Buyers or Sellers: Lessons Learned From the 2017 Trade Deadline

[Otto von Ballpark]

21 minutes ago, jorgenswest said:

on 2011…

In Baker’s two starts prior to deadline (July 23 and 28) he pitched 12 innings, gave up 2 runs, struck out 9 and walked 1. His pitched 7 innings and threw 97 pitches in that July 28 start.

"Minnesota Twins placed RHP Scott Baker on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to July 7, 2011. Right flexor strain." He did return to make a couple starts but what team wants to pay much to acquire that guy at the deadline? It's like the Sam Dyson situation in 2019 -- no way do we trade anything of value for him if he had been on the IL for arm issues earlier that month.

And if the offers are minimal for a guy like Baker, might as well hold on to him and see if his health (and trade value) improves. We still had him for 2012 with a 2013 team option.

41 minutes ago, jorgenswest said:

The likelihood that a number 32 draft choice will be successful is very small. There are 6 players drafted in that slot since 1965 with more than 10 career WAR. Three more will likely get there. The Twins can’t expect a comp pick to be a Berrios. There is much greater likelihood that an established good prospect will have a career. The Twins probably got lucky with Luke Bard also. His career WAR of 0.2 ranks 12th in his draft slot since 1965. Many do do not close to the majors. Should the Twins count on getting a Berrios back as a comp pick?

The two players where comp picks are possible are Buxton and Berrios. I would pay up to sign them to extensions. Can they even count on comp picks with the uncertainty of the agreement with the union?

My point about comp picks was entirely looking backward. For 2011, it was a good decision to let those guys walk instead of trading them. Yes, just about every draft slot has bad results historically -- that's just the nature of the draft. But as a rebuilding team, I'll take adding the #32 and #43 picks in the same year that I have the #2 pick every time over trying to find value in marginal deadline returns. Remember, the 2012 draft was the first with caps/slots too, so those #2, #32, and #43 slots could be leveraged together (like the Astros did).

Obviously the calculus is different now. There is no compensation anymore for marginal or short-term free agents like Cuddyer and Kubel (or now Pineda and Cruz). We should trade those guys in 2021 if we can't get back in the race over the next few weeks.

2011 sucked on a number of levels, but there wasn't much we could have done to improve the franchise at the deadline.

[TwinsDr2021]

The Question I have is are the Twins in a better situation than when the this Front Office took over?

IMO- the major league roster is better, but the minors is worse (comparing the top 20 now to when they took over)

I would say no if the talk is about rebuilding and/or starting over, My thoughts are they need to get very creative this deadline trade away some guys and trade for other guys (meaning younger controllable guys for prospects).

Being a Hulu guy, I have very little interest in a rebuilding team the next few years, and probably the wrong time for Ballys to talk about charging additional money to watch a rebuilding team.

[Dodecahedron]

The front office has been eerily quiet throughout this year's fiasco.  I know what my goals would be for the trade deadline, but I admit I have zero idea about what this team will do.  I don't have a lot of confidence.

[SteelDodo]

In contrast to some of the previous commenters, in my opinion, it is WAY too early to be criticizing the returns from the 2018 trades. When trading for prospects, the value received in the trade is the SIX years worth of contributions after the prospects reach the majors. At this point, only a few of the 2018 prospects have made the majors, and even then they have only been on the major league roster for a year or two. We'll know the true value of the trades in another ~8 years from now.

[Dman]

2 hours ago, jorgenswest said:

on 2011…

In Baker’s two starts prior to deadline (July 23 and 28) he pitched 12 innings, gave up 2 runs, struck out 9 and walked 1. His pitched 7 innings and threw 97 pitches in that July 28 start.

The likelihood that a number 32 draft choice will be successful is very small. There are 6 players drafted in that slot since 1965 with more than 10 career WAR. Three more will likely get there. The Twins can’t expect a comp pick to be a Berrios. There is much greater likelihood that an established good prospect will have a career. The Twins probably got lucky with Luke Bard also. His career WAR of 0.2 ranks 12th in his draft slot since 1965. Many do do not close to the majors. Should the Twins count on getting a Berrios back as a comp pick?

The two players where comp picks are possible are Buxton and Berrios. I would pay up to sign them to extensions. Can they even count on comp picks with the uncertainty of the agreement with the union?

