If Graveman helps Houston win another World Series, I wouldn't care if he left or if Toro becomes a hall of fame. Just give me another title!
You make this trade 10 times out of 10. Graveman fills a desperate need and Toro was blocked long term.
I liked Toro but with The infield locked in I can understand the move. Hope he gets to play a lot. Graveman is pretty dang good, but the Ms have another reliever who will fill his void and has had just as good a season but I’m drawing a blank on his name so we’re not really weakening them IMO. Please no more Raley or Bielak. Please.
This is a grade A trade for me. Getting a popular veteran guy just like McCann and J.Reddick, Immediate needs for the Stros is pitching relief. This was a must do trade regardless what Toro does. Taken from Seattle Times: While the Mariners were looking to add infield depth, which the switch-hitting Toro provides, trading Graveman, who was a popular leader in the clubhouse was a bit perplexing.
If I read his stats from prior years correctly, he's primarily been a mediocre to poor starter until this year. He certainly seems to have found his nitch as a 1 inning setup/closer. I think this trade will look pretty even in a couple of years. Hopefully it's a win-win.Toro is better than the Seattle press knows and nobody can sustain Gravemans success. But he can fall off quite a bit and still be a great pick-up.
So...does the BBS like Click now? This was a brilliant deal. I'll really miss Toro, and Smith did some good stuff with the Stros (and is an exemplary human being), but Click did some voodoo on Dipoto. eta: also, from what I can tell the salaries are a wash, and Dipoto basically came out and said Toro was likely going to be dealt again before the deadline. This deal may make more sense for Seattle in a couple of days.
Graveman is a huge upgrade of Joe Smith. Toro has no spot with Diaz back and Bregs back next week. Not sure if he was out of options but getting back a top backend arm is getting something big back.