Last July I bemoaned the article about the trade for Joe Smith which cost us LHP Thomas Pannone and Samad Taylor.
I had seen both play and thought it was a ridiculous price to pay for a redundant free-agent-to-be reliever.
Yes Smith was good for the Indians but it made no difference as they lost in the first round of the playoffs.
In other words, they would have MADE the playoffs and LOST in the playoffs with or without Smith.
Off-season rankings seemed to validate that the value the Indians gave up was not as great as I thought (neither Taylor or Pannone made Toronto's top 30 prospects) and more fuel was added to that first when Pannone was suspended for 50 games for use of performance-enhancing drugs, something he vehemently denied doing.
Well today Thomas Pannone beat the Cleveland Indians.
Nah, nah, nah nah to the Cleveland Indians for letting Pannone go in worthless trade.
To be honest, Pannone may never be a solid major leaguer. He was promoted simply because the rebuilding/retooling/who can tell Toronto Blue Jays are looking at players for the future. I mean, the guy has like 6 starts in AAA in his career and not much more than that in AA.
But he beat the Cleveland Indians today providing one of the final nails in the coffin of their chances of having home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Pannone has already provided two wins for his new team and likely will provide a number more.
Hey, I was not against trading Pannone. Just not for a redundant rental like Smith. Said it then, say it now and will continue to say it in the future. Hey, Josh Donaldson for a 26 year old middling prospect coming off TJ surgery? I am on board with that gamble. Just not the Joe Smith trade last year. Never. Ever..
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