Fantasy Baseball Trade

These guys are trading unis. (Photo credit: Yahoo! Sports)

In a move that feels more like a trade that's made between two buddies in mid-July when they're gearing up for a fantasy baseball playoff run, the Texas Rangers and the Detroit Tigers have agreed to swap star players. 2B Ian Kinsler heads North to the Motor City while Price Fielder now gets to crush balls in the hitter-friendly Ballpark at Arlington. I think all baseball fans were shocked at the deal when it was announced. Any time teams trade star players, it always generates a ton of buzz. Now that the dust has settled, however, you can see that this trade actually makes sense for both sides.

For Detroit, this gives them a ton of monetary flexibility. Fielder was to be owed $168 million over the next seven years. The Tigers are sending over $30 million to help offset the cost of the trade. Texas will then pick up the rest of the tab, a cool $138 million. Kinsler's contract is more manageable in comparison at $62 million over the next four years. So, the Tigers save $76 million over the next four years. That should turn out to be huge for them going forward because Cy Young award-winner, Max Scherzer, is a year away from free agency and I'm sure Detroit would love to keep him there past this coming season. Miguel Cabrera is also nearing the end of his contract (2015), and this move allows the Tigers to keep both of their stars that are nearing the end of their respective deals.

For Texas, this gives them power-hitting lefty they needed in the their line-up. They have a formidable lineup now with Fielder and Adrian Beltre patrolling the middle. Sluggers love playing in Texas, and Prince probably won't feel any different with his new home being more conducive to the long ball compared to the cavernous Comerica Park in Detroit. By moving Kinsler, the Rangers have finally relieved the logjam in their middle infield by freeing up second base for their hot-shot prospect, Jurickson Profar. Profar was always mentioned every time the Rangers were mentioned in trade rumors because Kinsler was a mainstay at second for the Rangers. Now that he's not in Texas any more, Profar should slide into the starting role. The reason I say "should" and not "will" has to do with the most talked about free-agent on the market this offseason.

This guy. (Photo credit: New York Times)

You can't talk about the MLB offseason this year without mentioning Robinson Cano. So naturally, as soon as this deal goes down, the next thing out of the analysts' mouths is, "How does this affect both teams in the Robbie Cano sweepstakes?" In my opinion, it takes both teams out of it. For the Tigers, they have their second baseman now in Kinsler. He's one of the best in the business. The Rangers are now out of it because they can finally let Profar fill that void Kinsler left at second and become a full-time major league player. There's just one catch there, though. Let's say the Rangers still want Cano. What do they do with Profar? I think then what you see is the Yankees do a sign-and-trade with Cano to get Profar from the Rangers in an equal, if not bigger, blockbuster deal. I know the Yankees have kicked the tires on just about every free agent out there this offseason, and no disrespect meant to Brandon Phillips, but the Yankees need to start building for the future. If Cano does leave, I hope the Yankees go with the sign-and-trade route to land Profar so he could play second in the Bronx for many years to come. At the end of the day, however, I think the Rangers hold on to Profar and they don't pursue Cano.

The Devils Are Frustrating

Over their last two games, the New Jersey Devils have scored a whopping zero goals. Yes, the Devils have been shutout two games in a row. Remember when the Devils used to be on the opposite side of that? I remember that fondly, and it feels like a long time ago. Rational Devils fans have always known this kind of season was going to come at some point. Marty is in the twilight of his career, our traditional offensive powers are old, and it's time to transition to more young players up and down the roster.

As bitter as we are, we do miss Parise. (Photo credit: Google Images)

That all being said, I still didn't think that our record would be this bad at this point of the season. It's become painfully obvious from an offensive standpoint that we definitely miss both Zach Parise and Ilya Kovalchuk. On the defensive side of things, Pete DeBoer needs to keep letting the young guys play. It's unfortunate that Jon Merrill got injured in his first game in New Jersey because we have such high hopes for him. However, there is no reason not to continue playing Adam Larsson and Eric Gelinas. They have played well despite the team's record, and they'll only get better the more that they play. Luckily, goaltending isn't really and issue. Cory Schneider just got healthy again and Marty has played pretty well in his absense, all things considered. You can't really expect the goalie to bail you out EVERY night when your team is not scoring. But right now, it's the offense of the New Jersey Devils that needs help.

Devils fans are bitter about Zach Parise leaving, especially the irrationally passionate one like myself. However, if Zach Parise somehow came back to New Jersey, we would all welcome him back with open arms and root for him like it was 2012 all over again. With Ilya Kovalchuk, I don't know if any Devils fan will ever welcome him back after how badly he screwed us over for this year. That being said, there is no doubt that we as fans miss his offensive prowess; this team could definitely use some of it right now. I bring up these two guys because it speaks to a much larger issue for the Devils that's starting to become more and more pronounced as the years have gone by, and it has nothing directly to do with the players on the ice.

If you know my love for the Devils, then you know that Lou Lamoriello is my idol. If I ever become a general manager (which is looking less and less likely by the day, but that's a whole different story), he is who I want to model myself after. However, for all of Lou's strengths, his weaknesses are KILLING the Devils right now. His biggest weakness is apparent total lack of a willingness to negotiate with star players during the final year of their contract. At this point, saying that we've lost star talent doesn't suffice. We have been HEMORRHAGING talent in the last decade.

Careful, Lou. Your weaknesses are showing. (Photo credit: NY Daily News)

Some of the guys we've let go haven't looked like bad decisions (Scott Gomez, Brian Gionta, David Clarkson). However, we lost Zach Parise solely because Lou didn't feel it was necessary to negotiate during the season. Oh? Because I'm pretty all Zach wanted was Lou to talk with him during the season to get the deal done. How many times does he have to say to the media that he wants to stay in New Jersey for you to get the hint, Lou?! He'd still be a Devil if Lou had come to him after Thanksgiving and told him he wanted to get an extension done, but can't possibly be bothered with in-season negotiations. I can't blame him for the Kovalchuk fiasco, there was really nothing he could there without making that situation worse than it already was. I remember thinking that losing Paul Martin wasn't going to be so bad, but I kind of wish we had him now.

Lou also can't seem to ever manage the salary cap. I don't understand some of the contracts he gives out. They always seem like they're either too expensive, too long, or both. He also mismanages the prospects. Yes, I'm talking about Adam Larsson again. I'm sure you're all tired of hearing me talk about him, but the kid needs to play if he has any hope of turning into the defenseman we all know he could be. And it's not only the mismanaging of prospects, it's also drafting the wrong kind of prospects. I wish Lou and co. would stop drafting guys who project to be third line checking forwards! You don't have to draft those guys! They're available every year in free agency, usually on one-year deals! Start drafting guys with offensive talent. We need to fill the farm with guys that can light the lamp on a semi-regular basis. Outside of Reid Boucher, who else in the minors has any sort of offensive touch? If you're struggling to find an answer, that's totally normal. People have been saying that Pete DeBoer needs to be fired. It's not his fault. We've seen what he can do with a legitimate hockey roster. We just need to get the proper players in place, and that responsibility falls on Lou.