Originally Posted by
DaneHill
The broadcast guys last night mentioned that the Marlins were asking for Acuna in any deal for JTR. Perhaps Acuna was the 30% hump that AA couldn't get over in any negotiations, at least with JTR. I get that AA has plenty of pitching trade options available to him, but if the negotiations start with Acuna or Albies (who I'm not sold on) or Wright and can't get away from those three guys, then I get why the conversations stalled. At the same time, I have yet to see a clear example of AA being a good negotiator, or maybe I've got PTSD from Duvall.
I keep going back to perhaps AA thought he was going to have more money to play with this off-season then he actually ended up with. He clearly blew his wad way too quickly on JD and McCann as has been pointed out. Perhaps he was honestly thinking he was going to make more moves at the Winter Meetings. But then he was called away from the WM suddenly to meet with ownership. Did we ever find out wtf that was about? It was very odd. Did ownership lay into him with a hard stop on spending?
That would explain why literally the only further pittance of dollars spent the remainder of the off-season was to fill the hole in RF, and with about the cheapest option available, which seemed like AA settling in a big way. Did AA promise to make a cut to the roster if ownership would just give him a few more million to fill the hole in RF? I just find it odd that AA is supposed to be this guy who pulls unexpected trades or signings out of nowhere or signs a player within an hour of a rumor launching, and yet here he re-signed the most predictable player all off-season available for the empty hole in RF. Just really seems to me that his hands were tied in a big way since the WM and he can't say that. Was Sam Freeman a casualty of having to spend money for a RF? Though I don't know why they kept Duvall in that case, other than AA's ego.
Not to defend AA. I'm still unimpressed with his off-season and impulsive purchase of JD / McCann within 5 minutes of the World Series ending. At the same time, I really hope those two guys prove me wrong.