They traded him within the division? I guess Seattle doesn't have a shot at making the post season, but couldn't they have worked a better trade?
this one actually makes a lot of sense. First, he isn't staying in division. He was always going to be a rent-a-player, and the M's are 16 games or so back, so competitively it's not an issue. Justin Smoak fills a HUGE hole in the team...a young, lefty first-base power hitter. There literally isn't one of those in the M's system that's close to playing in the majors. The rumors were that the Yankees were offering Montero and Adams, but Adams injured his ankle the other day and when the M's showed concern for how serious it was, Texas put Smoak on the table and the deal got made.
Smoak is the Rangers' 2008 1st Round pick, which is playing 1B for their team already. Smoak is a big time power hitter and 1B, both HUGE needs for the Mariners at this point in time which helps moving forward. Mariners traded shit prospects, that have been flops for the Phillies, for Lee while they get quite the haul here. This pitcher that was also in the trade sounds like he could be decent and possibly replace Lee in the rotation next year. Next year, Mariners have another low-key phenom coming up through the ranks, Michael Pineda, that actually has been doing good. So Trading Lee for future pieces was a good move in this case. Mariners acquired both the Rangers '07 & '08 1st Rd picks
yeah, a switch-hitter with power in the middle of the order is something that a) is desperately needed and b) wasn't coming anytime soon from the M's farm system. What Jackie Z. did was trade Phillipe Aumont and two low-grade prospects for 8 wins from Cliff Lee, some national pub, a switch-hitting 1B with big-time power, and three mid-to-high grade prospects, including the 2007 1st rounder.
