I couldn't agree more with the article.

Just thinking about it logically for a minute, and using something as subjective as a top 10 list, how many of them can we realistically expect to become even slightly more than above league average contributors? Maybe three out of ten in a really strong system? So if you trade three prospects for an established Major League star who will remain with your team through the prime of his career, you are going to win that deal a lot more than you lose it, and it's really not even close.

The Adrian Gonzalez deal is a perfect example. Regardless of how much anyone believes in Casey Kelly, Anthony Rizzo or Reymond Fuentes, history tells us that the odds of all three being major contributors at the Major League level is extremely unlikely. After all, there was once a time when Craig Hansen, Michael Bowden, Jed Lowrie and Lars Anderson graced the top 3 of top 10 lists. Certainly each player should be evaluated individually, but at the end of the day, the hopeful ceiling is rarely reached. Maybe Fuentes is the one that develops into the All-Star, but would anyone really be that upset if they were stuck with Gonzalez instead of Fuentes? Financially, paying All-Star performers big bucks in a big market is the nature of the beast. That's why payrolls are what they are. It's securing those players in the prime of their careers that is often times so difficult. Choosing to pass on them in hopes that three prospects will develop into big times players is ludicrous and often times a losing proposition.

Where organizations continue to go wrong is when they haphazardly trade a highly regarded prospect for over-the-hill, rental veterans like Scott Rolen, Casey Blake and Carlos Beltran.

I was going to add this point into my previous post, but I didn't want to go on too long.

That's why it is imperative for teams to continue to invest in the draft and the international market. Certainly with the new CBA it will be more difficult, but my suspicion is, like always, teams that want to manipulate the system will find a way.

What we fail to realize sometimes, is that good organizations produce quality role players as well. At one time or another they might have been thought of as a top prospect (Jed Lowrie), but they settle in as much less, which still provides some value. The reality is though, could Yamaico Navarro have given the Red Sox 80% of what Lowrie did if Lowrie were traded two years ago? Could Daniel Nava have given 90% of Josh Reddick, for the same price? Those guys were never given the opportunity because the Red Sox never wanted to let go of guys like Lowrie and Reddick, but what could they have had for them a few years ago? Remember when they reportedly turned down Miguel Montero for Michael Bowden?

As long as they continue to spend money and place an emphasis on having a strong minor league system, they will have depth at the very least. Do we really think that Will Middlebrooks, Garin Cecchini, Xander Bogaerts, Anthony Ranaudo and Matt Barnes will all be on the same team some day, winning a World Series? I'll trade any package of three or four of them for a perennial All-Star, replenish, and roll with the rest.