Jim,

Your opinion in this case holds a lot of weight with me. Actually I gave this trade scenario a lot of thought because I am generally in the "hold on to what you got" plan. However, I balanced the fact that we only would be giving up Hunter Pence and Fernando Nieve with the fact that Tejada would be here for three more years.

Essentially, you are keeping him through an entire developmental cycle at the position. Anyone in low A ball could develop in those three seasons to take his place. Additionally, you keep virtually all of your pitching that we hold so dear.

I think the biggest problems come when teams acquire guys like Soriano. Soriano will likely bolt for huge money after the season. We faced that with Beltran and Johnson when we traded prospects for them. I'm definitely not comfortable making that kind of move which is why the Huff deal actually makes me more nervous than a potential Tejada deal. I hope the Astros don't dismiss out of hand re-signing him.

As for the Huff deal being desperation, I guess you could interpret it this way, but they also may have known that Ensberg's injury would take at least a month to heal. Huff has been a second half hitter historically, so the gamble was limited. They probably felt that getting another third baseman would keep them afloat until Ensberg came back. Having someone that can play multiple positions was that much more important.

At any rate, I agree with this particular package, but disagree with Justice's make the deal at any cost. Hirsh and Pence is too much. Pence and Nieve is just about right.
I'm down with OBP (yeah you know me).