July 23, 200917 yr I mean obviously looking at what kinda hitter Adrian Gonzalez evolved into, we all wish he was still here. But Urbina being a key ingredient in our world championship was obviously well worth it !
July 23, 200917 yr We could have given up stokes I believe but didnt. Jason Stokes did have much more upside, am not sure though if he would have been a guy the Texas Rangers would have taken, dont remember if he was plagued by injuries already by then. But you know what I'd do that trade over and over again, 2003 was the bomb. Now if the Marlins trade Michael Stanton and we win a championship I'd still kill them because the kid will be THAT special....
July 23, 200917 yr Adrian Gonzalez evolved into a nice hitter but it didn't happen right away and he struggled in the majors for a while before he finally got it. It would be nice to have him now, but the situation was different back then with Derrek Lee at first.
July 23, 200917 yr Author Adrian Gonzalez evolved into a nice hitter but it didn't happen right away and he struggled in the majors for a while before he finally got it. It would be nice to have him now, but the situation was different back then with Derrek Lee at first. Yeah exactly, our main weakspot that year was a dominant closer and Urbina was just that. If you're trying to win a world series, sometimes you have to part ways with your top prospects.
July 23, 200917 yr I wouldn't change a thing. +1 I would. I would trade Jason Stokes instead of Gonzalez. That said, hindsight is obviously 20-20.
July 23, 200917 yr Author I wouldn't change a thing. +1 I would. I would trade Jason Stokes instead of Gonzalez. That said, hindsight is obviously 20-20. But Gonzalez was the #1 overall pick in the country and the first infielder drafted #1 overall since A-ROD. I think SD wanted Gonzalez.
July 23, 200917 yr I wouldn't change a thing. +1 I would. I would trade Jason Stokes instead of Gonzalez. That said, hindsight is obviously 20-20. But Gonzalez was the #1 overall pick in the country and the first infielder drafted #1 overall since A-ROD. I think SD wanted Gonzalez. We didn't trade him to SD, we traded him to Texas. And all the reports back then said we could have sent either one and we picked to send Gonzalez (which didn't seem like a horrible thought at the time).
July 23, 200917 yr Author I wouldn't change a thing. +1 I would. I would trade Jason Stokes instead of Gonzalez. That said, hindsight is obviously 20-20. But Gonzalez was the #1 overall pick in the country and the first infielder drafted #1 overall since A-ROD. I think SD wanted Gonzalez. We didn't trade him to SD, we traded him to Texas. And all the reports back then said we could have sent either one and we picked to send Gonzalez (which didn't seem like a horrible thought at the time). Yeah, my bad. By the way, what ever happened to Jason Stokes ?
July 23, 200917 yr Yeah, my bad. By the way, what ever happened to Jason Stokes ? Injuries just did him in. He was traded at the end of Spring in 2007 for the guy who is our starting catcher now. I was a little disappointed when the trade happened and was even more disappointed when Baker was over-looked time and again for opportunities to catch in the majors. Luckily he finally got one and made good on it.
July 23, 200917 yr I wouldn't change a thing. +1 I would. I would trade Jason Stokes instead of Gonzalez. That said, hindsight is obviously 20-20. who knows if Jason was in play..I don't believe the reporters or rumors.
July 23, 200917 yr Yeah, my bad. By the way, what ever happened to Jason Stokes ? We traded him for Baker. That's a big win. To my knowledge, Stokes retired due to continued problems with injuries.
July 23, 200917 yr I too remember hearing that Texas wanted either Gonzalez or Stokes. Both were highly rated at the time (in 2003). Unfortunately the Marlins picked the wrong horse.
July 23, 200917 yr I too remember hearing that Texas wanted either Gonzalez or Stokes. Both were highly rated at the time (in 2003). Unfortunately the Marlins picked the wrong horse. Well, going into 2003, Stokes was the 15th top spec in baseball and Gonzalez was 31st. This is one of those cases where it wasn't a bad decision as much as it was a bad outcome.
July 24, 200917 yr Adrian Gonzalez evolved into a nice hitter but it didn't happen right away and he struggled in the majors for a while before he finally got it. It would be nice to have him now, but the situation was different back then with Derrek Lee at first. D Lee was gone the next year, I personally would have moved stokes, or moved for another RP in general. That year and team were special, but Gonzalez would have helped in 06 over Mike Jacobs and Last Year when Big "(F)ake" was injured. We might have made the playoffs in 06. Maybe in 08. Sad thing is, I would have loved if Stokes and another Minor Leaguer were sent----and I respected that dudes power 1 million times more then AG's.
July 24, 200917 yr Adrian Gonzalez evolved into a nice hitter but it didn't happen right away and he struggled in the majors for a while before he finally got it. It would be nice to have him now, but the situation was different back then with Derrek Lee at first. D Lee was gone the next year, I personally would have moved stokes, or moved for another RP in general. That year and team were special, but Gonzalez would have helped in 06 over Mike Jacobs and Last Year when Big "(F)ake" was injured. We might have made the playoffs in 06. Maybe in 08. Sad thing is, I would have loved if Stokes and another Minor Leaguer were sent----and I respected that dudes power 1 million times more then AG's. I know Lee was gone the next year, but he was still a very valuable player that made a fantastic trade piece. We used him to get a first base prospect that was very highly thought of and between him and Stokes we very well could have had first base solidified. It didn't work out that way but considering that Gonzalez struggled for a while in the majors as well it may have hurt us just as much to have him starting at 1B during that time. If you're gonna mention Mike Jacobs, I do have to say that I am still disappointed that the first base job wasn't really an open competition in ST 2006. If it were, Jason Stokes might have actually cracked the majors and maybe his career would have turned out differently. He was really showing his ability in ST that year, so much so that the team tried playing him in the OF which is how he injured himself and lost the chance to break camp with the team. But with Jacobs being the trade prize and having shown his potential in his time with the Mets, there was never any doubt that he was gonna get the first base job. Stokes was extremely fragile, which is why the OF thing really was a bad idea even though we needed a LFer. He had a hard enough time holding together at first, which is probably the easiest position on the body. But I know that if Stokes could have gotten a shot in the majors and flashed the same power that we all know he had, then he would have gotten more shots and wouldn't have retired. Teams will take a chance on a player once he does something good in the majors, but minor league journeyman are dime a dozen. And I have to imagine that the life of an injury-plagued major league player is extremely different than the life of a minor league journeyman. Maybe in an alternate universe, Jason Stokes became early-career Mark McGwire.
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