12-17-2009, 04:08 PM
Butch, do you think the "Dempster for $52 Million" was a good signing?
As far as Jim being a good trader: the Aramis and DLee transactions were not "trades," they were salary dumps. For instance, at the time of the trade, Choi had a $350,000 contract, and Lee had a $21 <i>million</i> dollar contract. That is not a straight-up trade. That is a salary dump.
Still, as the GM of a huge-money team, it's Jim's job to clean out the low-revenue teams, so I still consider these great deals, and wish he had pulled another one off if the ensuing <i>six</i> years.
As many have said, Jim has his positives, but his biggest negative (by far) is his misunderstanding of how to outlay salary/budget. His biggest positive is that he engenders good feeling amongst his MLB players, and thus we got Z and Aramis on slightly discounted long-term deals.
As far as Jim being a good trader: the Aramis and DLee transactions were not "trades," they were salary dumps. For instance, at the time of the trade, Choi had a $350,000 contract, and Lee had a $21 <i>million</i> dollar contract. That is not a straight-up trade. That is a salary dump.
Still, as the GM of a huge-money team, it's Jim's job to clean out the low-revenue teams, so I still consider these great deals, and wish he had pulled another one off if the ensuing <i>six</i> years.
As many have said, Jim has his positives, but his biggest negative (by far) is his misunderstanding of how to outlay salary/budget. His biggest positive is that he engenders good feeling amongst his MLB players, and thus we got Z and Aramis on slightly discounted long-term deals.
There's nothing better than to realize that the good things about youth don't end with youth itself. It's a matter of realizing that life can be renewed every day you get out of bed without baggage. It's tough to get there, but it's better than the dark thoughts. -Lance