Quote:
Originally Posted by phightin
Not direct financial flexibility in the short term but if they would have kept lee they would probably have besides brown close to zero prospects who are close to mlb ready now. In the next couple years when Rollins, Hamels, Blanton, Victorino, and some others leave they'll need to be replaced and keeping Lee and getting two draft picks who won't be ready for close to 4+ years isn't the answer. By at least giving them a chance to have some guys who can step in there it allows them the ability to focus on putting their money on Howard and Werth and not having to invest it elsewhere and lose one or both of them.
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That would make sense if any of the prospects they acquired were potential replacements for any of those guys in the next couple of years. They're not. Gillies is probably three years away from being major-league ready -- he's only 21 and hasn't played higher than A ball yet. The same goes for Ramirez. The only one of the three who has a chance of playing in the majors in the next three years is Aumont, and he's a relief pitcher.