Well, my blogpartner's team just lucked out. Apparently Bill Bavasi's brain exploded and the Mariners sent two premium young talents, outfielder Chris Snelling and relief pitcher Emiliano Fruto. Snelling, while injury-prone, is an on-base machine who can play all three outfield spots. Think JD Drew if he tried too hard on the field. Fruto is a giant, dumpy sort with a killer change-up and could be a dynamic closer if he keeps his walks down. This is two of the Mariners best, young major-league ready players.
And for what? An aging, injury-prone second baseman who didn't have any range to begin with? One that will most likely DH for this team for the tidy sum of $16 million over the next two years. This isn't a trade, this is robbery, and the Mariners will reap little -if anything- in the short term and could be crippled longterm.
Fire Bill Bavasi. Tomorrow.
At least Fred will have some fun with this.
FRED ADDS: Ha! Ha ha ha hahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahaha ha ha ha...
Not to rub it in or anything, and I think Vidro's a great guy and I love what he did for the franchise, but most of the Nats fans I talk to generally figured we'd be lucky if someone would take Vidro and his contract now, at any price. The fact that we got two solid prospects in exchange for a guy we thought might be untradeable... well, see previous paragraph.
Someone needs to explain something to me: An awful lot of people, especially Nats fans, seem to believe that our GM, Jim Bowden, is an idiot. If he's so dumb, then how come he keeps fleecing people? (see also: Majewski, Gary)
Posted by Frinklin at December 13, 2006 07:33 PM | TrackBackHate to say it, Frinklin, but you're right. I like Vidro as a person (he was the only Expo who had the gonads to commit to the team long-term and played hard in DC - when he wasn't injured), but Stan Kasten just picked the M's pocket. There is virtually no downside for the Nationals on this trade, and a lot of potential upside with Fruto/Snelling plus clearing the books of cash we don't need to spend.
On the other hand, the M's just took on a guy who's got some pop, but has bad knees and is expensive. This is a big gamble, without a great deal of potential benefit in the long run.
Posted by: PapaShaft at December 13, 2006 07:45 PMThis trade is also a slap in the face to hardcore fans -like the legions of M's bloggers- as Snelling has long been a favorite. Seriously, if Snelling stays healthy, he's a fiery version of JD Drew. Some speed, good line-drive power and tons and tons of walks.
Posted by: frinklin at December 13, 2006 10:02 PMGet used to this phrase: "Past a diving Vidro!"
Posted by: Carl at December 14, 2006 01:30 PMActually, the word is that Vidro will DH. So the only thing he'll likely be diving for is another Hot Pocket.
Posted by: PapaShaft at December 15, 2006 06:39 AM