When news broke of the Sale trade, the confirmed price of Moncada, Kopech, Basabe and Diaz stung and forced me to face up to the fact that Dombrowski had, in fact, decimated the best farm system in the game in the course of roughly one year. We were left with Devers, Groome and a whole lot of hopes and dreams. After the shock of the trade wore off and some analysis of the deal started pouring in, I started asking myself: Was it worth it?
Considering I'm one of the bigger prospect humpers around these parts, you might be surprised if where I landed with it:
Considering I'm one of the bigger prospect humpers around these parts, you might be surprised if where I landed with it:
This is a topic where there isn't going to be one right answer (despite my firm stance), so I imagine there will be plenty of back and forth on it. If you come down on the side that is sobbing quietly into your cheerios every morning since the news broke, at least take solace in the fact that the team already has a fantastic young core in place and that the next three years are going to be one of the most exciting sustained periods Fenway park has seen in its history, outside of 2003-2005.The cries of the prospect lovers are not unheard, however. They point to a future where the prospects lost offer more years of control at less cost and a projected combined WAR that far exceeds the eight veterans brought in by these trades. They extol the virtues of more payroll flexibility and the joy of watching an all-homegrown lineup compete for the division. They lament the very existence of Pablo Sandoval. I know this, because I am one of them. I know this because I have made these very same arguments. Some of them I made on Tuesday. But I’m wrong and so are they.