Thursday, July 30, 2009

I can get behind this

Rick at Waiting for Next Year:
Mark Shapiro, as you field calls for Martinez let me give you a mantra to utter- “you have to take Hafner too.” That’s right. Make then take Travis Hafner’s damaged shoulder and albatross contract. Take a page from the NBA. Let’s ditch a bad contract.
I concur. Package Hafner (or Wood) with Victor Martinez. If you want the stud, take back the albatross.

But knowing our luck, once Hafner makes it to Boston, he'll regain his stroke and start mashing.

3 comments:

Erik said...

But do that, and you'll reduce your haul for Martinez. Taking on Hafner's contract increases the other team's bargaining stance. They're taking on your worst contract and giving you that financial relief, so why do they need to give you their first- and third-best prospects?

In baseball, you need more than financial relief in return, because you're not going to have a top three pick waiting in the wings like an NBA team. In baseball, a team nucleus can take years to develop. In the NBA, one trade, one high draft pick, and a 25-win team becomes a 55-win team in the span of two years.

Albatross contracts are also more attractive in the NBA because teams can look forward to when that contract becomes an expiring deal and suddenly very valuable. In the NBA, Hafner is a bargaining chip in a couple of years. In MLB, he's a $57 million part-time DH.

Erik said...

I should amend that: Yes, you WILL have a top three pick waiting in the wings, but a top three pick headed to short-A ball, not a top-three pick poised to provide immediate help.

Ben said...

i'm almost ok with that. simply because pronks contract is gonna hinder a ton of other moves they could make. well, maybe not a TON, but his contract will hinder their ability to do other things.

but ya, you'd definitely get lesser prospects in return. i dunno, it could be worth it.