You know, I almost wonder if this is part of the new economy in baseball.
Maybe Ryan's OB skills are overvalued a bit? I mean, the guy was a decent player, but even in his prime, his high OBP was offset by the fact he had zero power and zero speed. Plus the OBP might've been inflated by hitting in front of the pitcher (I say "might have", meaning a theory).
Maybe since everyone is looking for OBP skills, the new economy says to trade these guys for other undervalued skills. Obviously, I don't expect to get Price, but maybe Hannigan is worth more on the trade market than we think?
Pena + whatever we get for Hannigan might be worth a lot more than just keeping Hannigan. If the plan is to let Mes catch most of the time anyhow, Hannigan might be less valuable for us as opposed to others..