For a team that's supposed to be better funded than it's been the last few years, we're certainly acting like we need tons of financial help with the way this Mark Kotsay trade might work out. There's been a lot of flack about the Braves giving up top relief prospect Joey Devine for the aging and injury-prone Kotsay, but that's not all we're getting. We're also getting over $5 million of Kotsay's salary paid for by the A's, and apparently that is the reason that we chose to give up a higher level prospect in exchange for the mediocre centerfielder.
So I'm confused now. What in the hell was all the rhetoric coming out of the Braves organization late last year about the team being "flush" with cash. Now we're trading away a better player than we need to in exchange for cash!
One thing that has been discussed exhaustively throughout the winter is whether or not some combination of Blanco or Anderson could hold down the centerfield job; with the general consensus from TC readers and from other Braves sites around the net being, "yes, they can." Why then are we sacrificing Devine at this point in the off-season (and possibly another minor leaguer, heaven forbid) for an injury-prone player coming off three seasons of continuous decline?
I've liked every one of Frank Wren's moves thus far this off-season, but this one really makes me scratch my head, wonder why they made it, then yell really loud, WHY!
If we're actually giving up a better prospect in Devine (and perhaps another prospect) in exchange for Kotsay and CASH, then perhaps us Braves fans and all the beat writers around the team truly have no idea what the financial situation of the team is - and it must be worst than we think. Otherwise, why require cash back in the trade?
Or maybe we, the internet pundits, are just not viewing Kotsay the way we should be. All the Braves players think he's a solid, proven performer. Maybe the Braves think the surgery he had last year to remove a herniated disk will put Kotsay's injury problems behind him. But that's an amazingly large gamble; one that didn't workout last year with Mike Gonzalez.
As of right now I'm not terribly thrilled by this trade, and perhaps even a little distraught. This seems like a bit of a desperate move to get someone, anyone with experience and not have to pay a lot for him. Then again, we could be getting the second coming of Luis Gonzalez and Wren will look like a genius at the end of the year, but somehow I doubt it.
And we didn't even get any chicks for free!