kwamebargnani wrote:Nobody said anything about what the team was supposed to be capable of. He built a contending roster (on paper that is), but that's not even the point. Most criticism comes from how it was done. To be specific, some people did not like how he managed assets so poorly and how he pretty much emptied everything he had for an old team that has maybe two or three years window. Going all-in rarely works, and the side effect is tremendous.
The point IS that if the team was a contender, the discussion is moot irrespective of the prospects given. This would be different if prospects were dumped and the net result was something that nobody had any confidence in before the season began. The Orioles used to do this for years. The armchair GMs would have plenty of ammunition if that were the case.
If you go for it and the print media plus the stat-heads all agree that this Jays are in the mix for the ALCS, then you've done something right.
When it doesn't work out, the revisionists come out of the woodwork. The only REAL argument that could be made is that the organization should never go "all-in" like that and wait for an abundance of young talent to bubble up, a-la the Rays or A's. But if you're going to augment a core with mature assets that belong to other teams, the Jays pretty much did it the way the 'experts' agreed it should have been done.
The Marlins deal comes down to Nicolino and Marisnick. Hechavarria, Hendo and Yunel are all known quantities and readily replaceable. Even assuming Nicolino and Marisnick carve out solid MLB careers (the latter is off to a rough start), I would argue that Reyes for a few years at least makes it palatable. JJ and Bonifacio have been abysmal. Buehrle at least belongs in a major league rotation.
The Mets deal was a tougher pill to swallow. D'Arnaud looking injury prone has softened the blow a tiny bit, but Syndergaard has been so strong. Still, the reward was supposed to be a bonafide ace who had been pitching at that level for ~3 years. That's a deal you make if a) that's what you actually get in return and b) you have no foreshadowing of the trainwreck that is coming with respect to the rest of your staff, which writes off the season even if he WAS pitching as an ace (i.e. Morrow, Romero and JJ were all supposed to be legit, with Happ in reserve).
Sorry, but I don't see how this is anything assessing the wreckage post-fact.