Looking forward I would sell off now. I would sell off expiring contracts. I would sell Donaldson if it meant either getting back prospects or retaining at least 16 million to spend on Buxton and Berrios. I would sell high on Rogers rather than pay for his decline. I would have sold off Garver also but not sure when he will return as a catcher and I think he has little value as a 1B/DH.

I am trading for prospects and starting the rebuild. I don’t think it is possible to build a World Series contending pitching staff for 2022 and while being in the hunt for a wild card is possible it isn’t my long term goal. My goal is a World Series pitching staff and that can’t happen until they have a foundation of home grown pitching.

I agree with you.  Out of the 30 guys teams sign as draft picks maybe 1, 2, or 3 will make it to MLB.  That is a 10% or less hit rate.  If you trade for a player at High A or above you have increased your odds dramatically because about 50% or those original draft choices have flamed out and your odds of grabbing someone who can make it are better.  It also takes a year or two for players to reach those levels so you have increased the timeline for them helping the team if they make it. In conclusion trading can help accelerate a rebuild.

When we have had decent players to trade we have gotten decent value back.  Escobar netted us Duran and Maciel.  Duran has front of rotation starter potential and Maciel still has 4th outfielder potential.  When they traded Pressly they got Alcala who is already at the MLB level and Celestino who still needs work with the bat but has already been called up as well.  We have higher quality guys to trade this time around so should be able to get better assets back.

Why not trade guys who are in their walk year?  Maybe the return doesn't work and you get nothing but if it does work out you just got something for a guy that can't help you win this year anyway.  I would rather have a chance than no chance at all but that is just me. Trading those guys for lottery tickets seems like a no brainer to me. 

If salary is the issue in getting an extension for Berrios and Buxton done and you need to clear room by trading Donaldson then I think they should do it.  Especially for Berrios we have hitting but pitching is in short supply. If both players want to test FA no matter what then you have to be willing to trade them at peak value because odds are the Twins will not be the high bidder for their services once their service time is up.  Get what value you can as mentioned earlier you can accelerate your rebuild if you get the right players back.

Draft pitching early and often this year.  Try and get college arms who can supplement what you have on the farm in case those arms fail.  You have young hitting right now in Kirilloff, Larnach, Arraez, Polanco, Kepler, Gordon with Miranda and Rooker in the wings and Maybe Steer not far behind.  Focus on pitching, pitching, pitching at all times.  Anything they can do to get arms around the AA level to supplement what they have now would be helpful.  Those that don't look cut out to start move to the pen.  I think if they do that they can be a better team in 2023 and 2024. Maybe even a team that can win a playoff game. 

[Major League Ready]

20 minutes ago, Dman said:

Draft pitching early and often this year.  Try and get college arms who can supplement what you have on the farm in case those arms fail.  You have young hitting right now in Kirilloff, Larnach, Arraez, Polanco, Kepler, Gordon with Miranda and Rooker in the wings and Maybe Steer not far behind.  Focus on pitching, pitching, pitching at all times.  Anything they can do to get arms around the AA level to supplement what they have now would be helpful.  Those that don't look cut out to start move to the pen.  I think if they do that they can be a better team in 2023 and 2024. Maybe even a team that can win a playoff game. 

I would like to see something like 12 pitchers / 3 CF / 3 SS / 2C.  Of course, subject to a tweak if they fair well between now and the trade deadline.

[Mike Sixel]

Just now, Major League Ready said:

I would like to see something like 12 pitchers / 3 CF / 3 SS / 2C

I'd like to see no corner OF / 1B in round 1-3........But yes, my preference is SS and pitching. 

[Major League Ready]

2 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

I'd like to see no corner OF / 1B in round 1-3........But yes, my preference is SS and pitching. 

I call and raise you to the 1st 5 rounds.  You in?

[Mike Sixel]

8 minutes ago, Major League Ready said:

I call and raise you to the 1st 5 rounds.  You in?

I'd be ok if we saw none this year, frankly. 

[Major League Ready]

12 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

I'd be ok if we saw none this year, frankly. 

Me too.  SS and a couple CFs with mad athleticism and the potential for power.  

[jorgenswest]

I think they better go with whoever they think can make an impact.

