Paul DePodesta discusses the Gerut/Gwynn trade
So, in summary, though we gave up a good player in Jody Gerut, we got younger, created more cost flexibility, and have provided more opportunity for other players who have a chance to be with us for a longer period of time. It's not without risks, but that's the rationale.
Seems like a lot of words to basically say "We needed to cut salary and figured we might as well get the son of our most famous player in the process."