11/05/24
August 10, 2016
Prince Fielder's Baseball Career is Probably Over: After a second neck surgery, Prince Fielder is likely out of baseball at age 32. He would finish with 319 home runs, the same as his father Cecil who was done at age 34. Prince was an iron man before Texas, averaging 157 games a year from 2006 to 2013. But after Texas acquired him for Ian Kinsler and $30 million, he's played one full season in three. He's still owed $24 million a year through 2020. The Rangers will pay $9 million a year, the Tigers $6 million and the Rangers' insurer $9 million.
I hate to see his career end this way. I always liked the way he played and the enthusiasm he had.
To my mind the trade for him was a good move. It didn't work out well for Texas, but I always felt it was good deal on paper. It filled a void they had and the cost was a player at a position they had multiple prospects at.
posted by Mothball at 12:26 AM on August 11, 2016
Contrary to some hot takes in Texas, I don't think the Rangers could have reasonably foreseen this. Fielder was 29 and had played three 162-game seasons in a row when acquired in that trade. It's just bad luck when he suffered these career-threatening injuries.