They draft 26, 36 and 61. Since 1965 the best pitcher ever drafted in the 26th spot is Dan Plesac. There are three others with a positive career WAR (Jeremy Bonderman, Kelly Wunsch and Bryan Morris). On the brighter side Randy Johnson was drafted in the 36th slot. He is one of just three players with more than 10 career WAR from the 36th spot. Jesse Crain is the 4th ranked player picked at 61. 

It is really hard to draft well outside of the first few picks. I don't think they would be wise to narrow their chances even more by restricting themselves to pitchers, shortstops and centerfielders.

[Major League Ready]

13 minutes ago, jorgenswest said:

I think they better go with whoever they think can make an impact.

They draft 26, 36 and 61. Since 1965 the best pitcher ever drafted in the 26th spot is Dan Plesac. There are three others with a positive career WAR (Jeremy Bonderman, Kelly Wunsch and Bryan Morris). On the brighter side Randy Johnson was drafted in the 36th slot. He is one of just three players with more than 10 career WAR from the 36th spot. Jesse Crain is the 4th ranked player picked at 61. 

It is really hard to draft well outside of the first few picks. I don't think they would be wise to narrow their chances even more by restricting themselves to pitchers, shortstops and centerfielders.

I also had catchers.  So we are staying away from corner OFers and 2B.  Of course, a lot of guys drafted at SS end up at 2B

[Otto von Ballpark]

2 hours ago, TwinsDr2021 said:

The Question I have is are the Twins in a better situation than when the this Front Office took over?

IMO- the major league roster is better, but the minors is worse (comparing the top 20 now to when they took over)

It's hard to say. Some guys on the major league roster now were in the minors back then... but 2017 draftees haven't had a lot of time to do much either, especially with the lost 2020 season, to say nothing of more recent draft classes:

https://www.baseball-reference.com/draft/?year_ID=2017&draft_round=1&draft_type=junreg&query_type=year_round

And when a guy does well, who do you credit -- the drafter or the developer?

Here's a Twins top 20 prospect list just before the new FO took over:

https://www.minorleagueball.com/2016/11/8/13555840/minnesota-twins-top-20-prospects-for-2017

 

[Otto von Ballpark]

29 minutes ago, jorgenswest said:

It is really hard to draft well outside of the first few picks. I don't think they would be wise to narrow their chances even more by restricting themselves to pitchers, shortstops and centerfielders.

MLB draft has to be best player available for sure, but -- scouting amateur talent is still more art than science. There's going to be a lot of ties and biases at play anyway. A little bias toward pitchers or up-the-middle defenders probably isn't going to hurt.

[jorgenswest]

42 minutes ago, Major League Ready said:

I also had catchers.  So we are staying away from corner OFers and 2B.  Of course, a lot of guys drafted at SS end up at 2B

Fair enough. So basically you wouldn't pick Kirilloff or Larnach or Sabato but would go with a pitcher or someone who will stay up the middle. I wouldn't limit myself.

[4twinsJA]

I am in the rebuild camp- trade all end of year FAs for what Twins can get. Would not mind moving Donaldson, Kepler, Sano as well. If can get enough in return, trade Berrios and Buxton. See what young players can do at MLB level. Would prefer more pitcher heavy draft this year, can't have too much pitching.

[Mike Sixel]

39 minutes ago, Otto von Ballpark said:

MLB draft has to be best player available for sure, but -- scouting amateur talent is still more art than science. There's going to be a lot of ties and biases at play anyway. A little bias toward pitchers or up-the-middle defenders probably isn't going to hurt.

The MLB draft is the least precise of the sports' drafts. It isn't particularly likely that there is much difference in feeling between about 20+ players at the point the Twins pick. 

People here won't deal prospects for pitchers (not great prospects, certainly not what is required for really good pitchers with multiple years of control, which are rarely traded). The Twins won't sign the highest paid pitchers. Where do people expect to get pitchers if they keep passing on them in early rounds (and don't say "so and so was an 8th round pick"....those are rarities. The value of picks is well established from decades of drafting.....)?

[Mike Sixel]

2 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

The MLB draft is the least precise of the sports' drafts. It isn't particularly likely that there is much difference in feeling between about 20+ players at the point the Twins pick. 

People here won't deal prospects for pitchers (not great prospects, certainly not what is required for really good pitchers with multiple years of control, which are rarely traded). The Twins won't sign the highest paid pitchers. Where do people expect to get pitchers if they keep passing on them in early rounds (and don't say "so and so was an 8th round pick"....those are rarities. The value of picks is well established from decades of drafting.....)?

