Justice's new blog post calls the Brad Lidge-for-Michael Bourn trade "perfect."
Ed Wade made the perfect baseball when he sent Brad Lidge to the Phillies for Michael Bourn two years ago. It's a trade that ought to teach us plenty of lessons about how we have to be careful in assessing trades and people too quickly.
At this time last year, it appeared the Phillies had fleeced Wade. Bourn was coming off a season in which he hit .229 and struck out 111 times. In his defense, he'd had just 594 career ABs and was only 25 years old, but there was nothing in his 2008 performance that indicated what he might do in 2009.
Meanwhile, Brad Lidge had a perfect season for the Phillies in converting 48 consecutive save chances and getting the final out of the 2008 World Series.
While Lidge probably needed a fresh start, Wade didn't appear to have gotten nearly enough for a guy with one of the best arms in baseball. At least that's what we thought after the 2008 season.
What we've since learned about Michael Bourn is that he has toughness and drive and self-confidence that almost all the really good ones have. He believed in himself when almost no one else did...
...Now we can look back on Lidge-for-Bourn and see it as the perfect trade because it helped both teams. Both teams got what they'd hoped to get. The Phillies got someone to take care of the ninth inning, and in the process got a championship out of it. The Astros got a dynamic presence at the top of the lineup. Trades don't turn out this way very often. Pretty cool, huh?
Agree, or disagree?
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
