Gio Gonzalez goes to Nationals for a HEFTY price

[dagger]

I think you're blatantly wrong, the new CBA which has placed limits on amateur spending only makes prospects more valuable. Teams now have fewer ways of stacking up the farm so they'll hold on to the prospects that they do have as tightly as possible.

Except lo and behold that's not what's transpiring in the marketplace. With the Matos and Gio trades, and yesterday's Danks re-signing by Chicago, it's clear there is a premium for prime READY major league pitching.

[dagger]

nats got raped. As a result, AA is screwed because prices of Garza et al just skyrocketed. Maybe, he would look into signing oswalt to a 1 yr deal. **** This ****.

Nats also made themselves a wildcard contender in the NL. Teams coming up for the first time in a long time often have to overpay.

[Schad]

I think you're blatantly wrong, the new CBA which has placed limits on amateur spending only makes prospects more valuable. Teams now have fewer ways of stacking up the farm so they'll hold on to the prospects that they do have as tightly as possible.

Except lo and behold that's not what's transpiring in the marketplace. With the Matos and Gio trades, and yesterday's Danks re-signing by Chicago, it's clear there is a premium for prime READY major league pitching.

Or you're drawing far too broad an inference from the perfectly reasonable re-signing of Danks and the utter ineptitude of Washington's front office.

[Lateral Quicks]

Thank the FSM.

And LOL @Nationals. Horribad.

[kwamebargnani]

What a dumb deal. I don't know how gutting their farm system for a mediocre pitcher is a good thing. Adding a decent number 3 starter doesn't make them a contender.

[Al_Oliver]

they were under .500 last year with 4 teams ahead of them for the Wild Card...
Gotta figure Cinci and Miami will be better than them too and they finished behind the Nats last year.
Nats still have work to do but at least they can be competitive.

[wbbfan]

wow what an over pay. Im glad we didnt blow half that amount of prospects on gio. Still hope we can dig up some one to help shore up the top half of the rotation and a set up guy.

[torontoaces04]

I lol'd at first, then I just was thankful it wasn't us.

[Homer Jay]

Absolutely and completely ridiculous price to pay. That, my friends, is one desperate azz GM. Aimless team throwing money (Werth), and players away to run the treadmill. Dramatically steeper price than Cahill who might end up the better pitcher.

Will they take Ricky straight up for Strasberg? Sure as hell sounds like it.

[torontoaces04]

Absolutely and completely ridiculous price to pay. That, my friends, is one desperate azz GM. Aimless team throwing money (Werth), and players away to run the treadmill. Dramatically steeper price than Cahill who might end up the better pitcher.

Will they take Ricky straight up for Strasberg? Sure as hell sounds like it.

Forget Ricky, he's 10x the pitcher Gio is.

Let's offer them Cecil or Alvarez.

[StringerBell]

Damn that's a steep price. Guess this goes against the whole 'prospects are overvalued theory'.
Also makes you wonder what it's gonna cost to land a guy like Garza.

[Parataxis]

Damn that's a steep price. Guess this goes against the whole 'prospects are overvalued theory'.
Also makes you wonder what it's gonna cost to land a guy like Garza.

I'm so confused. I thought that trades were always a much better way to improve your team than signing FAs.

[Randle McMurphy]

I hope this ridiculous deal forces the team to spend their money on a free agent to improve in 2012. But it probably won't. It might just force them to stand pat.

[dagger]

Absolutely and completely ridiculous price to pay. That, my friends, is one desperate azz GM. Aimless team throwing money (Werth), and players away to run the treadmill. Dramatically steeper price than Cahill who might end up the better pitcher.

Will they take Ricky straight up for Strasberg? Sure as hell sounds like it.

Actually, the national writers seem to believe only one of the four prospects has possible front of the rotation potential, the rest are at best, in the case of the pitchers, borderline major league starters. Not sure the package is as good as fans here believe.

In any case, this may be how the Jays played Gio

From Buster's Blog

For starters, Beane did not have a shortage of suitors. The Boston Red Sox came on very strong at the end, while the Toronto Blue Jays also made a push. Boston's offer was more position-player heavy, while Toronto was willing to part only with low-level prospects with a lot of risk.