Is that the end all be all to this conversation? Like not matter what, we can't discuss anything else? Hey, its' cool we didn't take Mike Trout because we wont a World Series?
If your argument is that we only win the WS because of Eaton, I'd love to see something to back that up. I'm not saying he didn't contribute. I just don't see how you can make an argument that we don't win a WS without him. Especially when, in hindsight, Giolito was one of the best SPs in baseball and Bryce Harper's contract makes him a decent bargain.
The razor between winning and losing is incredibly thin. Very good teams don’t win. There is a lot of randomness in playoff baseball. The Nats won the World Series by literally the thinnest of margins, a comeback win in Game 7. It’s likely that changing anything would have resulted in a different outcome. Especially on a team whose success was attributed at least partly to a unique clubhouse culture.
The fact is the Nats did, in fact, win the World Series. And Adam Eaton did, in fact, play a significant role. I think if we are arguing counterfactuals, the burden of proof is going to be pretty high for arguing that you win without Eaton.
And if that’s the case the question should be, would you give up last year’s trophy to have 2020 Giolito?
