Oh please. Much as I loved the guy's attitude and playing ability for much of his career, he ain't The Bambino.
So what exactly did we get again? A mid round (3rd ?) draft pick we maybe can use in 2006. And maybe another mid round pick we canuse when Kreis retires - which could be 4 - 6 years from now. He is only 32. Or maybe it will be an allocation in a few years. IF they still exist. It all depends. On what no one knows. It just depends. Personally I think we should have traded him for a Ronco Vegetable Juicer and a set of Ginsu Steak Knives so we could see the benefit immediately. Seems like we did a favor for Kreis more than anything. This team needs help NOW and we let him go for picks years in the future.
I guess you have to look at the alternatives. RSL was going to draft Kreis regardless. So say they would have taken him with their second or third pick. The FO probably still protects Salyer since Behncke wanted to go. Then they take Behnke later on, we protect someone else who wouldn't have gotten taken anyway. Bottom line, same result, we lose Kreis and Behnke. At least this way we get SOMETHING in return.