That's right, and it illustrates the insane risk involved in any long term contract for a player. Nonetheless I'm sure you're not upset about the Cole signing right now.
Personally I feel like puking sometimes when I hear people talking about trading Devers or JD or Eovaldi.
Some folks just have this 'out with the old, in with the new' mentality.
I think Henry would let Bloom spend up to the tax threshold, but figures Bloom will spread that money around and not burn it on risky long-term deals.
Just guessing of course.
I wouldn't trade JD or Eovaldi either. I'd want to keep those two plus Bogie, Devers and E-Rod. A tiny core to build around for 2021 and 2022.
E-Rod is actually a free agent after 2021, so that's a bit of an issue.
Plus the fact that our pitching staff is almost entirely a collection of what dgalehouse calls 'ham and eggers'. It's a team with no chance, on top of all the other difficulties you quite rightly pointed out.
I understand that Graterol is controlled through 2025. But of course this year matters, they all matter.
And as you said, Downs could be traded for a reliever between now and 2021.
Pretty simple.
But as you found, Downs has a higher trade value than Graterol, so in theory he's a more valuable asset.
And it's not like having Graterol this year matters or not.