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There are trades out there to be made, but I hope we don't make them because we feel we have to. I think that's how we lost Fister. This team is coming together, and there is stuff to trade, but I think the other teams are skeptical of the guys we want to trade, and they are asking about the guys we want to keep. And that makes entirely good sense. We aren't getting a .800-.900 major league hitter for a Franklin and a Taylor, unless he's a old slow slugger with injury concerns. They want Walker or Paxton.
We're a little different from Oakland in that we are willing to sign our best players to long term contracts. In Oakland, Beane is the star player. People go to the park to see his team. They don't do that here. Nobody goes to Safeco to see Jack's team, nor should they, really. Moneyball is a great movie in how it depicted how that happened: how Beane became the superstar of the Oakland A's.
But I think Z is a better GM than people give him credit for. Taking a 61 win team to 85 wins in one season - that's pretty much unheard of. He did it, though. When it collapsed back to 61 wins, it was apparent we were going to have to work a little more on the foundation. 65-67-75-71 is a pretty standard follow up for teams that are that awful. Four seasons to get to where we are now.
In 2007, Oakland went from a 93 win team to a 76 win team. Not so steep a drop, they could still sniff .500. Following that they went
75-75-81-74 before they began to see the kind of success Jack is on his way toward having this season (94 wins, and sustainable).
We probably won't win 94, but we can sustain a competitive team. We can see the outlines of it today. But it won't be Z's team, like the A's are Beane's team. It'll be Felix's team, and Cano's team.
Z wants to win a World Series. Maybe not this season, but I'm pretty sure he didn't think he'd compete his first year here. He may try to pull a Cliff Lee type deal. In fact, I'm sure he's trying, but people keep,asking for Walker, and THAT is a move you can't screw up. Howard doesn't care much about winning, but Jack does. He'll make the move, on his timetable. At least I hope so. I don't want Jack reacting. I want him acting.