"We weren't going to give up prospects for rental players, so we wound up with significant pieces we thought could be part of our long-term future.
If the Mets are unwilling to give up prospects for a dominant pitcher like Lee, then they certainly wouldn't give them up for the unspectacular crop of pitchers still available on the market.
One Yankees official questioned the wisdom of that deal, reasoning that the Yankees would be giving up prospects the caliber of Benitez, but would receive a less accomplished pitcher, Rodriguez, in return.
After listening to his reasoning, one comes away thinking it would take a lot to persuade him to give up prospects for a player such as Morneau, who would take the payroll to $223 million, as would be the case if the Yankees were to assume the $14 million Morneau is owed this year.
For example, the San Francisco Giants during mid-season of 2011 and 2012 made three major transactions giving up prospects Seth Rosen, Tommy Joseph, Charlie Culberson and Zach Wheeler for half a year of Carlos Beltran and Marco Scutaro and a year and a half of Hunter Pence.
They had given up more prospects to get Halladay.
As Saudi Arabian arms and money bolster the opposition, the 80,000 Christians who've been "cleansed" from their homes in Hamidiya and Bustan al-Diwan in Homs Province in March by the Free Syrian Army have gradually given up the prospect of ever returning home.
"We were hoping to win but we certainly haven't given up the prospect of automatic promotion or promotion, if we have to, through the play-offs.
Selling a stock doesn't mean you have given up on its prospects for the future.
In the case of China, however, I've long given up on the prospects of doing so.
