[lex24]

There is a little bit of 20-20 hindsight on Reynolds.  He was not that highly regarded at time of trade. Still, Sabean miscalculated on the strength of that team in the off season.  Thought Cutch could be the difference.  Instead, they were just bad.

Reynolds had been a strong performer at every level, and had been progressing smoothly. BA's above .300, OPS above .850 at A, A+. He had hit .312/.364/.462/.826 in San Jose before the trade. He became like Robby Thompson, one of those guys who did about as well at every level.

I put little weight on minor league batting averages or OPS, but agree that Reynolds was highly regarded for his all around skill set. The consensus was that he was the Giants third or fourth best prospect at the time of the trade (and second best position player prospect), and he had played in the Futures Game the year before. It was a high price to pay (McCutchen only had one year left on his contract and the Giants included Kyle Crick to boot); that regime didn't value prospects to the extent to which this one does.

Third or fourth on a prospect list that was not highly regarded….. 

It was a bad trade. But to me, mostly because of the miscalculation of the strength of the roster.

At least when Wheeler (a more highly regarded prospect) was traded for Beltran, that team was a playoff caliber team.  That is why to me, that trade was “defensible”; while the Reynolds trade was not.

[lex24]

There is a little bit of 20-20 hindsight on Reynolds.  He was not that highly regarded at time of trade. Still, Sabean miscalculated on the strength of that team in the off season.  Thought Cutch could be the difference.  Instead, they were just bad.

Reynolds had been a strong performer at every level, and had been progressing smoothly. BA's above .300, OPS above .850 at A, A+. He had hit .312/.364/.462/.826 in San Jose before the trade. He became like Robby Thompson, one of those guys who did about as well at every level.

I put little weight on minor league batting averages or OPS, but agree that Reynolds was highly regarded for his all around skill set. The consensus was that he was the Giants third or fourth best prospect at the time of the trade (and second best position player prospect), and he had played in the Futures Game the year before. It was a high price to pay (McCutchen only had one year left on his contract and the Giants included Kyle Crick to boot); that regime didn't value prospects to the extent to which this one does.

Third or fourth on a prospect list that was not highly regarded….. 

It was a bad trade. But to me, mostly because of the miscalculation of the strength of the roster.

At least when Wheeler (a more highly regarded prospect) was traded for Beltran, that team was a playoff caliber team.  That is why to me, that trade was “defensible”; while the Reynolds trade was not.