Why would Arizona even be thinking about it?....most runs scored…least given up….to date

... Webb is only 28 years old. Smoltz is 40. On that basis alone, I make the deal.

However, I think a Smoltz-for-Webb deal is less likely to happen than a Francoeur-for-Upton deal.

Webb is the future – a guy with a Cy Young, tremendous stamina, a filthy, filthy sinker, and still not even in his prime.

Smoltz is the Braves, a hero, an icon, and a pillar to the Atlanta community as well. He’s still going strong, and I firmly agree with the notion that he definitely had a second Cy Young blown for him by the 2006 bullpen. His stuff is still great, although he’s showing the natural progression of age.

From a “putting the team first” mentality, I’d take Webb in a heartbeat. But trading away John Smoltz would be a devastating blow in so many other ways. We all know how good Webb is, but wonder how he would have to feel, to have the responsibility of Smoltz’s departure on his shoulders, as well as his shadow to play under?

I would keep Smoltz. Smoltz should and will retire as a lifelong Brave. I have to think really hard to remember a day when he wasn’t a Brave, I was six in 1987! He’s a part of this team for as long as he wants to be in my book. For all the selfish reasons I’d stick with him.

The idea of trading Smoltz is blasphemy!!!

Too many people miss the point of these.

It is sort of like the “if you had a million dollars, and didn’t have to work, what would you do,” question and the responding with “I would invest half of it in low risk mutual funds and then take the other half over to my friend Asadulah who works in securities…”

The point is to compare the players, the contracts, their contributions to the team, stats, etc. The easiest way to think about it is a one-to-one trade. It doesn’t matter how unlikely, or improbable, the trade is, you just pretend it is on the table.

Anyway, sorry for the rant.

B-Dub is THE face of the franchise to the fans who know the team. I think everyone would be upset to see Brandon go anywhere but here. If he gets to free agency and commands a large contract then pay the man. He’s slowly becoming the most dominant pitcher in baseball. I would be upset to see Brandon in any other jersey but a Diamondbacks one at any point in the rest of his career. He is the leader of this team and the personality and humbleness that one could only hope for in a superstar. I would venture to say that Webb would lose the respect that he commands if he were to turn his back on the team that made him the man he is today and vise versa. You’ve got to remember he was nearly out of baseball and the organization kept with him. He owes us as much as we owe him.

So in summation, NO! Webb is the man and he’s our man.

I know this question is directed at Braves fans, but as an Arizona fan, I just have to say—not on your life. There is NO WAY we’d make that trade. Smoltz is a good pitcher, but Webby is something else…

If Smoltz’s shoulder continues to limit him to 5 innings/game, does he go back to the pen? We could use him as a closer, although I realize it doesn’t help to have a closer if you’re down 18-1 in the 9th inning. I don’t know though, that could be worse on his arm, not having as much time to rest. He could be the first 200 W-200 SV guy?

Any thoughts? Just throwing this out here, might be stupid.

to the D-Backs fan. These “Would you trade” posts are for the Braves fans in us. From a logical stand point most people probably would trade a 29 year old cy young pitcher for a 40 year old guy with a bigger contract. But a lot of teams (arizona fans especially) probably can’t understand what it means to have a guy on your team who is the heart and soul of the team and has been for nearly 20 years.

Kind of like would you trade Dale Murphy for Jeff Parrett?

I love John Smoltz. I really do. But he’ll have another 2 years, TOPS. Brandon Webb’s got at least 10. That about sums it up pretty well for me.

Again, I think it is interesting to have D-backs fans commenting on this! And I appreciate their respectfulness and class in their posts.

ESPN just found John Smoltz’s authentic birth certificate from the hall of records in Detroit and found John has been lying about his age since signing his first contract in 1985. He was actually born in 1969, not 1967, making him 38.

This changes everything for me. I say we keep Smoltz.

to watch the box score tomorrow (or the game, if you have MLB.TV or EI.) when Webb faces off against Zito. This guy is truly one of the top 3 or 5 pitchers in the game right now.

Whenever things like this arise, I always cringe at the thought of internet flaming, especially between sports fans. It’s bad enough we have Braves fans arguing with other Braves fans, but throw in fans of other teams, and things tend to get ugly. That being said, I must commend the Arizona fans who came, voiced their opinions, and participated in discussion without being jerks about it.

The argument can go any way – Smoltz is not at Webb’s current level, Webb will never accomplish everything Smoltz has, etc, etc, and it’s safe to say that the majority would be happiest if this fantasy trade never happened, but for the sake of discussion, it’s admirable that we defend our team’s players so adamantly, but I personally try to stay off the road to hostility.

But it’s not like we’re talking about trading the farm for like, say, Kevin Millar. Oh, i kid.

Anyway- DbacksSkins – how’s that work out? Arizona and the Redskins? I’m a ‘Skins fan as well, and my reasoning is that the Nationals didn’t exist when I left DC; so I stand here a Braves fan. What’s your story?