As expected

I don't have a whole lot of time to write about the Victor Martinez trade, but I will say that once Mark Shapiro decided to trade Cliff Lee, we knew Victor was going too. It wouldn't have made any sense to keep one and not the other of those guys. Shapiro had obviously given up on 2010, and Martinez isn't signed past then. He's obviously trying to stockpile as many young arms as possible. If a few of them pan out, maybe we'll be glad he did it.

The question becomes, what did we get back for Victor? I don't know much about these guys, but quickly:

• Justin Masterson is a 24-year-old right-hander who's pitched pretty well in limited action in the majors, consisting of 15 starts and 52 relief appearances. He's struck out 135 guys and walked 65, in 160 1/3 innings at the major-league level, with a 3.76 ERA over two years in the majors. Those walks are troubling, but he's obviously a bona fide major-leaguer.

• Nick Hagadone, a 23-year-old left-hander who hasn't pitched higher than single-A (and boy howdy, we've added a few of those guys over the past week). He's struck out 77 hitters in 59 professional innings, which is impressive, but he's a long way from the majors.

• Bryan Price, a 22-year-old right-hander who's got a 4.42 career minor-league ERA, in two seasons, with 140 strikeouts against 41 walks. Looks like he's got good stuff. Heck, looks like all these guys have good stuff.

I like this trade a little better than the Lee trade. Time will tell ...