Comments on: The verdict: Trader Jack wins

By: SeattleSlew

SeattleSlew — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 23:00:21 +0000

Smoak is considered a future Gold Glover at 1st!! Definite rationale for the kind of team that Jack Z is trying to build.

By: willmose

willmose — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 09:11:33 +0000

Jack is the greatest GM in the history of baseball. Look at all he’s done for M’s this year! Jack, you should move up to the Cubs next year. Their fans will understand that great GMs position their teams at 20 games under .500 to make great deals.

By: Seattleite

Seattleite — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 22:36:29 +0000

As a M’s fan, it won’t hurt at all if Lee plays playoff hero for Texas, since there was no way he was going to play that part for Seattle this year. As for Montero vs. Smoak, I’m certainly no expert, but I’ve heard other prospect junkies speculate that Montero’s glove won’t even play well at 1B. I’m not sure what Smoak’s defensive reputation is, but if it’s good, this could be a consideration since Seattle does place quite a bit of value on defensive ability. I’m not saying I’d rather have Montero, but I can see the reasoning.

By: JBerardi

JBerardi — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 20:08:31 +0000

I’d take Montero over Smoak if I was building a team from the ground up today, but at the same time, I don’t think it’s SO crazy that the Mariners prefer Smoak. Minor league stats aren’t everything.

By: John

John — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 19:43:47 +0000

I don’t think the M’s took Smoak over Montero necessarily…they were just worried about the other guy’s knee (or whatever it was) and went for the surer bets health-wise? I mean, a .461 slug in the minors isn’t too impressive for a 1st baseman even though the .411 OBP is. It still seems like Montero is a better prospect…they probably were just more comfortable with the other guys in the deal, I’m guessing.

By: alterity

alterity — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 19:38:46 +0000

I keep hearing this logic: where Montero gonna play? At worst, he’s a 1B. What’s Smoak? A 1B. Smoak may have scouts’ hearts afluttering, but his track record is not lights out. I agree with others: Monetro’s younger, has a better track record, and MIGHT be a catcher for a time. Again, at worst he’s first baseman. If the Yankees were including Noesi in this deal, I think the M’s made the wrong choice. But whatever, I can live without Lee. I was living without him yesterday. I just got excited for a few hours and I hate that.

By: Schlom

Schlom — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 19:19:24 +0000

Can Amaro possibly keep his job after this latest Lee trade? Here’s the haul for the three Lee trades (all rankings by Baseball America): the Phillies gave up 4 of their top 10 prospects, 3 of whom were ranked in the top 100. The Rangers just gave up their 2nd best prospect (13th overall) and three unranked (team or overall). The Mariners gave up Aumont (4th team, 93rd overall) and 2 unranked prospects. Considering that in theory the closer you get to Lee’s free agency the less you would receive, it would seem that Amaro did just a horrible, horrible job.

By: D.J. Short

D.J. Short — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 19:02:03 +0000

Ha. Fair enough.

By: Schlom

Schlom — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 18:56:50 +0000

Taking advantage of Ruben Amaro Jr shouldn’t be considered a win.

By: D.J. Short

D.J. Short — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 18:53:28 +0000

*Lowe.

By: D.J. Short

D.J. Short — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 18:49:49 +0000

I guess we’ll see. It came down to a matter of preference. And it was pretty clear they wanted a major-league ready bat. I like Montero a lot, but I wonder where he’ll eventually play in the big leagues. Catcher? First base? DH? Who knows. The way I look at it, I would easily swap Aumont, Gillies Ramirez and Low for Smoak and the other three prospects. That’s gotta be a win, right?

By: Schlom

Schlom — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 18:42:13 +0000

Can he really be the winner if he turned down the Montero trade? Obviously we’ll have to wait and find out to see how all the young players turn out but I think I’d much rather have Montero than Smoak. Personally I feel like Smoak is hugely overrated as he’s never really been that great outside of 15 games at Triple A this season. Remember that Montero is three years younger and has put up much better stats in the minors — even as he’s struggled in Triple A this season his numbers are still better than Smoak’s were at the same level last year. Beavan has great numbers at Double A but he doesn’t strike anyone out and the other two are just fillers.