The Texas Rangers made a huge splash during the past offseason when they traded second baseman Ian Kinsler and his four-year, $53 million contract to the Detroit Tigers for slugging first baseman Prince Fielder and the seven years and $168 million left on his contract. Now, they may have lost their new slugger as well as that hefty 2014 salary of $24 million.
MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan reports that the Rangers and Dr. Drew Dossett have scheduled surgery for Fielder on Tuesday, May 27, to repair the herniated disc in his neck that has kept him out of the lineup since May 16. The Rangers will try to get a second opinion before making the decision final, but it does appear that Fielder’s season is over.
In his May 22 report, Sullivan described the pain that Fielder told the Rangers about in April but had well before that. Sullivan says that all involved did everything possible to avoid surgery, but it now looks inevitable. Sullivan writes,
“Fielder has been bothered by pain and stiffness in the neck for some time, but he only told the Rangers last month. He was initially given oral medication, but that did not fix the problem. Fielder had an injection last Friday that the Rangers hoped would be the solution…. General manager Jon Daniels, when publicly addressing the issue for the first time, said that surgery was not being considered, but he admitted that it was a possibility at some point if other remedies were not successful.“
Fielder so far has not performed up to his career standards, but we now understand why. With his neck injury that has apparently bothered him since Spring Training, he is hitting .247/.360/.360 with 3 HR, 16 RBI, and -0.3 WAR in 42 games. Projecting these totals to a full season would have him blasting only 12 home runs and driving in 64 runs, very far below his career average of .286/.390/.528, 35 HR, 108 RBI, and 2.9 WAR as a full-time first baseman with Milwaukee and Detroit from 2006-2013. He has missed a total of 13 games during that time.
After trading for Fielder, the Rangers had decisions to make with first baseman Mitch Moreland. Those decisions included possibly trading him. Now, it turns out very good that they held onto Moreland, who can return to first base after spending most of the season so far as the DH. Moreland is hitting .286/.330/.429 with 2 HR and 15 RBI in 38 games. He hit 23 HR and drove in 60 runs last year.
Fielder becomes the 14th Ranger currently on the disabled list as of May 22. He is not officially disabled at this point, but surgery or not, disablement is a certainty. It is another in a series of huge blows to both the offense and the pitching staff that the Rangers have suffered already this year.
PHOTO CREDIT: AP Photo/David Zalubowski
