From MLBTradeRumors.com:  "The Phillies have announced the trade. However, several components have changed. The Phillies will receive Velasquez, Oberholtzer, Eshelman, Mark Appel, and Harold Arauz."

As a Rangers fan, I can't can tell you how happy I am that Houston took a kick in the nuts like that package to acquire a reliever that's just about as good as, maybe even a bit better, than Velasquez probably would be.  When Luhnow said yes to this deal, Matt Klentak must have dropped the phone, mouthing "I was kidding..."

Yes, kiddos, even Jeff Luhnow makes mistakes.  I mean, you give him a pass for things like J.D. Martinez...but this will have people cussing at some point in 2016.  Some people are cussing now:

From Crawfish Boxes:  "That is not about disliking Giles - it's about the cost efficiency of trading a lot of value for a guy who will affect maybe seventy innings a season, no matter how good he is.

No, this post is not about liking Ken Giles. This post is about examining what Mr. Luhnow and his team just sent to Philadelphia to make Giles the newest member of the Houston Astros, and deciding if the price was worth the reward."

The article goes on with reconciliation justified by small sample sizes and pointing out that other teams have made worse deals for closers.

The comments go on to argue that the Astros will probably still have Gregerson close, with Giles performing 8th Inning duties.

Justify all you want, Astros fans.  This is such a huge overpay, it gets my vote as second-worst trade of the off-season.  After the Miller trade, of course.

Posted by: Ben at 12:52 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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