I made that argument 3 weeks to a month ago, but it's losing it's bite.
At the time we had 4 starters with ERA's under 4. I wasn't willing to give up too much to gamble on a Guy. We don't appear to have the staff that I thought we did a month ago.
Why not? We have plenty of room, moneywise, next year. Freddy has already stated that he's willing to negociate with his new team.
Livan signed a 3 year extension in April.. He'll be in Montreal for the next two years. Maybe he'll be traded in 2007, but his contract is actually for less money that year, so the Northern Virginia team will probably keep him. Simply put, he's not gonig anywhere this year.
Freddy's HR rate (away from home) is comparable to Estebans (away from home). But freddy's Strikeout, and walks are better.
Take a look at Rauch's post 2000 HR rate in the minors. Multiply it by 1.5, to compensate for major league hitters, and the band box we play in, and tell me that Rauch is better than garcia.
Signed through 2007.... That makes 3+ years. Also means they're not trading him.