Odds & Ends: Towers, Ricciardi, Trembley

r u kidding me jayson werth for jason frasor was a good trade. at the time we had rios so he wouldn't have had playing time. didn't the dodgers give up on him too???

I don't understand why people are going so nuts about Ricciardi not trading Halladay. Yes, you probably should have traded him, but you can still trade him this offseason for the same value.

To me, the biggest blunder by Ricciardi BY FAR is signing Vernon Wells to that massive contract. Contract blunders do in teams wayy more often that trades.

Signing Mo Vaughn and Darin Erstad to contracts pretty much took out the Angels for most of the 90's. Same thing with the Orioles, Brady Anderson and Albert Belle did them in. Mike Hampton and Denny Neagle for the Rockies. The list goes on and on.

Keeping Trembley and letting the players know the losing is on them and not the manager isn't a bad idea every now and then.

The Rockies played better because as the players admit - they got their manager fired. They took responsibility.

"Yes, you probably should have traded him, but you can still trade him this offseason for the same value."

Which one has more value and therefore you're willing to give more for: An ace signed cheap for 1.5 years or the same ace 9 months older and signed cheap for 1 year? Add to that the Phillies aren't in the mix so demand is down. Simple economics states Halladay's trade value has gone down.

Posted by: start_wearing_purple | October 03, 2009 at 03:50 PM

simpler than that: whats worth more, hallady for one playoff race or two? his trade value is easily half of what it was.

"but it's not a franchise destroying one, or really even a devastating one. The impact is unclear."

I do agree. On the list of Riccardi's blunders this isn't a big one but if some of those offers were genuine, he missed a chance to reboot the franchise. I think his biggest blunder starts with the Burnett/Ryan signings. Basically he abandons the moneyball philosophy stating he needs to fight fire with fire, buy out the right free agents. And sure there's instant results, they take second place in the division, but fail to make the playoffs. In the end it's not just that he gambled and failed but he gambled and didn't play the cards right and failed.

" On the list of Riccardi's blunders this isn't a big one but if some of those offers were genuine, he missed a chance to reboot the franchise."

Regardless of whether or not Boston had real interest in Halladay this summer when the Sox had multiple injuries to starters, they will probably not even be looking at him this winter and like the Phillies, be another team less in the mix for his services, much less willing to give up a major haul of prospects in return.

Riccardi really shot himself in the foot if even 2/3 of the rumored package was true and he declined it.

I dislike the Padres, and found that a really hollow quote.

Posted by: M | October 03, 2009 at 04:51 PM

You should really read the article, it is pretty funny how Sullivan does the Bill O'Reilly "KT can eat at a restaurant full of black people without getting stabbed" treatment.

Oh, and thanks for disliking the Padres. I am flattered that you take the time to dislike my team. Most people are just surprised that SD has baseball fans.

If I am the Blue Jays, I'd try to get Halladay and Vernon Wells for a PTBNL.

I don't know if that could be done- heck they've probably tried already!