Damn, time flies. I remember Cecil Fielder playing. Then Prince. Now the grandson? I’ve been watching long enough to see three generations of Fielders in baseball?
Ok, calling my shot, LMJ pitches for the Brew Crew next year and we get to face him. He goes 7, 12 SO's, gives up 2 hits, 1BB and 1ER and we lose 4-1. Yea, sounds about right.....
Was this deal a favor to LMJ? I don’t understand how this makes us better. We traded 2 starters at the major league level for a guy in A ball?! I know we need to move on from LMJ so is this a get something before we let him walk move?
It freed up $2M of payroll that can be used to take on salary in a deadline trade. It also clears room on the roster. Lance was an odd man out with Blanco, Sousa, Wesneski, and Teng all coming back next week. Blubaugh and Arrighetti are the only 2 pitchers on the active roster with options.
It's not really a good move until they do something else. McCullers isn't much of a loss, Fielder will never see the big leagues. It's a nothing move for the time being, but my guess is that it won't stay that way for long.
Blanco, Sousa, and Wesneski are on the 60 day IL and so will require a 40 man move. This trade clears 2 spots. I suspect Jason Alexander will be the other spot unless they have another trade worked out.
I’m saying your critique of Astros management for failing to trade LMJ 2 years ago and Altuve today is silly because both contracts are heavily under water. If crane is willing to pay 15 of the 25 to move Altuve, sure. (Edit: meaning, sure, paying down 15MM per year would probably make the contract movable. I’m not sure it’s worth it to the Astros to pay that much since Altuve is still a 1-2 WAR level player, hopefully better, and an icon). Thats the pain it will take to move under water contracts. You speak about it like there are easy and obvious buyers and we should have dealt LMJ 2 years ago. That is clear nonsense. The amount we would have had to pay (whether in prospects or cash considerations) would have been insanely high.
So you said Dana should have dealt LMJ 2 years ago. I’m telling you it is an idiotic statement. To borrow your language, there is no way he “could’ve”. So I completely understood your point. I’m explaining to you it is completely dumb to say Dana “should’ve” dealt LMJ 2 years ago.
Because LMJ was essential to winning the only 2 titles in franchise history? And we didn't really get anything for him. Saving a couple million dollars? He was a FA at the end of the year. I would have been sad to see him go regardless, but I'm upset that it was to save a tiny amount of money.
Its fair to be upset that it was just a little money savings. But that’s not the whole story. LMJ wasn’t going to be a better option than Blanco, Wesneski or Sousa. If we didn’t trade him, we would need to ask him to stay in the minors and wait for a bunch more injuries to have a chance to pitch. Or waive him because we had no room on the 40 man roster. Or fabricate an injury to put him on IL. Consider that LMJ is healthy and might want to pitch. He waived his no trade clause. Perhaps he is happy with the chance to pitch for a World Series contender and a team that excels at managing and developing pitchers. I would be willing to wager that the Astros worked with LMJ to get him to a team of his liking. This season could be his last. Maybe this is him going out on his own terms (since he wasn’t going to be pitching for the Astros). Perhaps one last shot at postseason play.
So like - "Janice McNair has passed away.. Hmm what has she actually done, past leading the franchise into **MEDIOCRITY**. She wasn't even fit to continue in her role *smh* Don't be SENTIMENTAL to own LOSING detriment. It's just time that we move on. Oh well, bye. Don't F**K this up, Hannah!"
