This part is true. I think people thought that because they were in our top ten that they could have returned something like Machado, but the reality is, our farm system cannot compare to that of others. I never thought those guys had much of a chance to make a big impact at the MLB level so I am 100% on board with the trade. Regardless, a combination of Shaw/Moose/Schoop/Arcia is much better than a combination of Shaw/Arcia/Perez/Villar/Saladino/etc. so that is why the trade was made. If anything is evident from Stearns moves over the last couple years, its that he really values depth. This is the best explanation I can find and I'm in agreement. They subtracted Villar and Saladino (or whoever rotated through that roster spot) with Moustakas and Schoop. They are not perfect players but for sure that is an upgrade. Adding two recent All-Stars with 30+ hr power is not leaving empty handed. For sure there is going to be at least a modest cost for that type of player. If we're going to use the small sample of Brewer AB's to downgrade the Schoop add then we should also use the small sample to analyze Moustakas's glove at 3B. He has been excellent over there; and Shaw has actually looked adequate at 2B when slotted there (something I was skeptical about). I know people don't want to sacrifice the future, but perhaps the future is now. We can debate on what moves should've been made instead. That's cool; I get it. Maybe other moves would've been more ideal, but I don't think there's any debate that the team got better at the deadline.