Isiah Kiner-Falefa was no longer anticipated to catch any more balls in the future, unless in the event of an emergency.
He appeared in 158 games, 156 of them at shortstop, and had a batting average of 271 with 25 doubles, eight home runs, and 53 RBIs.
When it came to his defense, he was rated above average, and his OPS+ of 85 although being below average for a star defensive player was not terrible.
After the 2021 season, the Rangers were trying to boost their infield offensive productivity, and went all out in the free agent market, signing Marcus Semien and Corey Seager just before the lockout.
It appeared that Kiner-Falefa would still have a chance to compete for the vacant third base job when the lockout was settled, but on March 12, 2022, he was instead transferred to the Minnesota Twins along with P Ronny Henriquez for C Mitver.
Andrelton Simmons had just signed a free-agent contract with the Chicago Cubs the day before, leaving a shortstop position open for him to fill.
When he was moved to the New York Yankees in a blockbuster transaction on March 13th, along with Josh Donaldson, Ben Rortvedt, and Gio Urshela, the Minnesota Twins had other ideas.
Ralph Kiner, a legendary Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder, is his distant fourth cousin.
What Nationality Is Isiah Kiner-Falefa?
Isiah Kiner-Falefa is American Citizen by birth, however, Kiner- Falefa’sancestors are from Samoa, Hawaii, Japan, and the United States.