Let us also talk about Freddy Peralta

[TransMonk]

I'm weary of Peralta having the "Ace" moniker. He's got eight seasons with only two having an ERA under 3.00. I would expect regression to his mean next year, which would be a good but not amazing (feel free to prove me wrong, Freddy).

I like the trade, but he is a middle of the rotation guy most years.

[Lefty Specialist]

Williams is still very highly regarded. I voted for him in the "who's sorry" poll, but I've learned not to get too upset when prospects get dealt. For every Pete Crow-Armstrong there may be a dozen Shawn Abners.

 

Or Jarred Kelenics.

[Edgy MD]

Williams is still very highly regarded. I voted for him in the "who's sorry" poll, but I've learned not to get too upset when prospects get dealt. For every Pete Crow-Armstrong there may be a dozen Shawn Abners.

 

I would be very interested in seeing the math on this.

For what it is worth, the deal that sent alpha-Shawn Abner to San Diego included five Shawn Abners in total, and one turned out to be an MVP.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I don't think I would count Kevin Mitchell, at least not by my own personal criteria. I would say that when he was traded he was a young player, but had advanced beyond being a "prospect".

[Benjamin Grimm]

There were different variations of a deal with the Brewers before the Mets traded Brandon Sproat and Jett Williams, a pair of consensus top-100 prospects, for Peralta and swingman Tobias Myers. Prospect Carson Benge was never seriously on the table. A package of Williams and prospect Jonah Tong was never presented either. The Mets held interest in Brewers relievers Abner Uribe and Trevor Megill in separate deals, but the pitchers were never discussed as a package with Peralta, people familiar with the clubs’ negotiations said.

“They traded guys they wanted to trade, held onto the guys who were untouchable,” a National League executive said. “So they held to that discipline all offseason.”

 

That last quote is interesting. They traded guys they wanted to trade, held onto the guys who were untouchable.

[stevejrogers]

Williams is still very highly regarded. I voted for him in the "who's sorry" poll, but I've learned not to get too upset when prospects get dealt. For every Pete Crow-Armstrong there may be a dozen Shawn Abners.

 

I would be very interested in seeing the math on this.

For what it is worth, the deal that sent alpha-Shawn Abner to San Diego included five Shawn Abners in total, and one turned out to be an MVP.

 

FYI, here are the other three;

Kevin Armstrong, never played in The Show

Kevin Brown, hey maybe HE was the Kevin Brown that 1992 WFAN caller mongo thought was the guy breaking through in Texas that summer 🤔 LOL, probably not since he also never played in The Bigs, and the infamous caller that for some ****ing reason is still in my mind’s recesses knew a Kevin Brown (the one traded for Charlie O’Brien) had time in the majors.

Stan Jefferson, Keith’s caddy when called up that September. Magadan was clearly ahead of him though.

[Edgy MD]

Jefferson was an outfielder. As far as I can recollect, and I feel confident the record would back me up, he did not play first, unless there was a cameo here or there.

The point of trying to hang onto your young players who have not peaked yet, of course, is not that they will all blossom into stars, but that the ones who do so blossom more than (far more than, if your intentions bear fruit) make up for the investment in the ones who do not. As Mitchell did.

And you remain confident in your payoff far exceeding the investment, because you are smart and assembled the best scouting and development staff.

"Anybody can go out and chase after last year's MVP," you say to yourself. "Even fools know he's terrific because he's last year's MVP."

"But that just puts you in an insanely escalating bidding war with 29 fools to see who can be most foolish with your money," you continue. "The wise one sees and develops the excellence that the other 29 teams do not see, and cannot develop."