Grieve-Damon-Hernandez deal

[iFroggy]

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/columns/psx/20010109/asraysroyalssparkmem.html

Who got the best of the deal? I think definitely Oakland and Tampa Bay came out good... but the Royals got the worst part of the deal in my opinion. Damon and Grieve are guys I both like a lot, so Oakland and TB got good deals in my opinion.

[Boomer]

Oakland definatly got the best end of this one Damon will really improve the team. The A's will do well this year after this trade.

[Wedge231]

Yeah, Oakland is getting a great player. He has some nice potential there.

[rappel]

I think Oakland dealt with what they needed, getting an all-star in Damon to give some more speed on that team other than Terrence Long and a top of the order presence to replace what they lost in Velarde. Tampa Bay really helped their dead offense by getting Grieve, now if Vaughn, Castilla, and McGriff can all step up and get some production out of Alvarez and Guzman this season they could be real tough. Kansas City also got something for Damon, which is good, Roberto Hernandez is a great closer and fixes their problem in the bullpen, that makes the pen deeper which means that you won't have to have closer-by-committee and everyone can know their role. By the way, I'm new here but I've read this board for a while and I look forward to posting some more.

[j_g_preston]

To my way of thinking, the Oakland end of the deal is strangely reminiscent of the Mecir-Colome move last summer, where Billy Beane gave away a young fireballing prospect with decent control for someone who could bolster the bullpen today (and keep Jeff Tam from keeling over from exhaustion at the same time). The deal worked because the A's won: if they hadn't... well, you can be sure that Beane would be hearing about it.

And Damon is the same thing. Ben Grieve is an up and coming young power hitter who is signed for the next three years at a reasonable price. That's a lot to give up for a rent-a-player (and those who don't think that Damon is one should consider who his agent is)...

... but ...

Having said that, there's no question that Damon makes the A's much tougher this season. People are fast to note Damon's leadoff capabilities and speed, but I think that his defense (essentially replacing a slow in every sense of the word defender with a second center fielder) is almost as important. Certainly he makes the A's the team to beat in the AL West, and with Jason Giambi in the final year of his contract and a potential strike looming on the horizon... well, I can certainly understand why Beane felt that now was possibly the best chance he'd have to make a run for it all.

For those who are interested, here are some more detailed thoughts on the deal:

http://www.e-sports.com/article.asp?Article_Id=6719