Beneath the apparent precision of contract figures, service time calculations, Wins Above Replacement, projected stats and prospect rankings, there is something downright Paleolithic about how MLB executives build baseball teams. They trawl around high school diamonds, tiny college stadiums and far-flung fields looking for the players to sustain their needs. They try to snap up the best ones before anyone else. Then, they keep roaming until they spot someone with something they need more. And then, when that need is identified, they try to barter and convince their fellow hunter-gatherer of talent to make a trade.
The most energetic talent seeker in the baseball world, perhaps the most energetic it has ever seen, pulled off his gaudiest swap yet on Tuesday.