I saw this on mlbtr in a discussion on the biggest/best/worst trades of the decade. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/11/discussion-the-trade-of-the-decade.html

I thought this view of the trade made alot of sense. Dunno if it deserves a fan post but I am appearently a moron and cant figure out the new system of fan shots. Anyways...here it is.

Okay, I dont understand why everyone seems to think the Braves got completely jobbed in the Tex trade. Lets take a closer look at what the Braves gave up in that trade.

1. Salty- the centerpiece of the deal. In 238 career games .251/.314/.389 A .703 OPS with average defense at best. Braves have McCann. No big loss here.
2. Andrus- Despite a pedestrian year at the plate (.267/.32/.373) he was a fantastic defender at a premium position. With more ML seasoning and improved plate discipline he could become one of the better leadoff hitters in baseball and a dynamic all around player. This loss has been negated, however, by the emergence of Yunel Escobar as one of the better ss in the game.
3. Feliz- A very impressive debut but I would be careful about canonizing him after only 31 IP. Especially if the Rangers are serious about converting him to a starter.
4. Matt Harrison- 26 career games, 147 IP. 76/54 K/BB ratio. 5.76 era. 1.6 whip. Uhmmm....no thanks. I think the Braves are good on pitching anyways.
5. Beau Jones- Never pitched above AA. In 2009 he went 3-4, 4.47 era, 57/33 k/bb, 1.66 WHIP. See Above.

In each case the Braves were dealing from a position of strength. Brian Mcann's presence made salty unneeded. After dealing him away, Tyler Flowers emerged as a top catching prospect. (Later traded to CHW for Javy Vazquez)
Yunel Escobar's presence made Elvis Andrus expendable. (Escobar also allowed us to trade Edgar Renteria to the Tigers for Jair Jurrjens and Gorkys Hernandez, whom we flipped for Nate McLouth. Talk about bad trades!)
The loss of Feliz might come back to bite the Braves but the other 2 pitchers are quite redundant in the Braves organization at this point.

The Braves made a move to win the world series. They sacrificed alot of future talent for 1 full and highly productive season of Tex and .5 years of the Great Ron Mahay. I think it is a testament to the Braves' drafting and development team that not only did this trade not cripple their farm system, but the argument could be made that it is even stronger now than it was before the trade. Wow.
In any event, I think we are focusing too much on the wrong end of the Tex trade. We should be complaining about Tex's exit from Atl to Laa. Mark Texiera for Casey Kotchman and Stephan Marek? Yech!

Posted by: Troll | November 28, 2009 at 01:03 AM