Add new comment

And always has been.  Guti literally looked to be wasting away before our eyes from a mystery illness, Saunders was a scared rabbit with a terrible swing, and we hadn't added Trayvon yet.  We were so low on CF prospects we drafted an entire handful just hoping to get a guy, and needed to bridge some years if the worst happened.
Wells is that bridge.
Saunders bouncing back isn't something you could afford to bet on last year.  Wells in CF is a legit bat at the position.  He still might be legit Werth-style at a corner, but if Guti is out for a long time I'm fine with Wells getting his shot in center where he could make an impact.  If Saunders or Trayvon have corrected their issues, great!
But Wells can still cash in for us.  Ruffin and Furbush look like bullpenners, and I wouldn't have made the Fister deal (nor would Jack, I think, if he knew he'd have to trade Pineda later to get the MOTO bat he needed), but a) it's not like we got zero usable talent back and b) there's time.
I don't think it makes us stronger than before the trade, but we weren't in a position to quibble at the time - we needed a lot of draws at filling slots.  While Jack seems to have brought us an embarrassment of riches during his tenure he needed it to arrive quickly in the bigs as well.  No sense making the next GM look good with all your talent.
If the Fister trade (or any trade) helped him get that extension in any way, then I'm glad for it. 
I may not be sold on Jack's ability to add major-league veterans, but if he adds enough world-class minor league talent then it may not matter much.
~G