Amen.

Deej is off-limits, too. Honest to darn goodness, I could see a path to him being a Mariner this season.
Well...maybe Pizzano, because I'm so emotionally invested in the idea that he's .300-.380 with 40 doubles.
OK, trade him, too. Darn.
moe

What a great article, Doc.
Truly...that was a very important observation and changes the way I think about BA. Well done.

He's not allowed to be officially included in a deal until one year after he signed, IIRC.  So unless you can drag out a PTBNL for 6 or 7 months (during which he will PLAY half a season in your own org or sit in AZ and try not to get injured) then no, DJ isn't going anywhere.
IMO, we also could get Price without either Paxton or Walker.  But I agree with Doc, we don't have to.  There are other options.  Trading Walker, then having him turn into Verlander while Price does a swandive into Bedard territory would be a nightmare scenario.
Of course, even if that happened we'd still have Paxton and E-Ram, plus a boatload of arms about 2 years away, plus Hultzen rehabbing for 2015.  It's not like we just emptied the cabinet.  We dealt Pineda for nothing at this point, essentially.  I like Walker and Paxton both better than Pineda as long-term investments.  Neither has work-habit issues, for one.  And I would much prefer Garza at 4/70 or whatever, while keeping Walker.
But if Walker goes, it's not the end of the world. I promise.  Tampa Bay will faces like kids at Christmas, though, and I don't feel like bringing them that kind of joy in this holiday season.
~G

All of this article is fantastic!!!
But I wonder how far you go on an un-tradeable list...
Taiwan, Paxton, Deej, Austin Wilson ?, Zunino...
I am sure there are several of us who would add at least 5 more... but then that phone booth is pretty full come 2016.
Then as Gordon and Spec keep saying, the upcoming draft is better than the previous two or three drafts as far as talent goes... and we should have two of the top 35 picks. :)

Two years of Price is all we'd get for all the club-controlled years of a rookie. The tradeoff is the proven immediate production of Price during the immediate "go for it" years. If Walker turns out to fulfill the upper reaches his potential, which is not as certain as the proven history of David Price, then we would have lost out in terms of total productive player years and in terms of payroll costs. No doubt about it. And either pitcher, Walker or Price, could get injured, though Price has proven he can withstand the rigors of a long MLB season.
This whole discussion highlights the importance of strategic considerations. Are the M's going for it now, or are they trying to rebuild one plank at the time? The Cano acquisition suggests they are going for it now. While it might be argued this is not optimal long term, we now have the "Felix-Cano window." It is here. Now. Walker MIGHT take the league by storm this year (Pineda). Or he might take a couple of years to reach dominant form. Or, heaven forbid, he might not ever reach that.
Technically, or as Doc says, tactically, Price/Walker is a mistake. Strategically it is a decision to be made at the highest level, and that takes into consideration factors that go beyond the tactical. Does "go for it now" mean another rebuild in four or five years? Is it worth it to do that? Again, the Cano acquisition suggests the Mariners have answered those questions in the affirmative.

Now that we have a 10 year commitment, and hopefully several others we might want to keep for that long... is it possible the M's front office is planning that long as well... especially since we know what the local TV numbers ballpark will be?
And without laying out a 5 or 10 year plan myself, I wonder what the M's plan looks like.
I hope Taijuan and Paxton are...

There are lots of things that have likely improved the success of pitchers. Health technology and understanding is constantly improving especially as teams have poured more money into it. Also, the attitude within the game has changed dramatically over the past 10 or so years. No longer is there the ridiculous machismo of players expected to play through pain and keep their mouth shut. Now pitchers are told to immediately disclose any discomfort they feel and they will get handled very cautiously if there is any chance of injury. And yes, there is also the harder limits on pitch counts and innings thrown.

Doc/Matt: A "prospect" (pitcher) is only a prospect at AA...once he masters that level, he's ready.
Looking at your above list, here are the total number of innings they threw at AAA on their way up.
Strasburg 33
Felix 88
Verlander 0
Lincecum 31
Ogando 15
Cain 145
Liriano 91
Webb 25
Oswalt 31
Brett Anderson 13
Feliz 77
Pineda 62
Cain really never dominated AA as he had a 1.3 WHIP and 40 BB's/72 K's at that level.
The other guys were basically MLB pitchers as soon as they were done with AA. AAA was just a brief respite to throw against guys who had actually been in the majors. It wasn't a real growth stop. The average of those guys was 51 AAA innings.
Taijuan has 57 AAA innings/Paxton 145.
There is pretty good indication that they aren't "prospects" any more. They belong.
moe
Edit: Bumgarner 82, Hellickson 57, Price 52, Billingsly 70, Kershaw 0, Hughes 57, Buchholz 181, Bailey 317.
Buchholz was up in '08 after 82 AAA innings in '07-'08. He was sent back down in '09 for 99 more after a poor MLB start.
Bailey bounced up and down in '07-'09. But you can argue he's been the least dominant (at least fora season or two) of all the guys on that list. He did dominate at AA, though. He breaks the mold of the guys mentioned.
So, if you've recently been a BA Top-10 Prospect AND you're a pitcher who Dominated AA.....there's a pretty good shot your ready at that point. I've listed 20 guys you did. 2 of the 20, Buchholz and Bailey took a bit of time to be TOR (1-3) guys. Hughes basically was, as soon as he got the shot. That's 3 of the 20 (not all starters, understood).
I like the odds. They're well in our guy's favor. When you stack one on top of the other, there looks to be almost no chance that one of them is not a TOR guy right not (and that's without the eyeball test we've all had). That's nearly a lock. If you figure that they each have an 80% shot, you're looking at a 96% chance that one is TOR right now, and a 64% chance that both are (if I've done my math correctly).
And actually it goes up from there, because that doesn't include the fact that they have both already dominated in starts at the MLB level. Paxton was 4/4 in quality starts and three of those were terrific. Walker had one start where he allowed 6 baserunners in 5 innings, but 4 ER's. Combined they had 39 innings with 27 hits 10 ER's 11 walks and 33 K's. Their WHIP was less than 1.00, in case you missed it.
We don't have two prospects. We have two TOR guys chomping at the bit.
Secretariat was was no longer a prospect after Oct. 28, '73. He won by 6.5 lengths in that race, his first.
We've got a couple of that kind of young "stud hoss."
moe

80% of the Top 20 Prospects are in the Top 100 players during their 20's. Tell me Billy Beane and Bill James didn't change baseball.
I think the other thing that plays well here is that there is a much better understanding of pitching motions and those that are conducive to injury. Guys get coached out of the inverted W in the low minors.

Doc,
I'm not making Seager untouchable, just because the haul could be so nice. I don't want to trade him, but would entertain HUGE offers. I'm not trading Miller. I'm not trading Zunino (and not really because of his bat...although it helps. But young/take- charge/Power-hitting/pitch-calling/runner-gunning catchers are usually named Gary Carter). I'm not trading Walker and Paxton (unless Trout or Harper come this way).
Deej just hit ten plus three big flies in his first two score plus ten plus five games. Trout hit two less big flies in his first nine times ten AA games. Do you think Deej will hit less? The Nats Bryce H. hit ten plus four in his A-Ball go 'round. Deej will hit. I want to watch how he grows. Put him in AA right now. Call him up just past June.
Did that do it Doc? All 1-syllable words! :)
OK, he's 21 and those guys were 19-ish. But you're holding the fact that he went to college against him. Here we are trying to find bashing bats, and we could trade away a young one we have. That's it for me. Real power bats come along only so often. Let's hold on the one we have coming.
Everybody else is tradeable.
Even, Pizzano....Sigh.
moe