[mr. tegu]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

A) Because nobody's going to trade you a middle of the order hitter for a guy that's "expendable".

B) I'm arguing that there's a decent chance that he's nothing more than a setup man for the Royals this year and if that's the case, dealing Herrera would absolutely be dealing from a position of depth to handle a position of weakness. That's what you're supposed to do in this game.

I mean c'mon, put this on it's ear here. Let's say Holland blows up tomorrow and the Dodgers, who have Kenley Jansen on their roster buried behind Brandon League, come offering you Kenley Jansen and JP Howell for Billy Butler, you know that Billy Butler is a hell of a lot more valuable than Jansen and Howell. He's a middle of the order hitter. Sure, you'd have a hell of a nice setup man behind Herrera (who would've assumed the closer role after Holland blows up), but who would give up a middle of the order bat to secure an elite setup man?

That's the scenario you're being presented with here and people are really just casually dismissing it as a bullshit deal? Royals fans would flip their shit if the Royals traded Billy Butler, a middle of the order hitter in his prime, to get a LHRP and a premium setup man, even if they suddenly had a need for an arm to cover the 8th inning. A setup man and lefty simply aren't as important as a premier hitter and that's what you'd be getting in return for them.

Who is the premier middle of the order hitter we would be getting back? (I think I missed that part).