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Because the other team also only has 25 roster spots and a 40-man limit on protected players.  Franklin is a good trade piece because a) he is ready now, b) he is an offensive player at a glove position and c) he has all his options left so anyone trying to jump spots around can bounce him back to the minors in '14 if they have to.
There's a gap in the farm right now due to all the promotions.  Choi, Taylor and Morban are our upper-minors bats (Peterson finished off at Low-A, so while I expect him in AA next year we'll wait and see). Choi is verrrry undervalued right now, so no need to trade him.  Morban has health issues. Peterson can't be officially traded til June of next year.  So Taylor is THE top-10 system bat that can be had if we're not looking to rookie leagues and the like. Not exactly the guy you build a deal around, not yet. Similarly, all our top-flight pitchers have arrived together.  E-Ram, Paxton and Walker are all slated for OUR rotation, and Hultzen is gone for at least a season if not more.  The rest of the guys just finished low-A ball, if that. Most teams are not gonna take a rookie ball pitcher like Diaz as a centerpiece in trade, I don't care how much we like him.
Bullpen arms are 3rd piece throw-ins, not centerpieces.  We did a deal where we got four 26 cent pieces back for our dollar's worth of Fister - how'd that work out?  Most teams want a centerpiece.  ONE guy you can bet on, and the extras are lottery tickets that you hope work out as well.  Nobody's betting on Diaz, and probably not Pike either.  Campos was traded as second piece, and he's comparable to where Sanchez is at.  Ackley and Smoak are secondary pieces for a star at this point, or more useful for a secondary player (you might be able to trade Ackley + a minor league arm for Butler, but not for Price).
Our centerpiece trade options are Zunino (no chance), Franklin (best bet), Miller (possible thanks to Taylor, but not likely), Paxton and Walker. They all happen to be major-league ready, but that's just bad luck (of a sort).
Now granted, we just watched Fister get traded for something like Brian Moran, Tyler Pike and Willie Bloomquist, but I don't see that happening every day. We could trade E-Ram and Ackley for someone useful, absolutely.  There are lots of deals we could make that involve Paxton and Walker both staying here, and I hope we investigate those deals. I would rather spend more money and keep our better prospects, since I believe in most of them.
But if we trade some of our studs, it better be because the guys coming back are bigger ones.
~G