Posted by dahsdebater on 8/5/2013 3:24:00 PM (view original):
I wouldn't pay Young's contract, much less give up a player for him. He still has a small outside chance of playing his way into being worth a comp pick if they make a qualifying offer, so that's probably a better return than anything they could have pulled in trade. By far. Michael Young that is. Nobody would trade anything for Delmon Young.
I guess the other guy you're likely referring to is Ruiz. I can see that one, but I would guess they want to extend him in the offseason. There isn't really a good in-house replacement, and he's having his worst year in a long time right now, making his trade value negligible relative to his potential value to the team, even into his upper 30s.
The one guy I would have been looking to trade is Mike Adams. Not a free agent in 2014, but it's not like the team is terribly likely to compete next year either...
Texas is paying most of Young's contract, Phillies were only paying 6 million to begin with, so he would have been less than 2 million to finish up. Regarding a qualifying offer, that was over 13 million last year and I don't see it being any different this year. He's about to turn 37, you think he wouldn't immediately sign that if they gave it? They aren't getting any compensation for him.
As much as it hurts me to say it, I think they should have traded Utley rather than trying to re-up him. You finally got a good season out of his knees, banking on that happening again doesn't seem like the best idea, and it's not like they are likely to contend while he's still useful anyhow.