Quote:
Originally Posted by alnorth
We can't do that, and there is not a GM in baseball who would make that move, given the history of the club, the fanbase, and the reality of what the Shields trade meant.
This is not video game or strat-o-matic baseball, this is the real thing, with a team that hasn't made the playoffs in almost 3 decades, and after you have already essentially gone all-in for this season 2 years ago.
A few people in this thread have basically said that we're out of it anyway, so we may as well get what we can, but they are just flat-out wrong. The odds are not good, but even the most pessimistic simulations still have it at about 10-15%. Trading Shields and Holland for some low-level prospects undeniably harms if not destroys what little playoff chances we have. Maintaining those small odds for this season is worth more to the team and the fans than what little we may be giving up by not trading them. I wouldn't add to the team, we pretty much need to win or lose with this team, there's no sense in burning some real high-level prospects to improve for this season. But, we just can't wave the white flag.
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This is where we disagree. You have to do whats best for the team no matter what the fan base wants. The best thing for this team is to flip Shields and Holland for some serious talent under club control for 5-7 years.
If you cant get that talent in the trade, you don't make it. But the fact remains we are not going to the playoffs this year barring this teams changes its entire modus operandi after 105 games. Shields obviously walks after this year. We are a team that has to continually swap proven talents for up and coming talents or we start going backwards.
As for Holland, closers tend to be overvalued, and when you miss an opportunity to cash one in you often end up with nothing in return. See Soria...
If the return was decent, wouldn't it be worth selling rather than win 5-7 meaningless more games? If the only argument against is the negative PR, than you have exactly why this team will continue to suck for another 30 years.