PTBNL from the Davis deal: Gregorio Rosario

This is an entirely different tone then the one that was given a week ago.  It seemed as though posters here thought that there would be some form of "bidding war".  With that in mind, this scenario could not have been further from a "bidding war".

Again, not a seller's market for us re: JD.  Now that the season has started, you have to consider injuries.

This comment holds little water considering the Phillips move of 2006.  A 2B struggling to find himself as a hitter is much less valuable league-wide then a pitcher who has had moderate success as both a starter and a reliever.  The same teams that were "bidding" for Davis this last week, will essentially be the same ones bidding on him in April 1st.  There may be some odd exceptions with injuries and such, but this is contrary to how things unfolded given the team that traded for him has almost perfect health - thus your St.Louis comment is void.
Also, consider any team trading for Davis is trading for him as a reliever, not a starter.  Had a trade occurred between December and April, the team would have ST to stretch him out/see what hes got as a starter AND the month of April.  Whereas right now, Davis has been on a reliever throwing program for the last 3 months and is very unlikely to be stretched out for the 2007 season.  Thus, his value is solely as a reliever, which does not have the market value of a starter.

So again, you have a flawed arguement, simply by what occurred.  Whether there was a "bidding war" or not, we do not know right now.  Given that the prospect sent was a PTBNL and one that has never thrown a pitch in the minors - coupled with VERY limited information about him - I will suggest there was not much of a "war" if any at all.  Probably only a handfull of serious offers.

I stated numerous occassions that this trade was not a bad one, I actually like it!  I just personally do not understand the method/timing.  Similar to me not understanding signing Nixon.  Similar to me not understanding sending Garko to triple A in favor of Perez/Broussard.

But as a fan of the team, am I not allowed to question the moves made by the team?  Do you not watch games and make comments when a player makes an errant throw or a poor base running decision?

I agree that often I am critical of Shapiro, but that is because I expect to see this team challenging for a championship this season, and, lets be honest, he has not made moves to go in that direction.

Anyways, The reason J.D. was not traded before opening day is simple:  He still had a chance to contribute.  Entirely reasonable.  I can see Shapiro sitting in his office in December - or after all the signings were complete and saying, "I'm going to let Davis, Cabrera and Betancourt fight it out for the final two spots in the bullpen.  I'll even allow for my players with options to take a swing at things."  That is actually a LOGICAL perspective and I entirely understand it.

Foulke retires, and Shapiro, although irritated and upset is joyful as now all three of the aforementioned pitchers have a spot in the bullpen.  He allows for the pitchers with options to battle it out, giving them hope, but inside, he knew they never had a chance.

But in that final note, is where the problem lies.  I understand that JD is out of options and he was worth a shot, what I DON'T understand is how after 11 innings Shapiro could walk in and make this decision.  ELEVEN INNINGS!  And even though the sample size is ridiculously small, the 11 innings weren't even that bad.  
In fact, it was only a single outting that truly did him in.  An outting that represents 3% of his season yet 33% of his walk total.

So there inlies the problem.  Shapiro made a decision based on 11 innings.  And in reality, he made it based on a single appearance against the Os.  So this SAME thought process is what irks me ever so slightly.  It is interesting that there was no room on the roster for Davis as the last reliever on the depth chart and that after 11 innings Shapiro is CERTAIN he could not continue to build on his "success" last year, YET Borowski is STILL the closer.  Yet Hernandez is still logging meaningful innings.  Yet Sowers is still being handed the ball every fifth day.  Yet Blake is still in the everyday lineup.  Yet Dellucci is still regularly in the lineup.

Do you see this trend?  How is it that Davis got "booted" yet the rest of these players who are struggling to a greater extent are still playing vital roles?
I understand some of the veteran experience and I also understand "hunches" and feelings.  But what I don't understand is making this move after 11 innings.

Furthermore, the value for the trade is fine.  I would have been fine with this value at any point.  That Davis was DFA'ed was not the right decision given his role on the club.

Also, comparing Davis to Guthrie and Brown is entirely different.  First, Davis has had some success at the big league level.  As both a starter and a reliever.  Guthrie and Brown have hardly had a sniff at the show and weren't very impressive for the duration of it.  That said, as a starter, I believe Davis had more value and thus a December/ST trade would have netted the most for Davis.

Again, this is about methodology.  Maybe Shapiro will come out and say, "Yea, Davis regressed, so I had to move him," OR he could come out and say, "I made a mistake holding onto him for the last 3 years"  Either way is not a BIG DEAL, I would just hate for another more valuable player to lose their job because of a short slump.

Also, making moves that wash out the bad.  IE locking up Grady, making a trade for one of the top 3B prospects in the game, being atop the organization that drafted Sowers, Miller, Lofgren, etc.

I think that a baseball GM has 3-6 bad moves for every good one.  It is Shapiro's job to ensure that the 3-6 bad moves are not devastating to the organization and to keep it closer to 3 then 6.

I already stated the difference would have been minimal, but it is still something.  What if Shapiro treated all 25 roster spots in that manner?  Then it would be noticable.

Less Depth?  From the last arm in the bullpen?  When there was a pitcher recently SOLD to Japan.  Lets be serious, bullpen depth of so-so pitchers is not an issue with this organization.  Also, is depth on May 17th less important then depth on April 1st?  If so, hardly!

I do not have knowledge that he did not try.  Do you have knowledge that he did?  Given that the trade happened rather quickly, and to a team that had little need for another bullpen arm - no serious health issues or underperformance - I think it is safe to say a trade COULD have occurred to this team in the offseason.  Since it didn't, it appears as if he did not "try" to trade him earlier.

Did these other organizations and publications pick the Tigers to win the WS last year?  Let alone be at all competitive?