Transactions Analysis: Changing of the Leaves Edition

It's a toss-up as to whether we do another of these TA's this year, as we're really winding down the league in all facets, unless you're Darrin & Tucker dueling for the top spot. Personally, I do not intend to stop posting for the offseason; hell, the content may improve. Hell, I think a end-of-season wrap up may even be productive. It'll be lighter on Pat Neshek jokes, but that's to be expected. In the meantime, let us go forward with silliness and insight. (El Angelo)

I can only assume that the blog wil get even more random in the offseason, though we'll keep throwing stuff up there. At the very least we plan to finally come through with an awards/year-in-review edition, which has been promised each year for ther past three, but never come to fruition before the Yahoo! website got taken down for the year. Given the level of professionalism and perspicacity we generally exhibit here at the GRBG, look for the awards column sometime between the end of the season and, oh, March-ish. (Teddy)

The Sex Cannons

• Signed Aaron Heilman, RP, New York (NL); Released Joel Piniero, RP, St. Louis [8/26]
• Signed Barry Zito, SP, San Fran; Released Heilman [8/29]
• Signed Heath Bell, RP, San Diego; Released George Sherrill, RP, Seattle [8/30]
• Signed Braden Looper, SP, St. Louis; Released Lenny DiNardo, SP, Oakland [9/1]
• Releaesd Bell; Signed Mike Pelfrey, SP, New York (NL) [9/4]
• Released Pelfrey...Signed Bell; finished his beer [9/5]
  
• Released Raul Ibanez, OF, Seatle [9/6]
  
• Signed Zach Greinke, SP, Kansas City; Released Ryan Theirot, 2B, Chicago (NL) [9/8]
• Released Greinke; Signed Slick Willy Taveras, OF, Colorado [9/12]

There's a little bit of zigging then zagging here, as the early transactions ostensibly include the Grossmans trying to at least get 3rd place money, while the balance seem in the cleanup mode phase, more indicative of the fact that they're getting 3rd place by the grace of Scot, and not by their own merit. This all adds up to the addition of Barry Zito, who sucks and isn't worth the extra keeper slot and Willy Taveras, who I think also has an extra keeper slot next year. So unless they're trying to capture SBs late or tank ERA in September, I can't see a lot of logic to this all. (El Angelo)

This all basically amounts to a lot of heat-chasing on the part of the Rex-N-Effeks, as they try to crack into the money for the first time. Things are looking a bit dim on that front, though that might be because I have put a triple whammy on the club in the hopes of keeping both of my forthcoming first-round picks in the lottery. The billy goat's on its way. (Teddy)

Ed Rooney's Office

• Activated Phil Hughes, SP, New York (AL) from the prospect list; Released Moises Alou, OF, New York (NL) [9/12]

Moishe had no value whatsoever, so you really can't call that a loss. The question is whether you can call adding Phil Hughes a 'gain' in any meaningful way, since it occurred with 3 weeks to go in the season. Teddy, you cannot be happy about the fact that you basically just lost a keeper slot, can you? (El Angelo)

No indeed. I was hoping that one of the many random New York pitcher injuries would keep him from getting to the rookie innings limit. Still, though, that's a pretty delicate business given the recent history of Yankee pitcher ouchies. You could get something fairly innocuous, like breaking your non-throwing hand on a wall (Kevin Brown), or getting ganked at a diner (David Wells), which would keep Hughes out for the year without risking his long-term health. Then again, you could end up with something like Munsonitis (Corey Lidle) or vaginal cancer (Carl Pavano), and then where would you be? (Teddy)

The Spam Avengers

• Signed Jake Westbrook, SP, Cleveland; Released Dan Wheeler, RP, Tampa Bay [8/26]

And we are left with....Jake Westbrook? I fail to see how this helps a squad going forward, unless Alex was in a pitched battle in his mind to reach 5th place, which has seemed pretty unlikely at all times. At least there's a non-zero chance Wheeler will be closing for Tampa next year; there's a zero chance Westbrook will be doing anything for anybody next year. (El Angelo)

Nobody has made fewer moves (just 25, less than 1/4 of the total of the Sex Cannons) this year than the TSA. I'm going to chalk this up to just knocking the rust off a little bit, getting back the feel for how the add/drop buttons work. As a roster-enhancer, though, this is right up there with the Red Sox recent acquisition of Royce Clayton as a pinch-runner/luggage handler for the stretch run. (Teddy)

Nigerian Gentlemen

• Signed Yadir Molina, C, St. Louis; Released Ramon Hernandez, C, Baltimore [8/28]
• Released J.D. Drew, OF, Boston [9/2]
• Signed Fernando Rodney, RP, Detroit; Released Luis Vizcaino, RP, New York (AL) [9/4]
• Released Molina [9/9]
• Claimed Nick Swisher, 1B, Oakland off waivers; Released Scot Shields, RP, Anaheim [9/12]

And with the release of JD Drew, out went 3/5 of the bundle that was to be sent to the Late Mike in the ill-fated trade of 2007. I'm not going to even say anything negative about Jake or Mike on this one, as Drew's been so awful, he's even money to replicate Kevin McReynolds' career, which is not exactly something to aspire to.

