we didn’t get enough…

With Lidge being the Lidge he has been this year… if he keeps that up, then basically no matter what Bourn does(short of becoming an all-star), we will not have gotten enough for him. Bourn wasn’t even really a good prospect… I think we could have gotten a blue-chip prospect for Lidge. We didn’t… now it’s just down to Bourn to become a decent MLB Player to make the hurt of Lidge being so damn good now go away..

If it’s true that teams didn’t know Lidge was available… then shame on Wade.

I was excited for this trade. Lidge was never going to be lights out again in Houston and Bourn was someone I had been eyeing since the trade deadline last year when there were rumors of a Lidge for Bourn and Ruiz package floating around. While Bourn was a huge disappointment this year, the move also allowed us to trade for Tejada using one of the pieces we got for Lidge. All things considered so far, we got robbed in this trade, but it’s only been one year. If Bourn just can figure out away to OPS .700, get on base at a better clip than Berkman’s BA, and Tejada returns to Tejada levels we will feel the same way in a year? Bourn could make a good number nine hitter if the Astros were willing to experiment and offers the some insurance against Carlos Lee’s 40 inch thighs in LF too.

Lidge was good this year, but he’ll be hard pressed to repeat the performance again — 2 HR’s all year is mind boggling. I’ll be interested to see the two year comparison of Lidge v. Valverde and I think in the end the 2007-2008 off-season will have to be viewed at the macro-level vs. the micro-level.

The thing I think is more important from the article beside the endless pissing contest that could come from debating how the trade will be thought of long-term vs. short-term is this quote from Justice:

Some GMs have complained privately that they didn’t know Lidge was available

If Wade truly didn’t disseminate the word on Lidge’s availability, then he failed big time.

but put me down for what jonthefon said about Lidge being at the bottom of his value-arc when the trade is made.

If Lidge was sold too cheaply (and in a way, even asking the question is sort of cowardly in its cheap hindsight), then the question has to be asked why didn’t Purpura trade Lidge when he was closer to his peak? That was a question that was definitely asked around here, I remember Lidge to the Red Sox rumors that involved the cream of their crop. . . .

Even the trading-him-too-late thing was old by the time the deal was finally made, so there was not much anger anywhere. Most people felt (and I hope still are honest enough with themselves to remember) that the conensus opinion was that Lidge might very well be outstanding again, but that it wouldn’t happen in Houston.

I felt that way then, and feel that way now. He would NOT have saved 41 consecutive games if he would have been an Astro in ’08. And of course we were fine in his absence, Valverde was great after a shaky start.

Lidge had to go, he couldn’t stay, and it was definitely a buyer’s market.

However, there is one bone I have to pick with Wade here, and that’s Michael Bourn. Either Ed knew what Michael Bourn truly was (so why did he trade for him?) or he didn’t know what Bourn was (in which case why hadn’t he been paying attention back when he was GMing the Phils?)

Bourn was, is and always will be a disaster. Having acquired him, Wade would have been just as well trading Bourn to Atlanta for Oscar Villareal, and keeping Josh Anderson, who, like Bourn, steals bases, plays great outfield, and doesn’t walk.

Anderson, however, can hit.