Mike Rosamund? Yeah, neither team really lost that trade... And the only thing preventing it from being a clear cut win for the Astros was losing early in the playoffs.
Carl Crawford is the baseball version of Rashard Lewis (We only passed on him once though). So many good players in that draft that were available with those picks. 2000 draft 2nd round (picks 41-70): Best player was Chad Qualls. 1999 2nd round (picks 52-84): Chris Crawford, John Lackey, & Brandon Phillips. Brian Roberts went #50. Such a dramatic difference.
You are getting 14-15 starts .... you can get a guy that will have to be moved for the right deal not including your best prospects. There is a reason that Hamels hasn't been moved, he is under a good contract and good track record but there isn't a line of teams willing to give up the farm for him. Young POSSIBLY good players under team control for half a decade are just about the most valuable commodity in baseball.
who were our best prospects at the time? I thought Freddy Garcia and Carlos Guillen were way up there.. I think Elarton was higher, but that's all I remember
Elarton was the best pitching prospect by far (and boy did Dierker use the hell out of him that year). Richard Hidalgo, Lance Berkman, and Daryl Ward were the hitting prospects. Garcia was good... probably the #2 overall pitcher and definitely in the top 10. Wade Miller was already starting to show some promise as well. And you still had Hampton, Reynolds and Lima in the big leagues, so Hunsicker was more willing to trade his 2nd best pitcher who didn't have as high of a ceiling as Elarton (of course, we all know how that turned out). Which is even more of a lesson as to not rely too much on these "rankings" as is right now.
good lord, forgot those 3 hitters were still in the minors. Damn did Hunsicker do some work there for a while..
Sort of... Hidalgo had made his debut in late 1997... and exceeded rookie status in 1998. Ward also was called up in 1998 in September. Berkman didn't make his debut till 99. They all followed similar models of September call-up to debuts the following seasons with partial seasons. And yes, Hun did some work... of course he should have protected Abreu and exposed Hidalgo in the expansion draft...
Ok I thought Hidalgo had been up, makes sense. Ward doesn't count (as being up, so I agree with you) given that he was up and down so much--he was still very much a prospect. Yeah, the Abreu/Hidalgo thing haunted for years. Though if you actually want to let us 2nd guess it now, it should've been Russ Johnson or JR Phillips who were traded or DFAed to make room for both, right?
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Three three teams who have been most aggressive in pursuit of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Reds?src=hash">#Reds</a> Cueto: <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Astros?src=hash">#Astros</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlueJays?src=hash">#BlueJays</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Royals?src=hash">#Royals</a>.</p>— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) <a href="https://twitter.com/BNightengale/status/620959664700788736">July 14, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
I would not trade Appel for a Cueto rental. No way. Perhaps if we had an older team, going for it one last time but not with this team.
Cueto will turn 30 before next season. I imagine he will demand somewhere between Lester/ Scherzer, so about 7/200. Long term pitcher contracts are a dangerous investment, and one in general I'm not a fan of. I'm gonna assume if we do pull the trigger on a Cueto deal, we will do so with the intention of keeping him. Maybe they think we can lock him down before FA. Trading a top prospect for a 3 month rental is not something Luhnow will do. There is also something to be said for getting attendance up. Baseball is the one sport where gate is a huge deal, getting an extra 10,000 fans in the building starts to mount up quickly financially. It would be a huge sign to fans that this team means business.
Appel is 24, and has yet to dominate in the minor leagues. The upside is there, but so is the downside. Edit: In the days where you got draft compensation for a rental, I'd do it in a heartbeat.
Is it for sure to be a rental? I trust our front office enough at this point to think they'll do the right thing, so put me in the camp of going for it. Yeah, future looks bright right now, but I'm not a fan of wasting a chance at a memorable season for future promise.
Except he's said they're not opposed to that... and actually do welcome the financial flexibility afterwards (as opposed to trading for a player with a lot of high paid years left). And while it will take some prospects, it won't require the "best of the best" prospects.
Appel is the name mentioned, now maybe that was just the guy picking a name, but even with his struggles he would qualify as a top prospect. Everything of course is possible if the price is right, but I can't possibly see Luhnow giving up one of our top 100 guys for 10-15 starts.
I definitely believe this front office values the concept of "not wasting chances". There's a golden opportunity this season... the AL is that wide open. That may not be the case in future seasons with possible "re-loading" by the Yankees/Red Sox, the re-tooling of the A's, the emergence of the Twins/Indians, etc.
Greinke, a comparable talent when traded as a rental, was traded for a low level top 100 talent and two so-so pitching prospects. Appel appears to be too high a cost, but I could see the deal worked around a guy from 75-100 in the top 100.
There is certainly something to be said for that. This team has a legit chance to win a world series this season. Baseball isn't like other sports. We have seen on many occasions that any team that makes the postseason has a chance to win it all. When a marathon sport is turned into a sprint it becomes a bit of a crap shoot. A chance to win it all isn't something to be scoffed at.
Well, they have the book on him more-so than anybody else... if they believe he is what he is (a 24 year old former #1 overall pick, with inconsistent minor league results and continued question marks about his ceiling), and he's able to fetch a starter that propels this team to the playoffs this season, I could see them making that deal. Forget about how many starts beyond this year you're going to get out of Cueto... like you said, he's going to become expensive, older, and likely won't be worth what he's getting paid in the future. This front office can probably find somebody younger/cheaper if he doesn't fit the budget.... or promote from within.... or trade more prospects to feed the major league club (at some point, they'll get somebody they feel is worth re-signing... or will just sign somebody outright in free agency, maybe an international guy). Just don't waste this year's opportunity on possible "future" success.
