The Braves traded James Dunlop to the Pirates for saying:
 JD> You make the "sacrifices" seem so one sided.  The TEAM risked something,
 JD> too, by giving second year players long term contracts.  The players
 JD> risked some additional income in exchange for security in the manner of
 JD> guaranteed contracts.  In addition, the players made significantly more
 JD> in the seasons BEFORE they were eligible for arbitration.
Which still didn't make up for what they gave up. If the team thought that 
they weren't making out, they wouldn't have made the offers. The deal gave 
them more immediate dollars in return for accepting less in the long run and 
I don't think that the team risked any more on those players than they did on 
some of the other deals that never worked out.
 JD> For the money they would have had to pay Belle, they can have Matt
 JD> Williams playing first, third or DH (take your pick, if you really think
 JD> playing third is going to turn him into Bob Horner, Thome can adequately
 JD> play the hot corner if Williams can't) AND another quality player like a
 JD> Moises Alou playing left.
*IF* they can get one. Throwing around money won't necessarily buy them 
happiness OR a good player.
If the Horner analogy bothers you then how about Edgar Martinez. He CAN still 
play third but the chance of him getting injured increases. Of course, 
Edgar's injuries didn't always happen in the field but it added another 
element of risk.
--- TrekEd 1.00
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