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bzarcherI'm very mixed feelings about some of the "pre-UFA" UFA deals that have been going down, particularly around Tampa Bay this weekend.
ON THE ONE HAND: Some of these players (Malone, Liles, Visnovski) could have been very interesting if we'd gotten them. I really wonder if we're truly that screwed as a destination for free agents that Howson couldn't get any leverage when trying to arrange to negotiate for their rights.
ON THE OTHER HAND: If the real plan in Columbus -is- that we will have to do a lot of work from within to build a contender and MAKE ourselves a destination, chucking draft picks, prospects, and roster players over the side in order to get negotiation rights (not even a guarantee of the player - just the rights to talk to him ahead of the official free agency period opening) is a really, really bad idea, and Howson obviously does not want to toss away pieces of his toolkit just to try and buy more tools later.
God, though, I hope we are active as all hell on Tuesday, or it feels like we could easily find ourselves in a hole with no clear way out.
ON THE ONE HAND: Some of these players (Malone, Liles, Visnovski) could have been very interesting if we'd gotten them. I really wonder if we're truly that screwed as a destination for free agents that Howson couldn't get any leverage when trying to arrange to negotiate for their rights.
ON THE OTHER HAND: If the real plan in Columbus -is- that we will have to do a lot of work from within to build a contender and MAKE ourselves a destination, chucking draft picks, prospects, and roster players over the side in order to get negotiation rights (not even a guarantee of the player - just the rights to talk to him ahead of the official free agency period opening) is a really, really bad idea, and Howson obviously does not want to toss away pieces of his toolkit just to try and buy more tools later.
God, though, I hope we are active as all hell on Tuesday, or it feels like we could easily find ourselves in a hole with no clear way out.
