Sitting pretty

Last week was agony at times, wondering whether Roy Halladay was worth giving up Kyle Drabek, or whether Victor Martinez was worth giving up Clay Buchholz. Or whether either of our teams would make a foolish decision about the future that wouldn't even pay off this year.

Ultimately, our teams got the two best players in Martinez and Cliff Lee who moved by July 31 (although Matt Holliday might disagree) without giving up their most coveted prospects and are in good positions to return to the playoffs this year while remaining perennial threats for the next several.

We are pleased.

This SoxandPhils headline on a Tom Verducci column summed up our trading deadline nicely:

Red Sox, Phillies put organizational depth on display

In an era when young players under control are valued more and more, Philadelphia and Boston won the week because of they could draw on fertile farm systems without running them dry. It's a lesson for the Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Mets of the world: player development is a key currency in the baseball realm.

And, as we later learned, our teams were prepared to cash in that currency in other deals. Ruben Amaro said so, but there's only speculation as to whom the Phillies were pursuing. Theo Epstein said less, but there are reports he was pursuing a whopper. He offered the Mariners a king's ransom (their choice of five from RHP Clay Buchholz, RHP Daniel Bard, RHP Justin Masterson, LHP Nick Hagadone, RHP Michael Bowden, LHP Felix Doubront, OF Josh Reddick and SS Yamaico Navarro) for King Felix Hernandez.

I'm intrigued at the thought of Hernandez on the Red Sox, but I'd be scared to make that deal. Although, Theo had the guts to trade away Nomar Garciaparra and Manny Ramirez and wound up with a better team.