Quote Originally Posted by clvclv View Post
Have to admit I'm warming to the deal more and more as the surprise wears off. As one who has always been in the "Pitching Above All Else" camp, I have to admit that trading someone like Mallex (no matter how much I love him - and I'm a believer) with nowhere to play for the next 2-3 years (certainly not at his best position, anyway) when you have a more-proven guy in Ender locked up and Acuna coming for someone with a TOR ceiling and a lefty who could pitch at the back of the pen soon is pretty much a no-brainer.

Definitely doesn't mean I won't always wonder what could've been here though.
I don't consider the fact that Mallex was blocked to be of much weight. It's a reason to entertain trading him. It's not a reason to take less value in the return. If we'd traded Mallex and gotten a clear win of a return I'd be the first one trumpeting this trade. But my problem is that I'm not sure we got enough back.

Gohara is clearly the linchpin of this deal. What he ends up being will be a huge factor in how good or bad this trade was. My problem is that I can't get a good hold on him. You have scouts proclaiming the Mariners idiots for trading him but then you have other guys who see him as a likely AA flameout. If Gohara finishes the season with an ERA of 6.50 and gets taken in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 draft then this trade will look terrible. And that's a real possibility.

I hope the Braves did their homework on Gohara and aren't just reacting to a few good innings in the AFL. I'm not saying he has to become an ace for the deal to make sense. But I think he needs to establish himself as a legitimate, high level pitching prospect this year. If he immediately crashes and burns then this deal will just look baffling.