Tuesday, August 03, 2004

Traded LHSP Jeriome Robertson to the Montreal Expos for LHRP Pierre-Luc Marceau (A+)

Ugh.

Marceau looks like an organizational guy, judging by his age (23) and the fact that he's put up barely adequate numbers over his professional career. Obviously the Indians had no leverage here, as the Expos could have simply claimed Robertson off waivers. Regardless, losing Robertson for essentially nothing really annoys me.

Trading Rule 5 picks such as Willy Taveras is something I have no problem with; a team simply can't keep all their prospects and expect to win at the major-league level. Eventually you have to acquire major-league talent, and one of the best ways to do that in a medium-sized market is to trade your excess minor-league talent for it. Now obviously if you remember the situation, the Indians were looking for some starting pitching depth at the time, and with Houston being one of the few teams that supposedly had a spare starter, they made a great trade partner, especially when they couldn't keep Taveras on their roster.

However, when the Indians make these kind of deals in the future, they have to do a better job identifying their major-league talent. That's all I'm asking. I don't want the Indians to stockpile marginal Rule 5 eligibles on their 40-man roster just because they've been burned with Taveras; you can't win that way. They just have to do a better job scouting the players they receive in return.

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