A Roundup of My Own Reactions to the Cosart Trade

Okay, listen up: you want a Twitter round up to the last nanosecond trade of Jarred Cosart, et al, to the Miami Marlins, then check out this. If you want the details of the trade, along with 495 comments and counting, see this one. You want David's immediate reaction, go here. You want to know more about who we got, try this. You want to read what the experts have to say, you can probably find that on this site as well and, if not, the internet is your oyster. Have at it.

This here article is a roundup of my thoughts and mine only, you see? Because I've had a few and they aren't all consistent or nice or logical or even print-worthy. But I'm letting you know anyway. I'm feeling a little bit confused and ... erratic. Think of this as therapy. You don't like it? Then get the heck off my lawn.

• I've been saying for a few days now that of the three starting pitchers bandied about, Cosart was the most likely to get traded. From that perspective, this trade makes me feel proud to have finally kind of gotten something right. He was less SABR-tastic than either Keuchel and McHugh, meaning the greatest 'buy low/sell high' possibilities would ride with him, as he would be worth less to Luhnow than some other GMs. And then there were those suppositions about him being a 'clubhouse cancer'. More on that below.
• But I had given up, thrown in the towel with one minute to go. I said as much and was disappointed but also happy that the Astros had kept the price high and stuck to their guns.
• Then, all of  a damn sudden, Julia Morales is breaking the story and within 14 seconds or so we knew all the details and I was immediately ecstatic. JEFF LUHNOW HAS TRADED COSART! To heck with that 'glad they stuck to their guns' crap.
• Then I started to roll through the details of the trade, liking some and disliking others.
• I was glad to see Austin Wates get a shot. I think he's earned it and he certainly wasn't getting it here. He's a low ceiling guy, so it's not much of a loss, but a low ceiling guy who deserves a change of scenery. Here's hoping at some point with the Marlins he gets a chance to actually play in a MLB game or two or twenty.
• This team got younger by trading away three guys at or under 25. Think about that.
• The Astros once again traded for the future. They didn't get that MLB-ready bat. They just didn't. Yeah, he's got a high ceiling but if you want a bat right now, Hernandez was doing okay. Yes, they need a CF now but Cosart is one of their top starting pitchers and Hernandez was, for now at least, a starting OF. They've got multiple candidates to replace Cosart but he was above them in the pecking order for a reason. On the flip side, this team just took a big step toward the goal of maintaining a very strong farm system for at least the next few years.
• Losing Enrique Hernandez means losing his charming, charismatic mom -- forever. This makes me want to cry. This might be nice for his family though; I think it's safe to assume that Puerto Rico and Miami are about as conveniently located as possible.
• This one is thanks to David. It's an edgy hypothetical that will cause some of you to yell at me but so what. Let's entertain the notion that the Astros actually *do* care about their players as individuals and don't just see them as numbers. They may actually see them as the mortal, flawed bags of bones they are. What *if* Cosart was the guy carping about Appel's bullpen session? What if he was a negative presence (if not cancer) in the clubhouse? What if Bud Norris was shipped in part due to his attitude? What if Hoes was sent down way back when in retaliation for allegedly being the Drellich quote provider? Doesn't that mean that people as unique individuals matter? That they aren't data-producing robots. That a person's character and actions and individual needs are important. Additionally, just for kicks, let's take another look at that bullpen controversy. What if Appel is getting different treatment because he's the 1-1 and, more to the point, has had a tough time adjusting? The adjustments they've made over the course of the season indicate that he needs particular treatment according to his individual attributes.

So there you have it. A quick peek inside the inner workings of my mind.

You're welcome.