No, they were, Clemens was highly thought of and will probably slide into our top 5 while Oberholtzer has #3 stuff and probably be somewhere 6-10. Schafer is an enigma so we'll see... Overall Wade hit a hustling double but was swinging for a homerun.
Oh joy! They were "highly thought of" - perfectly good reason to get four average to above average prospects for an All Star, Gold Glove centerfielder that would net us at least compensation picks down the road if we decided to keep him. Who needs a top pitching prospect anyway when you can a group of future long relievers and glorified pinch hitters. Perhaps one will become a star and prove me wrong, I definitely hope so. But this is a quantity over quality return. Not getting one of the Braves top 4 is pathetic.
Links to the above reports 1-10 and 11-25 http://www.talkingchop.com/2011/7/1...op-25-prospects-1-10-latin-takeover#storyjump http://www.talkingchop.com/2011/7/1...s-mid-season-top-25-prospects-11-25#storyjump
I for one am surprised that Wade traded Bourn. Trading for Bourn was one of Wade's first, signature moves as Astros GM.
I'm curious to see where the astros rank now for farm systems they had to pass some teams up. Add A few more trades and next years draft with the #1 overall pick they should be looking pretty good 1 year from now....
Let's not forget that apparently Wade was under orders to get the payroll down to 60 million next year. Bourn and Pence combined would probably make at least 16 million in 2012.
Just to give you an idea how hard it can be to move up those rankings, after 3 drafts and multiple international signings as well as trading Oswalt and Berkman, the Astros moved up a whopping 3 or 4 spots, depending on which list you look at. Wade didn't have full reigns to focus on rebuilding until just recently but you should get the point. We should improve a few spots, maybe more, but remember that the other teams ahead of us are simultaneously drafting and signing int'l prospects and some are also trading for the future like us. For example, Colorado just made out like bandits yesterday, nabbing the Indians 2 best pitching prospects and a couple of other very good ones. You can't look at this stuff in a vacuum without the knowledge of what every other team is doing. It's all relative.
Couldn't agree more. Before the Braves even starting talking to us, Wade should have made it known that Bourn was going to cost them one of their Big 4.....period. Everything I'm seeing shows Oberholtzer was ranked around 9-15 in their system and Abreu and Clemens aren't even in the Top 20! Maybe we saw something they didn't, but at this moment it feeels like we way undersold Bourn and Wade panicked and sold too soon......again.