For the record, Peavy would not have been a stop gap. And we really don't know who the mysterious pitcher in the three-team deal that didn't happen was either, I guess. Either Peavey or Hallady would have been nice additions, but not at the cost that it would take to acquire them. I think what people are getting at is if the "plan" any year we're in contention is to give up our top prospects, is a rotten plan for 2 reasons. 1.) There's no way to know who's going to be avaiable, and what the price will be. This season is a classic example. The defense of Doug is that "everyone who was available was hurt". But that's exactly WHY it's a terrible plan. They're pitchers! Pitchers get hurt! I read somewhere (maybe the Gallardo thread) that 65% of all MLB pitchers spent time on the DL last year. 2.) Let's say we're in a 4 year period where we expect to realistically contend. Giving up prospects, even 3 years out of 4 is going to really make a huge dent on your system, talent-wise. We didn't get to the playoffs because we traded Fielder, Hardy, Braun, Hart, Weeks, etc, we made them because we kept them. And yes, we traded for CC Sabathia. But if we trade Escobar and Gamel for Halladay this year (plus others) and then trade Lucroy and Laurie and Green for a pitcher 2 years from now, what core is going to make a playoff run 2-3 years after that? I'm not against making the occasional trade of prospects to bolster the team, but that simply can't be the plan even 2 years in a row, or the whole philosophy that finally allowed us to put together a team to get to the playoffs for the first time in 26 years is shot. NEEDING to get there last year was different. CC allowed us to get the proverbial "monkey off the back" and showed the casual fans that pay the bills that this isn't "the same old Brewers". Finally making the playoffs bought a lot of good will from those fans. Quite frankly, I'm disgusted by how many people who claim to be Hardcore Fans are already jumping off the bandwagon this year. They're not going to make the playoffs, they're probably not going to finish .500, but they still have a good core of talent. It just needs to be augmented in a better way than "I'll see what's available in July.