50PoundHead
Hessmania Forever
I think a re-build had to take place and it was probably overdue to some extent. I think the second wave of trades were worse than the initial ones. I would have made the Heyward deal bigger to try to get his replacement in that deal (to avoid the Markakis signing), but other than that, it was quantity over quality and I can see the reasoning behind that. Whether one agrees with that overall strategy or the players we received is another question. One deal no one talks about is the Banuelos deal, which pretty much everyone here loved when it was made. Three years later, Chasen Shreve is still pitching fairly well and Banuelos has a 1.6 WHIP in Salt Lake City. Not earth-shattering by any stretch, but the little deals haven't worked out that well either.