Michael Bradley wrote:Many GM's, including the one we had prior to AA, probably don't make that deal.
I disagree, because the reality is that pure relief prospects aren't anywhere near as highly perceived in reality as some fans want to make them out to be. I'm sure AA liked Collins a lot; but at the end of the day he's just a pretty good prospect at a position where you can literally find usable free agents every year, or simply convert failed starters. In this day and age where stats have proven the overrated "value" of relievers, I'm sure most competent GMs would have easily made that trade if they were in our position. We were in the right place at the right time because we had a veteran SS who was performing like an all-star but at the same time could afford to give him up for a guy who wasn't performing at all because we weren't even trying to make a playoff push.
