[More Cowbell]

^ That's also true. But still I wouldn't have traded Alonzo

Don't get me wrong, I really liked Alonso as a hitter. I was looking forward to seeing what he would do in a full season on the team. His only downside is that his left field defense sucks, but I was willing to overlook that because of his hitting.

But stud young pitchers don't come cheap, and Latos is just that. No matter what good starting pitcher we traded for this offseason (James Shields, Jair Jurrjens), the deal was always going to start with Yonder Alonso. You have to give up something to get something.

Incidentally, I would have made the trade of Alonso for Latos straight-up in a heartbeat. My problem is with sticking Grandal and Boxberger both into the deal as well. Adding one of those two other prospects would have been a bit much, trading both of them is way too much.