Ramon is not enough and Howell is probably too much.

Torri signed with the Angels in November, then that’s when the Hammy talks started up again (Reds and Rangers talked off and on for about 3 months), and then the deal was struck right around Christmas

He was replying to my comment.

brettgardner, Josey Wales…. what’s the difference. :)

I’m not recognizing any of that other than I assume you’re stretching my Borbon point into saying that they would have nobody playing CF.

and used it as leverage with the BoSox to get Hanley Ramirez. The Marlins also didn’t want to take Blalock back.

11-1, 3.75 era lol

your posting that kind of proves how obtuse you are being

61ip 71h 5HR 14BB 54K 4.57era.

Not a huge difference.

but with Halladay, I’d put his numbers more to the fact that he’s had to face what used to be a pretty good Rangers offense

we need to supplement the 1b (but we think we have at least an average one).

we could always use more pitching but in the short term, we’re getting a better one back and in the long term – who knows. we’ll ahve some money to work with, maybe we can grab another

OF – there is already a logjam of sorts but I don’t think it is unreasonable to roll with who we have and I can’t imagine Borbon’s stock has gone up so much that he’s all of a sudden indispensable.

And lower level pitcher – meh.

It is really about smoak and the pitcher and I think davis makes the loss palatable and we can deal with the pitcher loss in the future. I don’t think it is assinine to go for it now. we would still have a very good team this year (at least better) and a very good team next year (again, probably better than if we don’t make the trade). 2011 – you can worry about that later.

Whats not built if we acquired halladay and a RH DH/1b? Its not like we plan on replacing Hamilton/Kinsler just because they have been questionable this year.

Take away a few of the top guys and you’ve still got your infield and outfield locked up(unless you’ve completely lost confidence in CD), several key bullpen guys…. the only thing that would truly be missing is an ace in 2011 after Halladay is gone… but theres no guarantee whatever 2 pitchers we give up turn into one or that one of our other dozen good pitching prospects don’t turn into one. Or that we get creative in trades at other points or ownership manages a good FA contract.

I think this team is set up to still be good in 2011 without a few top prospects, and it’d be better in 2009 and 2010 with halladay thats for sure.

That said I did vote no on giving several fo the top guys yesterday.

and there is a good amound of quality to boot

2 1st rounders and 2 supplementals there right

No way.

That’s a tough one. I mean, yeah we need pitching, but then again the risk of a pitcher succeeding in the major is higher than a positional player.

I do think Smoak has the tools to make it in the bigs and have a successful career. Buchholz really hasn’t shown much in the majors and is said to have an attitude problem. I would think long and hard but I would say no to that trade

I love both players, but when in doubt, go with the pitcher with ace potential over the 1b with masher ceiling.

If I was named GM for a day or whatever and this trade came across my desk I’d call my scouts and assistants into the room and say, “I’m leaning towards making this deal. Anyone who wants to can have until the end of the day to convince me otherwise.”

up players who were central to their plans for the next seven years. I appreciate your point and would say no, they would make the trade again, but it’s just so different when the magnitude is decreased. What if they’d dealt Lester, Youkilis and Papelbon in short term efforts to get good earlier in the decade? What if the Yankees had decided in 1995 that Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera were better used to bring in a super stud like David Cone for a year and a third? Obviously way, way worst case scenarios, but we are talking about high octane players here too, not just random solid prospects. I would sing a completely different tune about anyone else in the organization aside from six or seven central guys. It just so happens that Smoak and Feliz are in AAA, and Holland hasn’t had success yet.

foolish to assume that because we had a great deal of luck in developing 1Bs, that this will continue in the future. Teixeira and Smoak were rare falls in the draft. Gonzalez developed power when he never had any in the minors. It’s up to Davis to see if he develops his patience.

A hole at 1B is a big problem, as this year’s team has shown. I think you’re undervaluing (quite severely) how difficult it is to obtain young, developing and cost-controlled power.