Kinsler, Fielder named Futures Game coaches

Two former Rangers All-Stars have been added to the coaching staffs for the 2024 MLB All-Star Futures Game at Globe Life Field in Arlington.

Once traded for each other, Ian Kinsler and Prince Fielder will find themselves in opposite dugouts for the 25th edition of the Futures Game on July 13.

Kinsler has been named the bench coach for NL Futures manager Michael Young, while Fielder will serve as the bench coach for AL Futures skipper Adrian Beltré. The seven-inning contest, featuring top Minor League prospects competing as part of All-Star Saturday, is scheduled to begin at 4:10 p.m. ET.

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“For me, the future of the game is so highlighted now, so it’s going to be a lot of fun to be a part of it,” Kinsler said Wednesday in an appearance on MLB Network. “I never got to be a part of the Futures Game as a player, so being able to see what it’s like and seeing these young players step into a big league locker room for the first time and play in a huge stadium and see their eyes kind of light up is going to be a lot of fun.”

Fielder, meanwhile, said that when Beltré asked him to be a part of his coaching staff, he couldn’t turn down the opportunity.

“Anytime he asks me to do something I usually do it,” Fielder said. “Just being around the younger guys is going to be a lot of fun.”

Kinsler spent the first eight seasons of his career with the Rangers, earning three All-Star selections and helping the club win back-to-back AL pennants in 2010-11. The former second baseman ranks fifth in franchise history with 35 WAR (per Baseball-Reference).

“Being in Arlington is obviously special for me,” Kinsler said. “It’s a different stadium, one that I never played in, but the same fan base. So it’s going to be a lot of fun getting in there and mixing it up.”

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Kinsler and Fielder also reminisced about the time they appeared together in a commercial for ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball alongside actor Adam Scott back in 2010. The ad featured Kinsler and Fielder discussing fantasy baseball trades, with Kinsler offering to send himself and Fielder to Fielder’s team for pitcher Tim Lincecum.

A few years later, in November 2013, Texas traded Kinsler to the Tigers for Fielder. The first baseman signed a nine-year, $214 million contract with the Tigers as a free agent in January 2012 after seven seasons with the Brewers, but Detroit opted to trade him away after just two seasons.

Fielder played just 42 games for the Rangers in 2014 before undergoing season-ending neck surgery. The slugger made a triumphant return in 2015, earning an All-Star selection and winning AL Comeback Player of the Year honors, but he announced the following year that he would be unable to continue playing due to another issue with his neck.