I can?t argue against anything you posted when just looking at it from a black-and-white ?here are the facts perspective?. However, I think there is an x-factor that should be considered. Given their long history of ineptitude that goes beyond just not fielding a competitive team, a baby-step in the right direction should be acknowledged. Due to their stinginess, not only would they have a hard time getting free agents in town for a look, it affected their ability to sign decent homegrown players to longer deals. It wasn?t just that they weren?t winning, it was that the front office wasn?t willing to spend and make deals to try to improve the club. This is the same club that would purposively draft players rounds ahead of where they were projected so that they could limit the signing bonuses that the draftees expected.
They weren?t going to get in the playoffs this year unless several bad/unfortunate things happened to other teams. You won?t make it far in this league on hopes and dreams like that. However, outside of the values of what they gave up and what they got in this trade, I think the trade itself is a sign that the management has changed and they are going in a new direction than what they have experienced in the past. It is a slow process due to years of ineptitude but it has to start somewhere. They aren?t going to change anything overnight, no matter how good their farm system is (which is proving that it isn?t as great as once thought a couple of years ago).
