Rosenthal says it's done, pending physicals.
Assuming this trade goes through as detailed below - and I don't know why it wouldn't - it's just...it's...what?
Let's say it stops here and no further moves are made (except Broussard leaving). Then you're paying Vidro to DH, which Snelling could do better for a fraction of the cost. It doesn't make a lick of sense.
Now let's say it doesn't stop here. Let's say Vidro becomes a regular. Nobody has the balls to send Betancourt to prison for his immigration thing, meaning the most likely outcome is that Jose Lopez goes somewhere else. Jose's a talented, young, cheap second baseman who could bring a big return in a trade, but do you really trust Bavasi to cash him in for maximum return? Honestly?
And then you're left with the problem of playing Vidro in the middle of the infield every day. Vidro's a bad defensive second baseman, which has a direct negative effect on our two newest starting pitchers, and he's aging in a hurry, dropping from a .293 EqA in 2003 to .263 a year ago. He's a switch-hitter without any real platoon splits, which is neat, but he's a 32 year old who's been plagued by a rash of lower-body injuries in recent seasons. Since 2004 he's missed 163 games while on the DL. You can't make the argument that Snelling's expendable because he's injury-prone because Vidro is every bit as fragile. Oh, and he's worse.
Edit: Vidro could conceivably also play first if Sexson gets dealt instead of Lopez, but that hardly makes anything better. Seriously, think about it. Snelling and Fruto for Jose Vidro at first base? What?
The mind boggles. The only - ONLY - advantage Vidro has over Snelling is his alleged ability to play the middle infield, which he can't even do anymore. This is a nonsensical trade, and I'm afraid it's going to be part of a bigger, even more nonsensical picture.
The most valuable assets in baseball are early- and pre-arbitration players who give you solid production for pennies. In the past week Bill Bavasi has dealt two of our best away, and now he's threatening to ship off a third. This is absolutely, positively unforgivable, and I don't know why I put up with it.
As far as I'm concerned, the only possible way to salvage this whole thing is to trade Jose Lopez for some young ace like Jeremy Bonderman or Jake Peavy. That's it. That's the only way. And I don't think it's going to happen. Do you?
What a clusterfuck.