Both his parents replied to a tweet I made about the trade being a poor one. I think they were surprised it happened.
I believe that MM felt he had to do something at the deadline. The word was he was asking too much for guys like Meireles and Yantsis. As it stands now, he's destined to get the same return for both those guys somewhere in the ballpark of the return that guys like Hancock, Maksimovich and Salinitri brought this year. That'll depend on how the first half of next season plays out for these two.
If it were me, I'd have stood pat instead of giving McHugh away for below his value. He'd have helped us this year and if next year we sell off guys like Meireles, Yantsis and Damiani for good return, he and Garreffa could have played out the duration of their time in this league as Rangers (sonce trading all five is asking too much).
The only way I'd have moved McHugh at this deadline for that return is if it were to a contender to give the player a shot at a championship. In that situation the return is secondary. The interests of the player would come first.
Instead, we move McHugh to arguably a worse situation than he'd have had here since Mississauga traded off their high end vets, for a return that we'd likely have been able to get for him in the off season if it came to that.