28 Jul 2021 17:29:09
Official:

Athletics: Starling Marte

Marlins: Jesus Luzardo

Wow.

1.) 28 Jul 2021
28 Jul 2021 17:51:57
The Athletics are getting Starling Marte for nothing more than the league minimum, as they are Andrew Chafin.

They've made two trades for players and got the other team to cover almost all of the cost. That's going to add a hefty price.

Also, Luzardo looks awful. Really, really bad. Even in AAA. I'm not sure this is the "overpay" people think it is.

2.) 28 Jul 2021
28 Jul 2021 18:12:03
They traded a 23 year old former top prospect with team control until 2027 for 2 months of Starling Marte.

3.) 28 Jul 2021
28 Jul 2021 21:49:50
Yes. Once again, context matters.

1. Marte is literally free for them. They don't have to pay him more than a pro-rated minimum (legally) . For a team in as much dire straits as the A's, this is optimal. Marte has been worth over 3 wins to date, and the A's get a top-of-the-order bat and solid defender, for literally nothing.

That's going to cost them.

2. Luzardo literally has an ERA over 6 in both the majors and AAA. Even his 2020 numbers fail to live up to the 60-grade he was *briefly* given. Many scouts never bought the hype.

It's quite evident that the Athletics, who knew everything about Jesus Luzardo as a ballplayer, did not believe Luzardo was going to the 60 FV Luzardo, and had no qualms trading him away for Marte.

3. Zero teams care about some randomly selected outlet's prospect rankings. They don't. They don't care that Luzardo was once a top prospect. He has done very little for them except be injured and serve up runs galore.

Luzardo is, in my honest opinion, completely toast. We've seen the best we'll ever see out of him.

4.) 28 Jul 2021
28 Jul 2021 22:18:00
"Zero teams care about some randomly selected outlet's prospect rankings. "

Ahhh how the turn tables.

5.) 28 Jul 2021
28 Jul 2021 22:29:58
alright yeah this dude is smokin the loud pack. Goodluck ChiTown lol.

6.) 28 Jul 2021
28 Jul 2021 22:38:56
LOL. Just so we're clear, it's not as if an outlet like, say, Fangraphs, aren't somewhat reflective of how a team feels about players. Obviously, every team and rankings outlet is going to rate someone like, say, Wander Franco about the same.

But the Athletics and Marlins likely don't care, at all, that in 2020, Fangraphs had Luzardo as a top prospect.

Teams trading with the Phillies, for example, don't care that Mickey Moniak, who is very bad at professional baseball, was the #1 overall pick.

They aren't looking at Fangraphs lists when making trades. They aren't giving consideration to Eric Longenhagen or Kiley McDaniel's "future value grades". It's a litmus for our evaluations.

But criticizing the Athletics, who know Luzardo quite well, for giving him up for a rental is like criticizing a home owner who is ditching his mold-infested house because it has good curb appeal.

Luzardo's prospect ranking made for great curb appeal, but he's not a very good pitcher in reality. Like, at all.

7.) 29 Jul 2021
29 Jul 2021 00:22:49
I'm uniting delusional White Sox fans AND delusional Cubs fans.

If nothing, I've accomplished more on this site than either of you have in your entire life. You're welcome.