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Tough Trade To Judge: Jesus Luzardo For Starling Marte

Just as Father Time remains undefeated, so does 20/20 hindsight. Years from now we will all know, pretty definitively, who fared better in the trade of Jesus Luzardo for Starling Marte. But you should only judge a trade based on what is knowable at the time, and what makes this particular trade difficult to handicap is how many “knowns” there were — and also how many “unknowns”.

What was pretty much knowable at the time of the trade?

- Although the A’s were within shouting distance of the Houston Astros, trailing by 7.5 games in the standings the day of the trade (July 28th), given the substantial deficit and how strong the Astros’ roster was, it was pretty clear that the A’s weren’t going to take the AL West with or without Marte.