Ball
The Red Sox have zero faith in Rusney at this point and he has fallen on the depth chart despite his large contract and finds himself in the minors. I have no faith in Prince and think he should fall on the depth chart despite his large contract. Somehow these two things should work out together.
Boston is desperate for pitching (evident in the contract they gave Rick Porcello), so someone like Chi Chi, or even Martin Perez, would be extremely attractive for them. Demeritte adds something to the pot because at this point, they do not have much in the way of second basemen coming up the ranks to replace Pedroia (yes, I know you will say Moncada, but I have seen him twice this year and he is NOT a second baseman. Kid is huge, as he fills out, he plays a corner IF position). Beyond Brock Holt, there is not a lot of depth and even though Demeritte comes with a risk, he is getting hot enough to become a solid chip.
In regard to Boston taking on Fielder, well, that DH spot in the lineup is coming open after this season for the first time in a very long time, and Sox faithful love their full sized free swinging lefties.
The return for Texas is a risky one, with no one being particularly sure of what Castillo can do at this point after he was rewarded a large contract at an older age than most Cuban defectors. However, there are still major tools there, so perhaps it is worth the gamble (and years) to see if he is a change of scenery guy. Raudes and Ball are both young, live, arms that need tons of polish, but both have potential to be legit big league relievers if given proper instruction and patience.
Trade Option #2:
Kansas City Royals get Prince Fielder
Texas Rangers get one Jack Stack BBQ franchise, autographed Jamaal Charles jersey, season passes to the Wizard of Oz Museum
I tried to make this logically work using players and failed miserably, but Kansas City is really missing out on massive merchandise sales from having a guy named Prince play for a team named the Royals. Someone sell this to their PR firm.
Trade Option #1:
New York Yankees get Prince Fielder, Jurickson Profar, $5 Million
Texas Rangers get Andrew Miller, Domingo Acevedo
This option does not seem like the most horrific stretch to me for a myriad of reasons. It’s the New York Yankees and money has never been an issue. Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira both come off of their books this year, lowering the payroll by $53.25 million and leaving a void at the DH position. The short porch in right field plays well into Fielder’s game if he can even get back to 50% of what he was. The Yankees don’t need to have three closers when they aren’t actually winning games. Pinstripes are thinning and would make Prince look good. Profar is a world of improvement over D.D. Gregorious.
Seems logical to me. Pull the trigger, Cashman. I bet Prince would love to live close to Queens.