J. Vazquez for C. Young

[VAfan]

I'm surprised Vazquez appears to have mentally turned his game around after all those 6th-inning meltdowns that sunk our 2006 season. If he pitched then the way he pitched last year, we would have had a chance to defend our WS title.

 

And even with his improved pitching in 2007 and so-far solid 2008, if the deal was Vazquez for Young straight up, then Arizona got the better deal. Young is already a stud and he's going to get better and better. Plus, his career is likely to last much longer than Javy's, and he's far cheaper for many years. (Which means the difference might have been invested in someone else.)

 

But throw in Carlos Quentin and you have to say we're better off. Quentin looks like he'll have better OBP and SLG numbers than Young for their respective careers, with Young having much better speed and defense. Advantage Quentin. Plus, Quentin's youth cancels out the money difference in the deals.

 

Problem is, we need multiple Carlos Quentins. Our team is made up mostly of old guys who've played elsewhere. We need more young talent. I want to see Josh Fields back on the field, esp. with Konerko ailing.

[sircaffey]

Well, I disagree. I think you're right most of the time regarding trades in a vacuum, but we've heard anecdotal evidence now that developing good relationships with GM's can help with making deals in the future. Kenny has this sort of solid relationship with Gillick and Josh Byrnes. Byrnes is certainly not a bad guy to have a good relationship with.

 

It's true. Schuerholz talks about GM relationships in his book, and how he hated to deal with certain GMs who try to rip you off. Didn't name names.

[witesoxfan]

I'm surprised Vazquez appears to have mentally turned his game around after all those 6th-inning meltdowns that sunk our 2006 season. If he pitched then the way he pitched last year, we would have had a chance to defend our WS title.

 

And even with his improved pitching in 2007 and so-far solid 2008, if the deal was Vazquez for Young straight up, then Arizona got the better deal. Young is already a stud and he's going to get better and better. Plus, his career is likely to last much longer than Javy's, and he's far cheaper for many years. (Which means the difference might have been invested in someone else.)

 

I guess that's your opinion dude, but the Sox are perfectly fine off right now with multiple candidates for CF next year or the following. Meanwhile, the Sox haven't themselves produced a legitimate starting pitcher since Garland or Buehrle. Considering that, the Sox got the better end because they got a #2 starting pitcher for a 3 tool CFer.

 

Problem is, we need multiple Carlos Quentins. Our team is made up mostly of old guys who've played elsewhere. We need more young talent. I want to see Josh Fields back on the field, esp. with Konerko ailing.

 

The Sox currently have 4 players who are 33 or older on their 25 man roster. They really aren't as old as people seem to think. They are very slow, and that's something that should be changed, but the Sox made a few steps this past offseason to help fix that problem.

[lostfan]

I'm surprised Vazquez appears to have mentally turned his game around after all those 6th-inning meltdowns that sunk our 2006 season. If he pitched then the way he pitched last year, we would have had a chance to defend our WS title.

Javy was our 5th starter that year, he didn't really sink our season. He was about what you'd expect from a 5th starter. The problem was the 1-4th starters underperforming so much all at once, then again maybe 2005 raised the expectations for them too much.

[kwolf68]

 

I liked getting Javy, but Young would look good in our CF...you gotta give up something to get something. Javvy has been solid since coming over.