And to quote myself and stay on topic.....if you want to get some top prospects, you need to trade players like Berrios. Can you get lucky and get a valuable player by trading a less valued player? Of course you can. I'd only deal Berrios if I felt I couldn't sign him. If I felt there was a realistic chance to sign him, I'd do that......though I don't know their budget or what he wants....

[Dman]

11 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

The MLB draft is the least precise of the sports' drafts. It isn't particularly likely that there is much difference in feeling between about 20+ players at the point the Twins pick. 

People here won't deal prospects for pitchers (not great prospects, certainly not what is required for really good pitchers with multiple years of control, which are rarely traded). The Twins won't sign the highest paid pitchers. Where do people expect to get pitchers if they keep passing on them in early rounds (and don't say "so and so was an 8th round pick"....those are rarities. The value of picks is well established from decades of drafting.....)?

I agree. Head to fangraphs and you will see 20 to 30 players rated about the same. From there it is subjective as to who you like best. The reason/goal to take pitchers early is they have the best traits but also by going quantity hopefully you increase your odds of finding a couple of good ones.  The Twins have hitters.  They NEED pitching.  Take some chances finding it early and late in the draft.  
 

They can deal with a year where they take less hitting. They put most of their international signings resources into hitters.  Put more into pitching in the draft.  Take more bites at the apple and hopefully we find a couple of arms to put us over the top.

[howeda7]

I'm not in favor of trading anyone who can help in 2022, with the exception of Sano, Donaldson, who's $ can be spent elsewhere, and possibly Duffy.

I agree this team is already drawing flies and has TV distribution issues. Trading Berrios/Buxton and waving the white flag on 2022 (which might occur after a lock-out) and you may lose a huge chunk of fans you never get back.

They need to move the obvious pieces. Cruz, Pineda, Simmons and Robles and reload for next year.

[SteelDodo]

3 hours ago, Otto von Ballpark said:

 

And when a guy does well, who do you credit -- the drafter or the developer?

Here's a Twins top 20 prospect list just before the new FO took over:

https://www.minorleagueball.com/2016/11/8/13555840/minnesota-twins-top-20-prospects-for-2017

 

Wow that's a good point. Falvey inherited a BARREN farm system. I count two players (Kirilloff and Garver) out of the top 20 who are likely to get through arbitration with the Twins... ouch 

[LA VIkes Fan]

I think we sell but not because of the chances of a great return. It ain't happening. We sell to free up payroll that we use to re-sign Berrios and Buxton. That’s why we sell. Keeping guys because we aren’t going to get a great return is the height of short term thinking. Gone - Donaldson, Happ, Simmons,Colome, probably Kepler. Hope to get something but probably not. Doesnt really matter. Gone if we can get a bag of baseballs (DFA) - Shoemaker. I’d like to keep Cruz for next year since he isn’t likely to bring much. Use the money to sign Berrios, Buxton, and/or Rogers. 

[TwinsDr2021]

11 hours ago, SteelDodo said:

Wow that's a good point. Falvey inherited a BARREN farm system. I count two players (Kirilloff and Garver) out of the top 20 who are likely to get through arbitration with the Twins... ouch 

Barren? The 2016 top prospects were Buxton (two time top 20 MVP), Berrios (two time all star), Kepler, Gordon, Jay and Polanco (top 15 MVP and all star).

You also didn't mention Graterol, Ynoa, Javer, Wade, Diaz (who they flipped), Thorpe, Rortvedt, Arraez, Baddoo, Balazovic,

Do those not guys not count? On top that they were give Sano (who was rookie of year two years prior and an all-start their first year) and Rosario who has twice finished in the top 20 in MVP voting.

I get it if you look at the 2017  prospects and ignore the players that just came up or recently came up to think they were give a Barren Farm system (I will say many on here thought Romero was going to be a number 1 or 2 starter, Gonzo would fill in the back of the rotation, Mejia might be a 3 but probably a number 4 starter, and at worst Jay was going to be a shut down reliever), but to see the whole picture don't you have to look at they upside of the young guys and controllable years they were given?

