[declansharbor]

As mentioned, the Polanco for Feliz swap at third is an offensively upgrade only. Feliz was a friggn wall at the hot corner last year, I can't imagine Placido making those plays at the same %...What it does do though, is it puts a runner on base more often which generates even more runs, sometimes disguising the hole(s) at the back end of the rotation.


As for the Halladay/Lee move, it was a matter of timing. Personally, I think Amaro jumped the gun a bit here. I would've waited, chanced it and let Lee increase/decrease his value during this upcoming year. Amaro tried to sweep it all under the rug in one big fell swoop. There's no way they could spin it to the fans if they were leading the division mid-season and traded Lee for minor league prospects, only to get beat in the postseason by a team that shells the roto. The brass pulled the Lee trade out at the only time that it could be semi-justified, the day they land a top 2 arm in the league like Halladay. It would be tough for them to showcase a lineup of Halladay, Lee, Hamels, Happ, Hole, only to dismantle it around the deadline. They didnt want us fans to think that it was possible to have such a potent team.

Whether it was cheap, or to 'restock the farm', I'm not a huge advocate of the deal. Not at this present moment. It was a slight move upwards, but the hole at the end remains. I wouldn't count on the bullpen too much next year. I guess they are attempting to generate more runs to dim the glare-ski.