Utley was not moveable 2 or 3 years earlier because of his degenerative knee injury issues that caused him to miss long indefinite stretches in some of those years, especially with more years on his deal at the time and all that uncertainty.
In any case, you need WAY MORE pieces to build a successful baseball team than an NBA team, and it's not like the NFL where the average career is very short for top guys at many positions. Just the bullpen requires at least three foundational pieces, plus a couple situational guys. I'm not completely against tanking in the NBA, or any sport in the right circumstances. Giles was a piece who would've been under club control through the tanking window, and regardless, drafting a couple spots higher is nowhere near as significant as in the NBA the average year.
Look at the Nationals -- they were able to draft probably the best projected hitter and pitcher to come through the draft in the last 10-12 years and hit on some other players, but all they have to show for it is a couple 1st round playoff exits.
If the data is out there that a power arm like Giles is unlikely to last more than 2 or 3 more years (or there is some particularized PED or injury risk you know about), ok, trade him--though it seems to me that a lot of power arms do last even if they lose some velocity over time. But I would've tried to hold out for more than a package headlined by a guy who if everything breaks right projects as a No. 3 starter. Maybe wait until people get more desperate? Despite the denials by some on here, the Phillies seemed to get a better return for Hamels by waiting for the trade deadline rather than doing it in the offseason.
Does anyone think this deal was too good to pass up? I haven't heard anyone sell the merits of this trade in terms of the assets they got beyond some general Hinkie-inspired love for the fact that they traded him.