 

[USAFChief]

9 hours ago, LA VIkes Fan said:

I think we sell but not because of the chances of a great return. It ain't happening. We sell to free up payroll that we use to re-sign Berrios and Buxton. That’s why we sell. Keeping guys because we aren’t going to get a great return is the height of short term thinking. Gone - Donaldson, Happ, Simmons,Colome, probably Kepler. Hope to get something but probably not. Doesnt really matter. Gone if we can get a bag of baseballs (DFA) - Shoemaker. I’d like to keep Cruz for next year since he isn’t likely to bring much. Use the money to sign Berrios, Buxton, and/or Rogers. 

Of those mentioned, only Donaldson and Kepler save any money. The rest aren't signed past this year.

[insagt1]

After last nights beatdown (yes, I'm losing faith that this team can stay afloat) I was just thinking about something...I wonder what the demographic is on this site as to age? Its not a dumb question. The older one gets (or is...in my case) how willing or unwilling is that person to simply 'throw away' 2 or 3 seasons, like they were nothing? If one is young and has all the time in the world, does that in any way influence their thinking? Do they feel that its fine to just blow up, trade away, take chances on never tested prospects with the idea that maybe some will stick to the wall and create a winner years down the road?

Remember the Cubs mantra or the Brooklyn Dodgers (well most here may not have been alive when the Dodgers were in Brooklyn) ...'wait'll next year' was the cry after another failed season. Sometimes there isn't a next year....when the Expos were stolen out from under me, suddenly there was no next year to look forward to. The Nationals hardly compensate...in fact I can't stand them.

Anyway, I often wonder if age influences the way we think about our teams?

[jorgenswest]

As for age Earl Battey is still my favorite player and I do not want the Twins to throw away the next three years.

In order for this small to mid market team to achieve success an truly contend for a World Series they will need inexpensive team controlled pitching. Pitching is too expensive to build through free agency. 

I think I they throw away next year and delay that pursuit by signing more Hill’s and Happ’s and Colome’s and Robles’. I acknowledge that they would need those types of signings to be competitive but I want a team that contends. 

My plan would be to sell off everything. Many of those pieces are not going to get a top prospect and we will need to rely on the front office to identify those middling to unknown prospects as Falvey’s Cleveland team did. Now is the time to trade anyone not under control in 2023. Buxton and Berrios are the exceptions as I would pay up to extend them.

I am not throwing away 2022 but using it to begin laying the foundation for the future. The Twins opened this last window without a foundation of starting pitching and instead patched with annual free agent patches. The window closed abruptly without that foundation. It was fun while it lasted but time to acknowledge that it has closed.

[LA VIkes Fan]

1 hour ago, USAFChief said:

Of those mentioned, only Donaldson and Kepler save any money. The rest aren't signed past this year.

You're right about that although it does save the remainder if their salary for the season (except for Shoemaker). Hopefully that will help ownership commit the dollars necessary to keep Berrios, Buxton and Rogers for the next 3 years. To ge clear, my approach would be to trade these guys, use the Donaldson/Kepler money to sign Berrios (20-23m) and part of Buxton (the remaining 7-10m). We then promote internally rather than use FA to fill out next year, and use the FA/last year money we spent for this year (roughly $36 between Simmons, Pineda, Happ, Colome, and Robles) for the rest of Buxton (10-13m), and Rogers (8/9m). That should leave 14-17m for a mid-rotation FA starting pitcher and keep payroll flat. Increase payroll by 12m and we can keep Cruz, which I would like to do to stabilize the lineup. 

Internally, Gordon, Arraez, Polanco, and Miranda cover the middle infield and 3B, Larnach, Buxton, Kiriloff, Refsnyder, and a now minor leaguer (Celestino or de la Trinidad) the OF, Sano/Garver 1B, Jeffers/Garver/Rotvedt C. Hamilton/Cano/Moran/Vasquez/Stashak/Thorpe/Smeltzer fill out the bullpen behind the 4 we keep. The rotation still is an issue with Berrios, Maeda, 14-18m FA, followed by some combination of Dobnak, Ober, Jax, Duran, Winder, Sands, Smeltzer and Thorpe. Frankly, I think thats a better team than the current one for the same price, and one thats more fun to watch. And that assumes the trades don’t get us a MLB ready prospect. 

My view is that engaging in a significant sell off of veteran talent by August 1 does not have to mean a complete rebuild next year. If we follow this kind of a blueprint, we can still field the competitive team next year with a good future beyond next year. The rest of this year will be pretty painful to watch But at least we can use the latter half of the season as development time to give us a running start toward 2022 and 2023.

