With Skubal or Flaherty - set the bar high. Ask the other teams about players you really want. Give them a list. If they don't counter with one of those players - just don't make the deal. Don't trade for Jose King, Sergio Alcantara and Dawel Lugo out of desperation. You do that and you'll never get a legit offer from another team again. So you might lose Flaherty for nothing, but I'd rather see that than picking up 2 or 3 stiffs. With Skubal it better be a Godfather offer. Al Avila was a sucker. Other GMs probably told their assistants "Hey, I don't care if I am in mid-surgery, if Al Avila calls, stop the surgery and wake me up.........."