Regret

With his most recent over his head performance, Red Sox fans with irrational attachments to Travis Shaw have been talking about something a lot lately. 

Regret.

They regret trading Shaw away. They assume the Red Sox regret trading Shaw away. When Dave Dombrowski doesn't express extreme regret, they assume he's a liar. Because they all regret the trade.

But, what does that really mean?

Apparently, regret is feeling sorrow over something you cannot control. I was actually surprised by the last bit of the definition. Does that mean Dombrowski can't feel regret because he can control it? But anyway, about the trade. Is there sorrow there?

Not for me. 

I don't regret the Red Sox making the trade. I regret Thornburg getting injured, sure. But I don't regret trading away your third option at third base who had only shown flashes of success. I don't regret using that chip to get a lock down reliever, to help solve a problem. The Sox had too many third basemen, and not enough relievers. Making a trade to fix that is a no-brainer.

I might regret the timing of the trade. It was too late. They sold low on Shaw. They should have moved him during the season before he cooled off. But, that's the way it works sometimes.

But the trade was still a good one.

The things that happen after a trade really shouldn't make you question the trade itself. Like the Bagwell trade, for instance. They traded a minor leaguer blocked at two positions by MVPs, All-Stars, or Hall of Famers for a reliever that helped them win the division. How do you regret doing that? Where was Bagwell playing for the Sox? They had Boggs at third, backed up by Scott Cooper. If they moved him to first, they had Mo Vaughn in the way. So, how can you not make that trade? Now, do the Sox regret the fact that Anderson didn't have another year with the Sox like they thought he was going to? Sure. But they can't regret the trade.

I'm not even able to regret not getting more for these players. (was that a double negative?) I'm assuming that the Brewers didn't offer Thornburg and three other players for Shaw, only to have the Red Sox counter with just Thornburg for Shaw and some other players. No. The Sox got what they got because that's all they could get. 

So, you can be annoyed that Thornburg got hut. Just like you can be annoyed that Smith did last year. You can regret the injuries.

I just don't see how you can regret the trades.