Okay, it has become painfully apparent that picking over the bones of this, is clearly going to take more than ten minutes of Googling - which usually passes for research as far as I'm concerned. Memo to Josh Byrnes: the next time you do trades involving fourteen players in one day, I would appreciate an email from you, listing the players a week in advance, so that I am fully prepared. Thank you for your attention to this matter. :-) In the meantime, however - and to avoid having one post which fills up all the pipes of the InterWeb thing - here are some other comments on the trade, ranging from our GM to those on the other side of the trades through our divisional rivals to neutral journalists:
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Dayn Perry, FoxSports.com - "The Arizona Diamondbacks are now, without question, the power team in the National League. After pulling off a trade with the Oakland A's for right-hander Dan Haren, the Snakes are now clearly the best club in the senior circuit. Keep in mind that last season Arizona had the most wins of any NL team, and now they're adding to the fold one of the best starting pitchers in baseball... The addition of Haren makes them a legitimate threat to win the World Series"
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Keith Glab, Scout.com - "Once we learned the final names involved in the eight-player deal between Oakland and the Arizona Diamondbacks, we became aghast... On December 14th, Oakland Athletics GM Billy Beane showed why he's still the top dog when it comes to making trades... It doesn't take a psychoanalyst to determine that this trade was unbalanced. At the very least, this six-player package offered by the Diamondbacks here matched the Detroit Tigers' package of six sent to the Florida Marlins to acquire Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis. Does anyone really think that Haren and Robertson are worth as much as Cabrera and Willis?"
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Scott Bordow, East Valley Tribune - "Is it possible to pat the Diamondbacks on the back with one hand while scratching your head with the other? Because that's how I -- and, I'm guessing, a good number of fans -- feel this morning. Arizona got pitcher Dan Haren from the Oakland Athletics for a bunch of prospects? Great deal. They traded closer Jose Valverde to the Houston Astros for three players? What were they thinking?"
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Ryan Fagen, Sporting News - "Haren immediately becomes a 2008 Cy Young favorite. He's that good. He was third in the American League in ERA, ahead of guys named Beckett, Santana and Sabathia. That's pretty solid company, eh? Haren was 15-9 for a team that finished 10 games under .500. With Haren and Brandon Webb atop the rotation, the D-backs will have baseball's best one-two punch and makes a young, but flawed (much less so now) team a favorite to win the N.L. crown."
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Josh Byrnes speaks about the trades on KTAR [MP3, 3.8 Mb] - discussed what appeals for Haren, why they kept Scherzer and Bonifacio, the loss of Carlos Gonzalez and how Geraldo Parra's arrival in the majors likely fits in better, timing-wise, and why they got rid of Valverde
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Nico, Athletics Nation - "It really doesn't make sense to try to judge this trade now, because it all depends on how well the A's have scouted. Players generally turn out to be better or worse than projected, and the key is to identify which players are sleepers (like Mark Ellis) and which are talented but over-hyped (like Crosby). Beane accepted the deal because he and his top scouts believe that these top-ranked players are actually as good as they seem and that these "throw-ins" actually have a chance to be hidden gems. Time will tell... I'm not suggesting this is the case, but last year Danny Haren had about 10 pitches where something gave (ankle or hip) and he fell off the mound in his follow-through. If this were to turn out to be a budding injury, the deal could wind up looking tremendous for Oakland."
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Jon Weisman, Dodger Thoughts posts a position by position comparison between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Arizona Diamondbacks after the trade. It's an interesting match-up, with the teams close in most areas: the Upton vs. Kemp in RF is perhaps the most fascinating. To quote a commentator on the thread, "It will be interesting over the next few years to see who reaches their potential quicker and stays there longer."
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Toy Cannon, True Blue LA - "This makes the Diamondbacks very, very scary. Without giving up anyone that would have been on their team except for maybe Cunningham and Callapso, the Diamonbacks have acquired a close to elite level pitcher giving them a one-two punch that rivals the Padres and far out classes any pitcher in our organization... Arizona leveraged the advantages of their farm system to give themselves one of the top arms in the game without giving up anyone that would help the team before 2010. A great deal for them, and one that brings them right back in line with us. The next two years is Arizona's time to shine while their college drafted players reach their peaks."
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Rox Girl, Purple Row - "I think the moves added a lot to the surface value of the club for the next couple of seasons, but an issue of pitching depth remains. Last year, I thought they were an overrated team with a too young and inconsistent offense (which I was right about) and a pitching staff that lacked any serious teeth beyond Brandon Webb (which I was wrong about). For 2008, I think they are a scary and serious contender that we'll have to deal with. I think the Rockies still catch up in 2009 and 2010, frankly, as they are married to Eric Byrnes in left field for the duration of his contract... I'd give the Snakes the edge in the division for next season at this point; right now I'd rank the teams like they finished last year with the exception of switching Los Angeles and San Diego."