I know I am in the minority, but I think you trade what you can to get a proven quantity that significantly improves the chances of this team to WIN the World Series this year.  Obviously, this doesn’t mean trading Marmol or Soto because they would weaken the team and the gain would become negligible.  If we have to give up Gallagher and a couple other prospect for the services of a top tier pitcher (even a rental), I am all for it. 

I know we (I haven’t participated until now) have debated this over and over.  I want to add a slight spin to it and maybe take it in a new direction.  Here is how I see it.  This year, Gallagher is a 4/5 starter.  Z, Demp, Lilly are our top 3.  I think we all agree on this.  When it comes down to the playoffs, a team uses its top 3 pitches almost exclusively and depending on how a series goes, maybe their 4th sparingly.  If we can add to the top of our rotation by trading Gallagher, and this increases the odds of making the playoffs and winning the World Series this year then I just can’t understand not making the trade.

Don’t get me wrong, I would love to keep Gallagher on this team.  He has shown signs of being a quality pitcher and could easily fit into Dempster’s spot in the rotation if Ryan doesn’t come back next year.  With all the great pitching he has done so far, he is still not a proven commodity.  We can play the “what if” game all day, but we don’t know if he is a solid young pitcher or a slight flash in the pan.  I know I am not alone, but I was expecting Rich Hill to be our 3 or 4 pitcher this season and we all know what happened to him.

My point being, he just isn’t proven yet.  The slight spin I wanted to make was this, what if he turns out to be a 2 pitcher (I think unlikely, but not impossible)?  Then people would be upset that we traded away a superior young prospect for an equal or lesser pitcher.  And as upset as I would be along with the rest of you, a future good #2 Gallagher is not what we have now or what we need now.  The trade that would be made would be us giving up the possibility of him being a solid to good pitcher in the future, for a proven top of the rotation pitcher NOW.

Finally, I am of the opinion that world championships are hard to win in any sport.  The window to win such things is extremely small.  So many factors besides a player’s ability come into the equation.  For example, our beloved Chicago Bears.  They had a window of 2 years to win the Super Bowl.  Yes, I know there are differences in the situations.  But my point is that you never know what the future will hold.  Am I glad we got to the Super Bowl?  Of course.  Am I disappointed we didn’t try and find a better quarterback?  You betcha.  I would rather be here saying, well, management did what they could to win the Super Bowl when we had a chance.  But I can’t say that.

Next year, A Ram could get hurt, D Lee could decline, Z could have shoulder problems and Lilly loses it all together.  Then what good is Gallagher if we don’t make the playoffs?  We have to play for now; we have to play for this year.  We have to trust Hendry to make the right decisions and if that includes trading Sean Gallagher I know I wont be mad at him or mad at the results (cause I don’t think Gallagher wins or loses us a World Series this year).