And that may be true, but the OP concerns whether the Phillies got fair value. What they TRADED AWAY, and what the Cardinals traded for, was two months of Scott Rolen, not six years. If Rolen stays in Philly, the Cards could just sign him in November. Whether or not Rolen stays with the Cards is not relevant to his trade value. His trade value was only what you’re going to get out of him as a result of trading for him: a third of a season.
Rolen has decent power as it is. I must point out, however, that he is not, in baseball terms, all that young; he’s 27, the normal peak age for a position player, and he hasn’t shown any improvement since 1998. I think he might still have a big peak season ahead of him, maybe next year; injuries might have prevented his improvement from age 22 through age 26. But there’a a good chance he’s about as good as he ever will be.
Don’t get me wrong; Rolen is a very good player, but really, what were the Phillies supposed to get for two months of him?
Just to point out–it’s a Philadelphia tradition to trade away a player who inevitably does better elsewhere.
Three examples coming to mind:
Charles Barkley
Curt Schilling
Randall Cunningham (I hope it’s Randall I’m thinking of–he ended up on the Vikings and took them to the playoffs, right?)
There’s others, I’m sure. Undoubtedly Rolen’s record will improve dramatically herein. D’oh!
OK, since the OP invites me to ask my own trade questions…why the hell did the Angels trade for Ochoa instead of addressing an area they actually needed a lot of improvement in? Does Stoneman just make trades for the hell of it?
And what’s up with the Floyd trade to the BoSox? MLB rigs it so Henry’s group gets the Sox, then give them Floyd?
And lastly, I feel better about the Yankees getting Weaver now.
I feel a little vindicated. Bob Nightengale’s column in Baseball Weekly is titled “Two sides to every deal? Not this one” - and it discusses at length the Rolen deal.
The meaning being that if one waits long enough, Wade’ll have to deal Padilla, too.
Oh, and
and
Oh well, at least someone else out there feels the Phillies screwed up with the deal, so I do feel some vindication. Go Eagles!
That’s not entirely the case. As has been stated, the Cardinals seem to be trying to pull the old McGwire trick again: Force a quality player to come to town, wine, dine, and cheer him all over, and get him to sign a longer contract for less than his full market value. The value then is a lot more than the actual games played this season.
Watch a Cardinal game sometime. Does anyone here remember the kind of ovations people like Will Clark, McGwire, and Jim Edmonds got when they joined the team? Clark hit a home run in his first at-bat, I believe, and that pretty much sealed the deal. They LOVE the Cards in Saint Looey, on a level equal with the fans of the Yankees or the Cubs. Even in mediocre years, attendance is usually in the top third of the league.
Oh, and if this Rolen trade is such a steal for St. Louis, people like my dad will tell you it’s only payback for that Steve Carlton fiasco.
