Headlines

  • 2021-22 MLB Free Agent Power Rankings
  • MLB To Experiment With New DH Rule, Mound Distance During 2021 Atlantic League Season
  • Astros, Martin Maldonado Finalizing One-Year Extension
  • James Paxton To Undergo Season-Ending Surgery
  • 2021 Trade Deadline Will Be July 30
  • Diamondbacks Sign Josh Reddick To Minor League Deal
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Indians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2020-21 Top 50 MLB Free Agents With Predictions
    • 2020-21 MLB Free Agent Tracker
    • 2020-21 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2021-22 MLB Free Agent List
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2021
    • 2021 MLB Arbitration Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • Last 100 Comments
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Levine On Fielder, Rangers’ Trades, CBA

By charliewilmoth | August 22, 2014 at 4:35pm CDT

Thad Levine of the Rangers recently did a Reddit AMA in which he discussed a number of aspects of his job as an assistant GM. Here are a few highlights.

  • Levine says the Rangers’ acquisition of Prince Fielder was driven primarily by the departures of other power hitters, including Josh Hamilton, Mike Napoli, and Nelson Cruz.
  • In addition to the Mark Teixeira trade (a clear win for the Rangers that brought back Elvis Andrus, Matt Harrison, Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Neftali Feliz), Levine names the trades of Edinson Volquez for Hamilton, Frank Francisco for Napoli, and Kevin Mench, Francisco Cordero and two others for Nelson Cruz and Carlos Lee as his favorite trades for the Rangers.
  • There are pluses and minuses to today’s fast-paced media culture, Levine says. On one hand, he says, tweets often inspire real-life trade talks. On the other, it can be hard to keep news of a trade from breaking before informing the players involved. News of the Rangers’ trade of Ian Kinsler, for example, broke before the team could inform him.
  • Levine says he thinks the next CBA will focus on a worldwide draft, as well as raising the lowest team payrolls and limiting the highest ones.
  • One unusual clause one player requested in his contract was $250K for his wife’s “equestrian expenses.” Players from Asia will often include clauses in their contracts to pay for interpreters and massage therapists.
Share 4 Retweet 18 Send via email0

Newsstand Texas Rangers

AL West Notes: Angels, Feldman, A’s, Cano
Main
West Notes: Dodgers, Aiken, Padres, Posey, Angels
9 comments
newest oldest

Comments

  1. kungfucampby

    7 years ago

    Yeah, no, there will never be a salary cap. Don’t even try it, Thad.

    Like
    Reply
    • WhoKilledTheRallyMonkey

      7 years ago

      There will never be a hard cap but increasing the luxury tax rate to say 200% would significantly limit the highest payroll teams.

      Like
      Reply
    • Ivan

      7 years ago

      Maybe not a cap but hopefully a floor

      Like
      Reply
  2. Lefty_Orioles_Fan

    7 years ago

    Levine says the Rangers’ acquisition of Prince Fielder was driven primarily by the departures of other power hitters, including Josh Hamilton, Mike Napoli, and Nelson Cruz. Wait, what? I am not sure if I agree with that. Plus, now they have a rather large contract to deal with and I am not sure what they will get out of it.
    Jon Daniels had early success, but it doesn’t look good at least from where I sit.
    Large Contracts and average production if that spells trouble, Just ask Ruby of the Phillies.

    Like
    Reply
    • docmilo5

      7 years ago

      Which contract will the Rangers get the least from, Fielder, Choo or Andrus? After neck surgery, Fielder may bounce back. I think Choo’s will hurt the most, Andrus will run 2nd and Fielder will likely have a couple of productive seasons before he fades away.

      Like
      Reply
  3. Melvin Mendoza, Jr.

    7 years ago

    I still have nightmares about that Teixeira trade

    Like
    Reply
    • rundmc1981

      7 years ago

      Yeah, would have loved to have the depth, but all-in-all, I love who we have at those positions instead. Simmons over Andrus, Kimbrel over Feliz. Harrison has been decent, but his injury problems make his extension look like a reach, while Salty has been on 2 other teams, and wouldn’t have been an upgrade to McCann then, or much of one to Gattis/Bethancourt now. I regret us trading Tex to LAA and giving up the comp draft picks more than trading for him.

      Like
      Reply
      • Melvin Mendoza, Jr.

        7 years ago

        I know this is blasphemy, but I’m not so sure I would take Simmons over Andrus. Of course he is legendary in the field but he offers little offensively. Andrus is a very good defender also and a significantly better hitter than Simmons. Definitely Kimbrel over Feliz, but I think Feliz’s best position is in a setup role anyway. I agree with you on the rest, but they would at least give us some (sensible) trade flexibility. The bottom line is we traded a whole roster’s worth of MLB talent for a couple months’ rental of Tex and had nothing to show for it after it was all said in done.

        Like
        Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.
Log in Register

ad: 300x250_1_MLB

    Top Stories

    2021-22 MLB Free Agent Power Rankings

    MLB To Experiment With New DH Rule, Mound Distance During 2021 Atlantic League Season

    Astros, Martin Maldonado Finalizing One-Year Extension

    James Paxton To Undergo Season-Ending Surgery

    2021 Trade Deadline Will Be July 30

    Diamondbacks Sign Josh Reddick To Minor League Deal

    Jonathan Hernandez Undergoes Tommy John Surgery

    Dexter Fowler To Undergo Season-Ending Knee Surgery

    MLB Inspecting “Suspicious Baseballs” From Trevor Bauer’s Latest Start

    Trevor Rosenthal Undergoes Thoracic Outlet Surgery

    Recent

    Angels Select Scott Schebler, Designate Jon Jay

    Padres Activate Fernando Tatis Jr.

    Offseason In Review: San Diego Padres

    Giants Place Johnny Cueto On 10-Day IL

    Aristides Aquino Undergoes Surgery To Repair Hamate Fracture

    Pirates Notes: Frazier, Goodwin, Center Field, Oviedo

    Braves Place Drew Smyly On Injured List

    Offseason In Review: Tampa Bay Rays

    2020 Rule 5 Draft Update

    Cardinals Select Scott Hurst

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Kris Bryant Rumors
    • Francisco Lindor Rumors
    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Go Ad-Free
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • 2020-21 Top 50 MLB Free Agents With Predictions
    • 2020-21 MLB Free Agent Tracker
    • 2020-21 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2021-22 MLB Free Agent List
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2021
    • 2021 MLB Arbitration Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Indians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    ad: 160x600_MLB

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • Feeds by Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    hide arrowsFOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top
    Close

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version