Rolen is from Jasper, IN. Even the Chicago teams are farther away than he'd like I'd expect. St. Louis and Cincy are by far the closest and since his bridges were burnt in St. Louis, I'd say Cincy is where he wants to be. The Reds had leverage and gave it away to get the $4 Million covered in 2009. They could have simply waited until after the season and the $4 Million would not have been a factor.
Last edited by mth123; 04-24-2010 at 05:47 PM.
All my posts are my opinion - just like yours are. If I forget to state it and you're too dense to see the obvious, look here!
And this is the exact kind of conjecture I'm talking about. Rolen wanted to play closer to home, I can accept that. But for you or anyone else to think that meant he would only go to the Reds is complete and total conjecture.
Who is to say that the Jays couldn't trade him to Milwaukee, or Detroit, or Minnesota? Who is to say what those teams (or several others) were willing to give up? You don't know and neither do I. It's that simple.
Last edited by Benihana; 04-24-2010 at 05:44 PM.
Go BLUE!!!
Well I assume Milwaukee didn't want him given what they had at 3B. Detroit could have been an option. Still, if we think back, Walt basically said that he sold Stewart for the money involved.
All my posts are my opinion - just like yours are. If I forget to state it and you're too dense to see the obvious, look here!
Go BLUE!!!
Agree completely. It's just rationalizing one's opinion.Point remains. You have no idea who Toronto was thinking about trading him to. Therefore, you cannot say that the Reds outbid themselves. Assuming that the Reds were his only possible destination just because they are the 2nd closest city to his hometown is preposterous.
He asked for a trade from Toronto to be closer to his family. Cincy and St. Louis are really the only places that qualify. All the others would require a flight to Louisville and a drive and really would take no less time than if he did that from Toronto. I think assuming the other spots would fill the request is a little preposterous.
All my posts are my opinion - just like yours are. If I forget to state it and you're too dense to see the obvious, look here!
The Blue Jays said they would try to accommodate his request. They did not have to. There were other teams he presumably would have accepted a trade to. And we don't know whether the Blue Jays would have accepted less. Therefore, everything about what Cincinnati gave up as to whether it was more than necessary is simply conjecture.
"No matter how good you are, you're going to lose one-third of your games. No matter how bad you are you're going to win one-third of your games. It's the other third that makes the difference." ~Tommy Lasorda
Given the latest narrative, it's a really tough sell to argue Walt gave up too much for Rolen. EE and Roenicke? Hardly overpaying. That's closer to genius.
This rehashing really should now be about whether Walt should have asked for more money than he got for Stewart.
"This isn’t stats vs scouts - this is stats and scouts working together, building an organization that blends the best of both worlds. This is the blueprint for how a baseball organization should be run. And, whether the baseball men of the 20th century like it or not, this is where baseball is going."---Dave Cameron, U.S.S. Mariner
If the Reds waited until the off season, the ultimate price they paid for Rolen might have been higher. Other teams could have easily became competitors for Rolen's services as they emerged from their taking stock fall meetings.
Just assuming Cincy was the only possible destination is begging a question that shouldn't be begged.
Did the Reds have some leverage? I think intuitively, the answer is probably they had a bit easier road to working out a trade. That isn't close to the same thing as saying the Reds bid against themselves.
"This isn’t stats vs scouts - this is stats and scouts working together, building an organization that blends the best of both worlds. This is the blueprint for how a baseball organization should be run. And, whether the baseball men of the 20th century like it or not, this is where baseball is going."---Dave Cameron, U.S.S. Mariner
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