Wow. Really? So we get a moderate upgrade in prospect, but take on a large contract for a player we don’t need? And we deal from a prospect position of need (SP) for a prospect position of less-need (mid inf).
(Williams wasn't on the 40-man, but ...) From MLBTR :
Dec. 12: The Angels announced that they’ve acquired left-hander Garrett Williams from the Giants as a player to be named later, thus completing the Cozart swap. Sending him out as a player to be named later seems likely have been a measure of ensuring that Williams wasn’t selected in today’s Rule 5 Draft.
Williams, 25, was the Giants’ seventh-round pick back in 2016 and just completed his second season at the Double-A level, where he posted a 3.60 ERA with 8.8 K/9, 5.0 BB/9, 0.49 HR/9 and a 55.7 percent ground-ball rate in 110 innings (20 starts, nine relief outings). Williams, who was the Giants’ No. 29 prospect at MLB.com and landed outside the top 29 at FanGraphs, draws praise for a plus curveball but is obviously lacking in the command department. He’s averaged 4.9 BB/9 in his pro career to date, including a 5.7 mark in two seasons of Double-A ball.
Edit: Geez, I start typing, phone rings, get distracted, come back an hour later and I miss my scoop.
I'd bet Cozart never plays a game in a Giants uni.
So you are advocating an FO philosophy that "we've got room before being penalized so we might as well spend it somewhere"? I do like the idea of picking up prospects. Wilson has the pedigree of a 1st round pick but his initial season wasn't that exciting. If I knew he had world class defense, then I'd be less tepid about his prospect status. But what bothers me about the trade is the cost. Take on a full year's MLB deadweight contract AND trade a decent B- pitching prospect (of which the org is light on and for which an org can never have too much of)? Wilson better be good for that kind of move. Of course, if Williams never pans out and Wilson never pans out, then its all moot. I'd like this trade much more if Longoria gets flipped for some decent prospects and Cozart has some measure of bounce back in a half season and also gets flipped.
Pretty much this...
than it was before we knew Williams was part of it.
Not spend it. Or not overspend. Wilson may be a decent prospect but the cost seems too high, in my opinion.
I agree with Tz, why not go out and get prospects for bad contracts? As long as the term is low (1-2 years) for the contracts and the player doesn’t block development, the Giants can still spend money as a competitive advantage...and they obviously ain’t spending it on FA talent. It’s not like they’re going to lower the prices of beer because they didn’t pick up Cozart.
My beef on this deal isn't just a Wilson/Williams comparison. It is a Wilson/Williams & Cozart contract comparison. In my mind, the prospect coming back in that deal needs to be pretty decent. Maybe Wilson is better than what I've heard, we will see.
Saving money helps. Especially, when doing otherwise doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Had the trade been a straight Cozart and Wilson for say, a C- grade prospect, I would have been much more okay with it. Considering FZ finagled a prospect from Atlanta and them taking on the rest of Melancon's contract, this trade really lacks.
