you trade whomever at this point for an arm like Quintana. You pray that just one of your arms in the farm system turn into a quintana-level starter. why sit on a hope and a prayer when you can get the real thing at a very friendly contract? as others have said i have no doubt that lunhow & co. can restock the farm system. but you stock the farm system in part to help pry away players like quintana to help the big league club compete for pennants. obviously i'm not including bregman in all this. git r dun maury!
That is different than your earlier claim that I was responding to - that you'd be sickened if the front office even *considered* the value of Martes or Tucker or anyone else in their decision making. That's not picking spots - that's just being stupid. Based on that, they should trade all their prospects for anyone who could help the team this year, whether a little or a lot.
That's what makes this an easy "do it now" trade for me It isn't three top prospects for a rental, it's for a guy who can be a force in your rotation for the next 4 years...it's a no brainer in my opinion
They way I see it is the White Sox want Musgrove and the Astros aren't moving him. There isn't much else to talk about after that. I think the Astros are correct not to move Musgrove + top prospects for Quintana.
And here I thought it was ... The White Sox want Tucker the Younger and the Astros aren't moving him.
I'm fine with using Martes as the centerpiece. You're getting back a #2 pitcher for 4 years at a really good price. I would not part with Musgrove. We need to hold on to as much MLB ready pitching as possible. I'd be hesitant to part with Tucker, but if he was the piece they're not willing to move off of, I would go ahead. I'd try to sub in Paulino for Musgrove and call it a day. I'd love to trade a package of Martes, Paulino, Reed, and Fisher for Quintana to hold onto Tucker.
I can understand not wanting to move Bregman or Tucker; those are top 5 draft picks that they probably won't be able to replicate any time soon. But look at what Luhnow and his team has been able to do: Success with late 1st rd picks: Fisher, Reed, Whitley Success with low level lottos: Martes (for 1/5 of Jarred Cosart), Paulino (for 1/2 of 1/2 a season of Jose Veras), Musgrove (for a pupu platter), Hader (for 1/3 of Norris) Success with international signings: F Perez, Abreu, Guzman, etc. Mid round picks that Provide value: Rodgers, Tucker, Kemp, Ruiz, Nottingham, Phillips, Mengden, Eschelman, Thurman Late round picks: White, Hauschild And this is before a single one of his drafts has fully matured. So yes, there probably won't be any Correa/Bregman/Tucker's coming thru the system, but there will be plenty of Martes/Musgrove/Perez/Paulino/Fisher/Reed's; probably 3 or more added every year.
A lot of the "successes" you listed are guys who either have yet to play at he big league level or have failed thus far. Not sure I would be labeling those guys a success just yet.
success in that they have value. tucker and martes don't have MLB success either but they're apparently the centerpieces in a potential deal to land us an all-star quality arm.
I thought Hinch came out and said the White Sox wanted someone who was going to be a significant contributor this year.
Count me in the MrBear1 camp. I don't consider all those successes, particularly the late 1st round pick group, because most haven't done anything yet. Frankly, he needed to be an above average farm guy to get/keep the job he has. He's been as promised on that end. The bigger question now is can he transition to "GM of a perennial playoff contender" from "GM overseeing a total rebuild" I think most people would say his ML trades and FA signings have worked out mediocre at best, downright terrible in some cases (e.g. Gomez).
Obviously, if a team had come up to the White Sox and wow'd them with an offer for Quintana (much like what the Red Sox did with Sale, and the Nats did with Eaton), then they would have pulled the trigger already. The fact that there hasn't been a deal yet tells me the Astros are playing hard ball, but no other team is really willing to come in and give up the farm either. Hold to your guns, Luhnow, but don't let him slip away, either!
I think he has thus far proven to be better than "above average" in handling the farm system and player development. He completely gutted and reorganized the Astros farm system and managerial style which is being emulated around baseball. His only real whiff has been Mark Appel and it should be pointed out that the Cubs and most teams had Appel as #1 on their board. (FWIW I wanted Benintendi over Tucker) He also poured resources into scouting the lower minors to maximize trade value and accumulate even more assets. He has done well in the middle of the draft as well. I am not a huge fan of Fisher or a few other picks. However Fisher has good trade and that has utility as well. The Gomez trade blew up in his face. He traded for a player in the midst of a poor season, known concentration issues and paid a premium believing that he would get a #1 pick by offering the QO. Obviously it didn't turn out well for the Astros.
