Major League Baseball

Rosenthal: Kinsler surprised, excited to be traded

Published Nov. 21, 2013 12:00 a.m. ET

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Ken Rosenthal

Ian Kinsler is in Hawaii, vacationing with his family.

His agent, Jay Franklin, said that for him and Kinsler, news of the trade sending the second baseman to the Detroit Tigers was like “getting smoked on the left side of the head.”

But in a good way.

“He’s excited,” Franklin said Thursday morning. “He’s excited for the simple fact that he’s getting an opportunity to go to an organization that is competing every year, that is in the playoffs and has a chance to the World Series. He cares about winning more than anything else.”

The Rangers’ logjam of middle infielders increased the likelihood that the team would trade Kinsler, shortstop Elvis Andrus or infielder Jurickson Profar. Franklin said Kinsler did not want to be traded but understood that the possibility existed.
“Ian and his wife made their home in Texas,” Franklin said. “After they got rid of Josh (Hamilton), Ian arguably was the last player people could relate to.”

Kinsler had signed a five-year, $75 million extension with the Rangers that began with the 2013 season.

“It’s not that he wanted to leave,” Franklin said. “But he saw things (general manager) Jon Daniels was trying to do going forward and could see the picture on the wall, that they were going in a direction that he did not want to be a part of.”

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