If Oberholtzer turns out to be a solid #3 or 4, it will make the Bourn trade less painful; but it will not make me think Wade any less of a dumbass for making it. There is some validity to the "perceived value" idea; but the catch is that our (the unwashed masses, as Noe would say) perceived value might be very different from Wade's and other GMs' perceptions of those players at the time... in this particular instance, though, I doubt it. Oberholtzer was the lottery ticket with a limited ceiling, the secondary piece. Clemens was the centerpiece of the deal for Wade. (God knows what Schafer was supposed to be).
Furthermore, neither were guys Wade asked for. He asked for two of their "blue-chip" guys at the time, maybe Delgado and Teheran, or Vizcaino, I forget. Clemens and Obie were what the Braves counter-offered, and he accepted, notably without giving other teams a chance to make a better offer, as an "anatomy of a trade" article later that year revealed.
It would be one thing if Oberholtzer was some "under the radar" guy that they'd long had their eye on, and insisted on him being part of any deal. But they didn't; I doubt they thought any higher of him than the Braves did. Bottom line is, they gave up a year and a half of the best defensive CF in baseball, and one of the best leadoff men, for a couple of mediocre prospects and Jordan Schafer. If one of those prospects outshines his pedigree, then it is to Oberholtzer's credit (and maybe the Astros' Player Development staff's), not Wade's.
