Montreal moves Lafitte 1.3

[handaspencer]

In what has been viewed as a change of direction for the Blazers they made a surprise move and traded their top offensive player Ettienne Lafitte Lafitte has spent 8 seasons with Montreal and made 3 all star trips during his tenure in Montreal. He is coming off another great season where he hit .314, with 34 HR and 114 RBI. Montreal acquired Rupert Grant, Jose Dyola and prospect Jorge Moreno in return. This deal saved Montreal 13.55 million going into next season and was able to gain a pitching prospect along the way. GM Spencer sat down with us to explain this deal and clear up the direction this organization is going.

Reporter: Mr. Spencer, why would you trade Lafitte when you indicated this would be a retool situation and not a rebuild?

GM Spencer: You are correct I indicated a retool would be the direction we go but after a few weeks on the job I consistently ran into roadblocks. I want to be as transparent and honest as possible but that path simply just didn't materialize. When you inherit an organization that does nothing but make the playoffs the competitive nature in myself simply can't accept anything but winning and returning to the playoffs. We had 60% of our payroll tied up in 6 guys and we was hoping to move some of those guys but that simply didn't materialize for us. I wanted to understand this market better and watch FA unfold and I learned some things. In order to compete for championships in the Brewster we will need to be a complete organization from top to bottom.


Reporter: Since you have indicated a rebuild might be the better direction than a retool do you regret the Brewer trade?

GM Spencer: Great question, we don't regret the Brewer trade at all and when we made the move internally we was already conflicted but we felt this move could benefit us either direction. Hank Brewer had a down season last year but he has a player option following this season and we believe he will be motivated due to his contract situation to return to old form. If he recovers this season he could potentially be a deadline asset for us, or he could be compensation eligible at seasons end to bring us another asset.


Reporter: Why would you trade Lafitte, a fan favorite and big bat?

GM Spencer: Lafitte was the only guy that provided a couple things for us. He allowed us to shed some salary and he allowed us to get a prospect in return. We wanted to wait until the last to move him because we wanted to keep him, but when it become obvious moving others would be tough we finally accepted the fact he needed to be the player we move.



Reporter: When did the light turn on that you needed to rebuild rather than retool?

Gm Spencer: I can't single out one particular event but this offseason just didn't feel right. We opened with almost 100 million on the books and we struggled to move the guys we wanted to move and we just felt land locked to be honest. Great organizations have flexibility and avoid being limited on options. It really forced us to be quiet this offseason, but this move should open some things up for us going forward. Having (3) 1st round picks next season due to compensation allowed us to see the opportunity to begin developing a young core. I think we finally have a direction that everyone believes in and we are excited about it. Our goal is simple we want to knock Rockville out of the top spot and we won't stop until that happens.

[Lane]

we always say, as long as you have a plan and stick around to see it through, there's nothing wrong with a rebuild.

[RonCo]

True. And, you never know with Rupert Grant. There's some non-zero chance that he could replace Lafitte's production -- or a big chunk of it, anyway. I like the return on the deal. Probably one that both teams could look back on and be happy, in the end.