[Major League Ready]

30 minutes ago, LA VIkes Fan said:

You're right about that although it does save the remainder if their salary for the season (except for Shoemaker). Hopefully that will help ownership commit the dollars necessary to keep Berrios, Buxton and Rogers for the next 3 years. To ge clear, my approach would be to trade these guys, use the Donaldson/Kepler money to sign Berrios (20-23m) and part of Buxton (the remaining 7-10m). We then promote internally rather than use FA to fill out next year, and use the FA/last year money we spent for this year (roughly $36 between Simmons, Pineda, Happ, Colome, and Robles) for the rest of Buxton (10-13m), and Rogers (8/9m). That should leave 14-17m for a mid-rotation FA starting pitcher and keep payroll flat. Increase payroll by 12m and we can keep Cruz, which I would like to do to stabilize the lineup. 

Internally, Gordon, Arraez, Polanco, and Miranda cover the middle infield and 3B, Larnach, Buxton, Kiriloff, Refsnyder, and a now minor leaguer (Celestino or de la Trinidad) the OF, Sano/Garver 1B, Jeffers/Garver/Rotvedt C. Hamilton/Cano/Moran/Vasquez/Stashak/Thorpe/Smeltzer fill out the bullpen behind the 4 we keep. The rotation still is an issue with Berrios, Maeda, 14-18m FA, followed by some combination of Dobnak, Ober, Jax, Duran, Winder, Sands, Smeltzer and Thorpe. Frankly, I think thats a better team than the current one for the same price, and one thats more fun to watch. And that assumes the trades don’t get us a MLB ready prospect. 

My view is that engaging in a significant sell off of veteran talent by August 1 does not have to mean a complete rebuild next year. If we follow this kind of a blueprint, we can still field the competitive team next year with a good future beyond next year. The rest of this year will be pretty painful to watch But at least we can use the latter half of the season as development time to give us a running start toward 2022 and 2023.

This all makes sense if you can extend Berrios / Buxton on reasonable deals.  Unreasonable (overpays) are not a great formula to building a contender, especially when one of the players is prone to injury.  So, what do you do if Berrios wont sign for less than 6/160 and Buxton wants 6/180 or whatever number you deem to be a significant overpay?  Do you just pay an insane number?  Do you gamble you can sign them when they hit free agency.  For me these answers have as much to do with what is offered for them.  Walking away from Pearson (or similar) + another decent prospect as well as the same kind of return for Buxton is very likely a huge mistake if you can't resign Berrios / Buxton when they hit free agency.

[Linus]

One thing to remember tearing it down is no guarantee of future success.  Everyone remembers the times it works and forgets about the times that it results in losing for a decade. 

[LA VIkes Fan]

14 minutes ago, Major League Ready said:

This all makes sense if you can extend Berrios / Buxton on reasonable deals.  Unreasonable (overpays) are not a great formula to building a contender, especially when one of the players is prone to injury.  So, what do you do if Berrios wont sign for less than 6/160 and Buxton wants 6/180 or whatever number you deem to be a significant overpay?  Do you just pay an insane number?  Do you gamble you can sign them when they hit free agency.  For me these answers have as much to do with what is offered for them.  Walking away from Pearson (or similar) + another decent prospect as well as the same kind of return for Buxton is very likely a huge mistake if you can't resign Berrios / Buxton when they hit free agency.

I agree with this entirely. I’ve said on other posts that the most important decision is to decide whether or not you can re-sign Berrios and Buxton for something that makes sense. Having said that, I would be willing to do a slight overpay for both because I think they are the two most critical pieces on the roster if we want to be contenders in the next 2 to 4 years. I think the alternative if you can’t re-sign those two is to go with the tear down and rebuild route. I think what I outlined still makes sense if you go for the tear down and rebuild except that you probably trade Rogers since he should bring a good return and will be older by the time you’re ready to contend again. Same goes double for Nelson Cruz. I think the rest of it works regardless of whether this is a reload or a rebuild.

With all of that said, I don’t think this month is the time you have to make that decision unless you find out for sure that re-signing those two is just not going to be an option. I think the better time to make the trade is in the off-season anyway because I think we will get a better return and that gives us time to actually try to negotiate the deal. I do agree though, that before the start of next season you need to have a firm decision  made on resigning Berrios, Buxton and Rodgers.