As I said very clearly in my post, I make no defense of the trade, unless you want to construe half-ironic comments about Coonelly being the one who made it as a defense.
Glasnow had some excellent starts last year in a small sample size and is generally a solid pitcher. When I watch him, I see a guy who has two good pitches and is dependable for 5 or 6 innings. He's not in the same conversation as frontline starters for me until he shows otherwise. He's pitched adequately in the playoffs, especially in a key situation vs the Yankees on short rest. I do not wish him ill, I just find it a bit annoying how everyone fawns all over him constantly. The guy is basically Archer in terms of his arsenal. I'd take him back in a heartbeat but I don't really see much more of a ceiling for him other than what he's shown after the league adjusted to him and based on how he pitches. I'll be happy to eat my words if he comes out next year and earns accolades as an ace, and like I said, I'm basically rooting for the Rays, but the ad nauseam fawning over him gets a bit old.
Not sure I've ever seen people fawn over him to the levels you're suggesting. I don't think anyone has called him some sort of Cy Young pitcher (beyond the way he started 2019, which was exactly that IMO).
I definitely don't think he's an ace. Yet. He isn't consistent enough with his control to be that, but the talent/stuff is there. 2 pitches is all you need when those 2 pitches are as devastating as Glasnow's. His spin rate and movement is absurdly good. The very fact he went from a guy who had no business being the ML's with us, to a quality starting pitcher in less than a calendar year is more or less all I need to know about our system/development and the Rays.
At 27 he's not a finished product either. Let's not forget Cole was a good, not great pitcher with Pittsburgh. He then left and become arguably the best in baseball, in short order. Another black mark on Searage and company.
Right now I'd call Glasnow an easy #2 with ace upside. If he can regain 2019, he's an ace, rather comfortably. The only question is can Tampa get him to repeat his delivery as he was doing in the first 2 months of last seasons. That's the only thing really holding him back from taking the last step. As Kessel said earlier, Randy Johnson took quite a long time to find his stride, being a tall, lean pitcher with essentially 2 pitches at his disposal. And RJ didn't need anything else other than a fastball/slider combo. When your stuff is as filthy as it was/is, the only question mark is can you locate those 2 dominant pitches. And honestly, you don't even need to be Greg Maddux with location. Pitchers that need such control are guys who can't get away with more than a few poor pitch locations, because their stuff isn't THAT great.
Regardless, I am rooting for Tampa hard. Them winning a world series, SHOULD put the heat on us to seriously invest in the shit we weren't investing in during the Hurdle years, namely advanced analytics. There are no more excuses for us when you see the other lowest budget team in MLB taking on one of the wealthiest in the WS. Win or lose Tampa is what I wish/hope Pittsburgh can achieve.