Rate the Hernandez trade

[Sports Guy]

You really don't think AM would have done that if he could have?

Ramon isn't exactly Mr. Value....If you were a team would you give up any prospect of value for him? Would you give up Liz for him if we were in contention and needed a catcher, or would you just go out and sign Zaun?

Let me be clear about something....My REAL issue here is the money.

I may be wrong but it seems to me that we paid more money to get the 2 prospects...that may be wrong but I am basing that off of the reports we were hearing.

So, if that is right, I would have preferred better prospects than these 2 guys.

If we weren't going to get better prospects, I would have preferred to get Freel, pay the 1 million dollar buyout and been done with it...That would have been 4 million in savings.

Its not a ton of money...we are only talking 2 million here and I get that...But then when you add in the salary of the new catcher, which I bet is another 1-3 million, we have all of a sudden paid a lot of money for a catcher in 2009.

If the plan was to go with Quiroz types for a few weeks, then bring Wieters up and forget about a few million dollar catcher, I would be more on board with that as well.

[McNulty]

Let me be clear about something....My REAL issue here is the money.

I may be wrong but it seems to me that we paid more money to get the 2 prospects...that may be wrong but I am basing that off of the reports we were hearing.

So, if that is right, I would have preferred better prospects than these 2 guys.

If we weren't going to get better prospects, I would have preferred to get Freel, pay the 1 million dollar buyout and been done with it...That would have been 4 million in savings.

Its not a ton of money...we are only talking 2 million here and I get that...But then when you add in the salary of the new catcher, which I bet is another 1-3 million, we have all of a sudden paid a lot of money for a catcher in 2009.

If the plan was to go with Quiroz types for a few weeks, then bring Wieters up and forget about a few million dollar catcher, I would be more on board with that as well.

Look at it this way - we could of had Ramon and Fahey for about 9 million, or Freel and a veteran minimum catcher for about 7 million.

[SoBo]

Unloading him was never going to be that big of an issue...It is a weak catchers market and if we were willing to absorb up to 7 million dollars, which is essentially what we are doing, we should have gotten more than this.

And if we weren't able to get more, I would have preferred to just keep Ramon for the first half of the 2009 season and then deal him in July.

The market is, what the market is. And I don't think keeping him around for the 2009 season was an option. So this is what the market returned for a Ramon Hernandez. Like it or not.

[Sports Guy]

The market is, what the market is. And I don't think keeping him around for the 2009 season was an option. So this is what the market returned for a Ramon Hernandez. Like it or not.

Then you hand the catchers spot to Wieters in mid April and now waste the money on Zaun(or someone like him) just to hold down the fort for a few months.

I guess when I think about it, I have a larger problem with the way they are handling the catcher situation moreso than this trade in and of itself.

[OnlyO'sFanInLV]

Id give it a C Freel is basically another payton and depending on how the prospects grow determines it for me.

[Baltimorebull]

Look at the deal on the baseball merits. Why should we care what the financial consequences are? There is no salary cap in baseball, and we will never know the salary number for the team.

If PA and Mcphail want a winner they will get the baseball parts they need. Decide then if Freel and bits is more valuable than Hernandez. Was it a good deal or not. (We also do not know what other possible deals were possible.)

[Lucky Jim]

Id give it a C Freel is basically another payton and depending on how the prospects grow determines it for me.

And yet you gave it a D. Interesting.

[Lucky Jim]

Look at the deal on the baseball merits. Why should we care what the financial consequences are? There is no salary cap in baseball, and we will never know the salary number for the team.

If PA and Mcphail want a winner they will get the baseball parts they need. Decide then if Freel and bits is more valuable than Hernandez. Was it a good deal or not. (We also do not know what other possible deals were possible.)

Because we live in a world of finite resources, the financial consequences are important.

Why won't we know the salary number for the team? It's not like it's top secret.

And on one last note, I'd like to opine that all the possible deals were possible.

[Sports Guy]

Look at the deal on the baseball merits. Why should we care what the financial consequences are? There is no salary cap in baseball, and we will never know the salary number for the team.

If PA and Mcphail want a winner they will get the baseball parts they need. Decide then if Freel and bits is more valuable than Hernandez. Was it a good deal or not. (We also do not know what other possible deals were possible.)

Because money is part of the deal.

[JCK]

Look at the deal on the baseball merits. Why should we care what the financial consequences are? There is no salary cap in baseball, and we will never know the salary number for the team.

If PA and Mcphail want a winner they will get the baseball parts they need. Decide then if Freel and bits is more valuable than Hernandez. Was it a good deal or not. (We also do not know what other possible deals were possible.)

Because every penny we spend on Ramon and Freel is a penny we won't be spending on Tex or Markakis.

[Moose Milligan]

Because money is part of the deal.

Ahh, of course you hate it cause it's not a secret on here that you don't like MacPhail.

Now that something has transpired since the Bedard and Tejada trades, you can't say anything more about MacPhail not doing anything.

You'd never ever be one to give him credit...yeah, the money is part of the deal, but the fact that we got 3 for one back for someone who is pretty much busted goods is a damn good deal, even if we had to pay a little bit going back.

Don't be mad cause he did a better job than you could

[WEAVERMAN]

Love it? Like it? Hate it?

Nice job, MacPhail, really good work here.

[Baltimorebull]

The resources are not finite (or infinite), they are unknown.

It is simply not true that the $ saved on Player A would be spent on player B.

You can discuss the baseball players past statistics, opine on the chance of improvement or decline of the player. Speculate on the "team chemistry thing", but as fans we should not pretend to know anything about the teams financial resources. He can spend what ever he likes on any player or group of players.

[Sports Guy]

Ahh, of course you hate it cause it's not a secret on here that you don't like MacPhail.

Now that something has transpired since the Bedard and Tejada trades, you can't say anything more about MacPhail not doing anything.

You'd never ever be one to give him credit...yeah, the money is part of the deal, but the fact that we got 3 for one back for someone who is pretty much busted goods is a damn good deal, even if we had to pay a little bit going back.

Don't be mad cause he did a better job than you could

This probably the dumbest post you have ever made.

It has nothing to do with anything.

I have clearly laid out my reasons for not liking the deal..It has nothing to do with an agenda about AM.

Please, if these are going to be your posts, put me on ignore because this is just garbage.

[section18]

I am glad he is gone. Give me a real catcher like Varitek or Zaun. If they hit fine. Just give me somebody who can call a game, set up behind the plate, block pitches, chase foul balls, throw out runners once in awhile and go out to the mound to talk to the pitchers when they are struggling. You would think all catchers that make it to the major leagues would be able to do this but it's obvious they can't. How bad was our staff last year? I would like to see what a solid defensive catcher can do with our staff. I still want two or three new veteran starters added but I think a good catcher can help a pitcher more than you might think. I know there are a lot on here that don't like Varitek but take a look at the Boston staff. Most of their starters including the young pitchers all seem to do well when they get to Fenway. I think Varitek has something to do with that and look at the Toronto staff. Zaun did a very nice job with their staff.

AM you deserve an A. Somebody should go back and check all of the Ramon bashers last season that said just get rid of him.....give me a bag of balls....anything will do. Just get rid of him. How many times did we hear this? Well! We won't be hearing it anymore. Very good first move...what's next?