MINNEAPOLIS _ Ian Kinsler sat in a chair in the visiting clubhouse at Target Field on Saturday afternoon and listened patiently as reporters asked him about the latest trade rumor.
Buster Olney of ESPN tweeted Saturday afternoon; "The Brewers are digging into the possibility of acquiring Tigers second baseman Ian Kinsler."
Kinsler does have a partial no-trade clause that allows him to block trades from a list of 10 teams submitted before the season. "I don't know what they are," Kinsler said of who those 10 teams are. "I would have to look and see what the 10 teams are."
Kinsler was asked what goes into determining which 10 teams to choose and said he discusses it with his agent and his wife: "There's a lot of different things that factor in: Who is playing second base? How much taxes are? If the team is a winning team? There's a lot of things that factor into it."
Kinsler has a $12 million club option for 2018 with a $5 million buyout, according to baseball-reference.com.
Brewers second baseman Jonathan Villar is batting .223 with eight home runs, 37 runs scored and 18 stolen bases in 80 games. Brewers infielder Eric Sogard had been on the 10-day disabled list with a sore ankle but was activated Saturday. Sogard, 31, is batting .331 with 24 runs scored in 43 games this season. He's a career .248 hitter who spent six seasons with the Oakland A's (2010-2015).
Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com and MLB Network threw out the possibility of Kinsler going to the Boston Red Sox as a third baseman on Friday.
"What did I think of it? I didn't think anything of it," Kinsler said of Rosenthal's suggestion. "What am I supposed to think about it?
"If that's their idea to try and get a third baseman then that's their idea. If it happens, it happens. But up until that point, I'm not going to go take groundballs at third base."
Kinsler, 35, said there's nothing to talk about regarding trade rumors.
"It's awkward," Kinsler said. "There's nothing for me to say. I'm playing second base for the Tigers tonight and I'm going to try and win a game against the Twins."
Kinsler won a Gold Glove at second base last season. He's batting .244 entering Saturday, with nine home runs and 54 runs scored in 78 games this season.
And if he's traded?
"Then you can ask me a bunch of questions," Kinsler said. "Then I'll have a bunch of answers."
