Who stays? Who Goes?

[1stflooredwards]

Phillies that is.

Add your best trade guess here. Any team, any trade.

I say Hamels stays.

[MisterD]

The asking price on Hamels, if correct, was pretty hilarious.

[calsufan]

Jul 31, 2014 8:35:28 GMT -5 MisterD said:

The asking price on Hamels, if correct, was pretty hilarious.

Amaro is an absolutely horrible GM. He has no idea what he's doing and has hamstrung this team for years to come based on the terrible contracts he handed out and the decimation of the farm system.

[MisterD]

Customer: "How much is it for a 10" turkey?"

Ruben Amaro Jr.: "$200."

Customer: "What? That's insane."

[customer turns to walk out]

Ruben Amaro Jr.: "I meant free. Take it. I'm sorry."

[customer takes sandwich and leaves]

[Ruben Amaro Jr. calls sub roll company, agrees to 7 year, 100,000 roll contract at $9 per roll]

[1stflooredwards]

Jul 31, 2014 8:35:28 GMT -5 MisterD said:

The asking price on Hamels, if correct, was pretty hilarious.

So what would you ask for Hammels?

He is arguably the be the best young lefthander in baseball and by today's standards his contract is not that bad. Why not ask the world in a trade?

[1stflooredwards]

Jul 31, 2014 11:25:10 GMT -5 calsufan said:

Jul 31, 2014 8:35:28 GMT -5 MisterD said:

The asking price on Hamels, if correct, was pretty hilarious.

Amaro is an absolutely horrible GM. He has no idea what he's doing and has hamstrung this team for years to come based on the terrible contracts he handed out and the decimation of the farm system.

If a search hard enough, I bet I could find some prior posts indicating the Phillies should go "all in" and lock up the players. Honestly, the only bad contract he gave out, IMO, was the Rollins deal.

Howard was coming off monster years. He would have easily gotten what he got in arbitration and, if he stayed healthy, more on the open market.

The contracts and money are not the problem. It's the throw in minor leaguers that come back to haunt you. They have the money to buy out players, etc. If anyone, it's David Montgomery and his fondness for the players that lead to the Phillies holding on to them to long.

[MisterD]

Jul 31, 2014 13:27:35 GMT -5 1stflooredwards said:

So what would you ask for Hammels?

He is arguably the be the best young lefthander in baseball and by today's standards his contract is not that bad. Why not ask the world in a trade?

1. He's not Clayton Kershaw.

1a. Or David Price.

1b. Or Chris Sale.

2. Its a stretch to call a guy on the wrong side of 30 "young".

3. There are about a half dozen players in all of baseball worth three top 50 prospects and I would guess none carry a $22.5MM per year deal.

3a. Which I agree is "not that bad", but "not that bad" doesn't get you a premium, it just means its not an albatross like Howard.

4. Hamels for Seager, straight up, would have been a win for a should-be rebuilding Phillies team, and LA probably wouldn't even talk Seager. Pederson or Urias plus some low level upside guys would have been realistic. Amaro is either so out of touch with player valuation or so terrified of making anything but the most can't lose, super obvious deals that he ends up standing still

5. On the bright side, if you're a Phillies fan, today's nothingness means atleast there's a better chance a competent GM will be tasked with trading Hamels in the near future.

[MisterD]

Jul 31, 2014 13:32:39 GMT -5 1stflooredwards said:

Howard was coming off monster years. He would have easily gotten what he got in arbitration and, if he stayed healthy, more on the open market.

Also, this is wrong on a bunch of levels. Howard was already trending down when he was signed and, most ridiculously, he wasn't due for a new deal for something like a year and a half. It wasn't just an overpay, but a totally unnecessary one. This isn't hindsight; if you're interested I can send you some back and forth emails I had with Bill Conlin (R.I.H.) torching the deal that he was defending. And I wasn't being overly smart or unique, there was plenty of what-the-fucking when it was announced.

[MisterD]

(I will agree on the Montgomery / ownership part of the issue. I don't know who drives who into the ditch, but they're both complicit.)