Dan Haren Traded To Diamondbacks

I don't understand the Valverde trade. Why would they want that trash?

will houston have any pitchers left besides oswalt, and now valverde

Who is Gutierez? I dont understand the Valverde trade for the D-backs. Good move by the astroes though. Even if the 'Stroes are rebuilding they could lock him up for a while.

I think Beane out Beaned himself if that makes any sense. With Haren under control for 3 more years, there is no need to make this deal now. Unless he was just absolutely blown away by this offer, I don't like it.

I would have waited to land a premier prospect.

Score one for the Dbags.

Chris Carter and Aaron Cunnigham were with the White Sox minor league system last year, but guys are a few years away but are good prospects. Those are the only 2 prospects I can speak of. I may be wrong, but I think the As could have done a little better, but they probably did good.

all of these guys are premiere prospects. carter's destroyed aaa two years in a row now. all the rest are young and have performed consistently spectacularly in the minors. great trade for oakland. great trade for the dbacks too, for that matter.

The D-backs get potential out of the Astros deal. Qualls is a solid middle reliever/set up man.

Chris Burke has never gotten a chance to play 2B and be an everyday player. His best year is the year he got the most playing time. HOWEVER he has yet to prove he can be the guy, so its a flip of a coin for Burke.

Lastly Gutierrez is a promising prospect. So he could potentially turn into a good player for the D-Backs.

On the other side of this trade: The Astros got a great deal in Valverde. it hurts to lose Qualls in our thin Bullpen but Valverde in return is great!

haha i always picture it as

Oswalt
backe
sampson
woody/wandy both pretty bad

theres a chance they could still get someone.. Silva, Lieber, Prior, ANYBODY..

I have the knowledge on the prospects: Aaron Cunningham is 21, and he has good potential to be a high average and 20-homer guy in the bigs, but he's a couple years away. Gonzalez is the guy that has through-the-roof potential. He struggled a little this year, but then raked the second half of the season. He's 22. Brett Anderson is a lefty control specialist, and his slider was ranked tops in the system by BA about 2 weeks ago. He projects to be a middle rotation to maybe a No. 2 starter. Eveland projects no higher than a 5th starter or OK bullpen arm. Chris Carter is 21 next week and he's a very good pwer hitter, and he's a few years away. I've never even heard of Greg Smith, so he's not good.

Dana Eveland was part of the Brewers farm system in 2006...and was part of the trade to get us Vargas and Estrada. When he was up here in the Majors had some problems but he was called up straight from AA to pitch for us.

I am surprised that Velverde was not more expensive...I think the Brewers asked about him and the Dbacks wanted one of our untouchables.

So who is going to be in the bullpen for the Astros.
I know of:

Velverde
Broccli
????
????
???
???

It does not help to have a good closer if you dont have the rest of the pitching to get you leads

good deal for both sides on the haren swap. but the dbacks could have gotten a lot more from valverde, and the astros will be relying on a guy who had one good year. classic beane move, trade a closer after a good year, the save truly is the most overrated stat in baseball

Great Trading Dbacks YES im an Angels/Dbacks Fan and right now i want that world series..
You realize now the diamondbacks have the two best pitching deals in the mlb Webb is getting like 5m a year and so is Haren Those are two Cy young canidates for some prospects that will be good but right now what was harens era last year??? hahaha IM SO F**KING HAPPY haaa Valverde had a carrer year last year and his Value is Up ITS A GREAT DEAL....GO DBACKS!!!

He looks like a Pirate, adventure comes with the look.

and more trouble for houston down the road, read keith laws blog about the tejada trade

Favorite Thing about this trade my two fav teams help each other out..no more haren aginast the angels in chockland and Haren and Webb in AZ i love this soooo much. And valverde is sooooo fun to watch 3 run lead going in 1 run win going out or a tie game you know it dbacks fans YES

He must have stolen that move from Brad Lidge.

Angels/Dbacks fan?

I feel sorry for you, you are privy to some boring ass baseball.

if beane does have a marlins like firesale, imagine the haul of prospects they could get for street, blanton, and chavez...scary to think about in 2-3 years

As an Astros fan, I have mixed feelings about the Valverde trade. From a short term perspective, I like it. I have always liked Valverde and he fills a need. But this is a risky and questionable trade from a long term perspective. The Astros' farm system has dwindled to a few good pitching prospects, and now those are being dealt. D-Backs' fans, I have watched all three of your new players a lot, and they provide a lot of potential. Qualls is a very good late inning reliever right now--he has downright nasty stuff--and he could develop into a good closer at some point (and if he does, this trade won't look so hot for the Astros). Gutierrez is a hard thrower who has been inconsistent in AAA, but has very good stuff. Gutierrez looked good in his September call up, working both out of the bullpen and as a starter. Burke most likely is a utility infielder. But keep in mind that he was the Astros' top prospect, and a top ten prospect overall, only 3 years ago. So I wouldn't totally write him off.

The A's probably think Rich Harden is finally healthy

Given the Angels' improvement towards the 2008 season (as dumb as the Hunter contract was, it does make them a better team this year, although maybe not for the next four), I don't think Beane would trade Haren and only Haren. Unless he thinks he can compete in 2009, which is possible but not a sure thing, I don't see him retaining much of his team. He could get a haul for Blanton, Street and Chavez (depending on the interest in Chavez), and would increase his chances of fielding a winning team when the new stadium opens in 2011. Beane NEEDS a winning team in 2010 if he wants to retain interest going into the new stadium, and if he thinks his best shot is throwing in the towel now, he will.

The A's clearly won't compete next year. Could they in 2009 if they retain their core? That is the question Beane has to ask himself, and if he thinks not, then it is best to start selling off people now.

erbacaine- There's 2 years left on Valverde.

He's one of those pitchers that could go either way. Personally I think he'll be pretty solid for the next 2 years so this trade should work out for the Astros.

What a BAM day for the DBacks. All this waiting and then 3 trades in 1 day, although there's not much talk about the Callaspo trade.

My guess is the Dodger office is working the phones late tonight.

Hopefully all of our highly-rated prospects will develop some more offense this season.

If you look at the hype, all of our hitters 1-8, or 9 when Owings is pitching, should hit pretty well. We'll see if the develop in time.

I won't start speculating on who's the better team until all of the offseason shuffle is through. I think the Dodgers have a few moves left.

If SD doesn't do something more than just acquiring Edmonds, they're not helping their chances.

The NLW will be a 4 horse race.