It's been painfully obvious for months, maybe years, that Gonzalez was never going to sign a contract extension with the Padres. It was inevitable that he would become a free agent, become extremely rich and play for one of ESPN's favorite teams. It was never in doubt.
I tried to like the deal, I tried to drink the Kool-Aid, but now Aid belongs to the Red Sox. I see why some might think it's better to trade him now and get a three prospects and a PTBNL, instead of letting him become a free agent at the end of the 2011 season and only getting two bonus picks in the draft. I tried to convince myself that this was better for the future of the franchise. It didn't work.
Here's why I hate trading Adrian Gonzalez:
- I hate that the Padres have weakened the team for the 2011 season. Anyway you look at it this team just got worse for next year.
- Players like Gonzalez don't come around often, he's not an aging star on the decline like the others. He's still in his prime and 2011 will be one less year that we get to watch him play for our team. It's not often you can get an MVP caliber baseball player for only $6 million, especially in San Diego..
- I hate that this trade helped the Boston Red Sox a team that inspires an irrational hatred in me. Now their chances of winning next year's World Series have greatly increased. Giving up prospects to them is nothing, they just buy proven talent when they need it. At least if the Padres kept him it might keep the trophy out of their hands for another year.
- I hate that this trade didn't address any of the Padres current needs. That's really hard to do too, because they have a lot of needs. In fact it just created another need. The Padres have one Major League infielder right now and that's debatable.
- I hate that the Padres didn't get one Major League ready player. Instead they received 3 or 4 prospects. There's no guarantee that these 4 will ever amount to anything, play at the Major League level or wear a Padres uniform. Gonzalez putting together another All Star caliber, dare I say MVP caliber season is the closest thing to a guarantee as there is in baseball. He's as consistent as they get. I can't help but think that Gonzalez in one last year would have a bigger impact on the franchise than any of these prospects ever will.
- I hate that it'll take forever to find out if the Padres received valuable talent from this trade. I'm very impatient. Adrian Gonzalez will probably hit 50 home runs next year. The prospects the Padres get in return are so young. The only thing they'll be hitting in 2011 is puberty. It won't be until 2014 or 2015 that they might start paying back dividends in the Major Leagues. By that time I'll have completely lost interest in baseball when I get my first hoverboard.