"We checked with MLB several times to make sure the compensation system wouldn't be eliminated...
"We checked with MLB several times to make sure the compensation system wouldn't be eliminated after the 2011 season. The value of the picks was the crux of our decision not to trade him in July or August. In our minds (and many people were involved in the decision), we never were offered anything all that close to the value of the draft picks in return.
insidethepadres: Hoyer and Bell