OMG Rob Deer, great comp, in 11 seasons he had nearly 3900 ABs and had a whopping 853 hits. Finished .220 with 230 HRs
Wow, when looking at the state of catchers in the league after the Korey Lee trade..... former Astros farmhard Jake Rogers has put up 2.0 fWAR so far this year and has the 8th most catcher fWAR. Who'da guessed he'd be the most valuable part of the Verlander trade.
How do Tigers fans feel about that trade? JV was considered to be on the decline… and they wanted to get out of some of that money to the point that they kicked in a few bucks…. And it was supposed to re-infuse their lean years with young talent. Even with Rogers being the best of that deal, they didn’t get a re-infusion, JV went on to have much better years ahead.. along with much more money… and the Tigers are still in about the same position they were when they traded JV 6 years ago. In some ways, it’s a constant reminder how in exact this sport is. People claiming teams “have to sell” don’t really think about the fact that all these prospects out there have a better chance of never doing anything in the big leagues vs. being an all-star/HOF. Some teams do get a windfall via selling… but these same teams tend to make the same bad decision with their minor leaguers as they do their major leaguers… THe system is what it is… and its not changing any time soon, despite the extra WC spots and home-field based on record.
The smart teams should trade more often for semi-established players like Jake Meyers or JP France. They may not have high ceilings, but they have very high floors. That would most likely prevent a trade from being a bust even if it reduces the likelihood of getting back a Yordan.
Smart teams should be able to develop/promote those players with regularity, if they have good foundations in place in the farm system... in line with the scouting departments.
It has always been my contention that a team that has to trade for a player, or look to the free agent market has failed to anticipate and develop players to fill future needs. It will always happen to some extent. You are always overpaying in those situations and should strive to avoid them and tread very lightly when you are forced into them.
And yet it's impossible to predict everything correctly. That's not how the world works. If that was true Whitley would have been an ace and Cy Young winner leading the team for years now. The best teams fill the majority of their team from within but acknowledge weaknesses in quality and depth and supplement via FA and trades. Then reevaluate continuously
Hard not to root for Springer. He's such a good dude. Often times I stop caring about players after they leave the Astros but I still root for Springer, just not against the Astros.
