Free Pedro

I’d like to take this opportunity to begin a debate. A great debate. It’s time to begin the (naive?) postmortem on the Steroid Era. To me, the most interesting question is our first question:

Who was the best pitcher of the steroid era?

And to kick off the debate, I’ve invited Danny Stahl, our friend and long-suffering Royals fan – and  amateur baseball analyst – to share his thoughts. He has written a very thorough and thoughtful essay, in which he comes to a very unfortunate conclusion for those who love Pedro…

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It’s tough for baseball fans to be familiar with the top prospects from every team. Each year, when the trade deadline comes around, I feel woefully unprepared for the minor-league name-dropping that ensues.

What I always like to remember is that I don’t know those names for a reason. The prospects are still prospects. They haven’t proved to anyone that they can make it in the Major Leagues.  And if there is one thing we have learned over the years about MLB scouting, it’s that it is an inexact science at best.

From that simple revelation, I don’t need any minor league knowledge to know what the big trade this year ought to be. For the Phillies and Blue Jays the path is clear. They must strike a deal for Roy Halladay. They’d be crazy not to.
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