He probably could've. But Huck was the best hitter on the market now, and I'd imagine Bond is placing a pretty big discount on future wins with his current status.
Wouldn't say the best but he's still probably a top 3 available bat and it made much more sense when he mentioned the .500 rule.
I understand why we put the rule in place, but imagine if Bonds season takes a turn for the tragic. He's off with the nips and promoted user is left with a cupboard not as full as it once was...
Believe he is going for broke this season facing demotion. Long-term I feel this rule will cannibalize a lot of organizations from ever reaching .500, i.e. Philly
The difference is that they rarely have a hard line rule like we do. GMs may see the writing on the wall but they don't usually know they'll be fired if they don't reach 81 wins. They may think that 80 or 78 or maybe even 75 will be good enough to satisfy the owner. So they're usually still acting in what they believe to be the best for the success of the team.
We've ripped plenty of trades before the .500 rule. I don't really see anything more drastic with the rule in place. If I could always trade my prospects for proven players I would but I'm not worried about a .500 record. I see the point and we can monitor it but seems like an over-reaction to me.
Oh, I agree with you. It is a little flaw in the system, but I don't have a problem with it. Guys just have to decide what's important; making sure they reach .500 and potentially struggling the next 5 years or risking reaching .500 but setting themselves up for some long term success.
The more I think about it, the more I like the deal between redwings8831 and HarkTheSound. Austin has immense upside, but he's been a walking band-aid. Busch has underperformed, but he could be an All Star. Hopefully a change of scenery serves them both well.
It's so hard to find catchers like that though. It only makes sense if the Rangers absolutely had to move salary and were looking for the least damaging way to do it, imo. With Hidalgo, Bartelot, and Abrams still on the roster too there's not even an obvious place to slot Austin. Meanwhile, his biggest MLB positional need after the trade is catcher. I'm also wondering what the Padres were thinking of trading away 2 future starters for a DH at best with very low work ethic.
Buschhorn is going into the 3rd year of a 4 year/9 mil extension (think he's making 2 mil this upcoming season). Hale was added in to help the finances though.
Matte will be an average or slightly below average defensive 1B. He has high intelligence, and has been progressing defensively at 1B since the move from catcher. Look at how Joe Quate has done at 1B for the Cubs - Matte is better defensively by a clear margin. I do agree that the Matte trade didn't make the most sense for Gravity, and I tried hard to talk him out of it and into another deal that involved sending several specs for just Pagan. In terms of compensation? Fair value. Yong is a potential disaster, and Pagan looks more and more like he'll be mediocre vs RHP. Matte, aka The Montreal Monster, will be a very, very good 1B I suspect.
Buschhorn struggled in a hitter's park, maybe the gaps of wonky Marlins Park rejuvenate him and he becomes in awe of the "spinner, marlin whatchamacallit."
I don't like having catchers if under 6 ability. Never have, never will. Had a gold glove catcher last year play for me with 10 ratings across the board. Buschhorn was nothing more than a DH to me and a very mediocre one at that. His numbers were never great for me. Bartelot will now DH for me having just gained 5 contact vs righties, and Austin will play Center given his elite defensive skills there. Plus, he's faster, outstanding on the basepaths, has an insane career OBP, and when he plays, he's nothing short of elite. With my team being 14th in strikeouts last year and 14th in walks, I needed someone to bat third who could change that and Buschhorn simply wasn't getting the job done. If the risk blows up in my face, so be it. I knew what I was doing. I just wanted to spice things up and have some fun, that's what the games all about.