The Nick Swisher pickup strikes me as interesting, but I cut him, so maybe I'm biased. He's not a bad player by any means, but he's about the definition of replacement level at 1B and OF, and he's not going to pop 40 dingers or 40 SBs at any time. I wouldn't have used my waive priority on him, but I guess saving it up for Jeff Niemann or Philip Humber at this point is dumber, especially since they both stink. (El Angelo)

I like to think that I fall into the rational, analytical wing of Red Sox fandom. I recognize the misleading nature of small sample sizes, so that I am still capable of watching Jacoby Ellsbury run the bases without adding the ability to hang my Red Sox cap at waist level. I am not sad that the team let OC go, even though he executed celebratory handshakes at an all-star level. But:

Fuck you J.D. Drew. Fuck you for a myriad of sins. But most of all, fuck you for swinging and missing at roughly 2,645 breaking balls on 2-1 or 3-1 counts this season. Bulletin: Boston plays in the American League. American League pitchers do not want to be killed, and so do not groove 3-1 fastballs. Be. Fucking. Alert. For. The. Fucking. Changeup. Jesus Tittyfucking Christ. (Teddy)

bonderman's grundle

• Renamed his squad after the ephemeral Jeremy Bonderman [9/12]

I'd normally let this go without even a comment, but we've had quite a run with names from the Healer this year, ranging in topics from Bobcat Goldthwait to the Va Tech shooting to the frail Abe Vigoda to now basically saying "fuck you, Jobu" to his putative ace. Touche. The saving grace in an otherwise disappointing season. (El Angelo)

As was noted at the time of the change, we here at the GRBG are in favor of the word "grundle" and admire the lowercases' attempt to promote it. If your team is going to suck, it might as well suck with panache. (Teddy)

President Skroob

• Signed Carlos Gomez, OF, New York (NL), John Buck, C, Kansas City and Luke Scott, OF, Houston; Released Kurt Suzuki, C, Oakland and Alexi Castilla, 2B, Minnesota [9/7]
• Claimed Adam Jones, OF, Seattle off waivers; Released Nick Swisher, OF, Oakland [9/9]
• Released Scott and Kevin Cameron, RP, San Diego [9/12]

The last two releases are less so the fact that those players suck (though they do) and more to the fact that I had to adjust from some players coming off the DL. The only real thing of note for me (other than gaining a token Met) is taking a flyer on Adam Jones, who I'm not sure if I'll keep, but is a better option than Jon Lester at this point. My potential keeper OF list is Jones, Corey Hart, Matt Kemp and Michael Bourn; no studs, but probably nothing hideous either. Next year may be long, too. (El Angelo)

Adam Jones is one of those annoying players who is probably too chancy to keep, but who will get snatched up in a bout of exuberance by somebody in Round 2-3 if he's allowed to go into the draft. He's a fantastic talent; however, the M's are talking about resigning Jose Guillen next year to play right field. With Ichiro (in CF), Raul Ibanez (in LF) and Jose Vidro (at DH, somehow), already signed for next season, it's not clear where the AB's would come from for Jones. Nice flyer for the hot stove season, though. (Teddy)

Lefty's Revenge

• Signed Chris Carpenter, SP, St. Louis [8/28]

Da hell? He's +2 next year, why the hell would you want him? (El Angelo)

Eh. Maybe he can be flipped, depending on how the health reports come back. Certainly no downside at this point in the season, (Teddy)

Le Dupont Torkies

• Claimed C.J. Wilson, RP, Texas off waivers; Released Chris Carpenter, SP, St. Louis [8/1]
• Traded Jason Bay, OF, Pittsburgh, John Smoltz, SP, Atlanta, Todd Jones, RP, Detroit and their 5th round pick in the 2008 draft to It's Enrico Palazzo for Vernon Wells, OF, Toronto, Chone Figgins, Util, Anaheim, Michael Young, SS, Texas and the 2nd round pick in the 2008 draft [8/12]
• Released Barry Zito, SP, San Fran [8/12]
• Released Salomon Torres, RP, Pittsburgh and Jason Bartlett, SS, Minnesota [8/14]
• Claimed Clay Buchholz, SP, Boston off waivers; Released Kerry Wood, SP, Chicago (NL) [8/17]
• Signed Ubaldo Jimenez, SP, Colorado [8/20]
• Released Fat Bob Wickman, RP, Arizona [8/27]
• Signed Brian Wilson, OF, San Fran; Released Anthony Reyes, RP, St. Louis [9/4]
• Signed Nate McLouth, OF, Pittsburgh [9/5]
• Released Wells [9/9]
  
• Wasted time with Adam LaRoche, 1B, Pittsburgh; Zach Miner, SP, Detroit; Garret Anderson, OF, Anaheim; Bobby Seay, RP, Detroit; Jack Wilson, SS, Pittsburgh; Jayson Werth, OF, Philadelphia; Chad Qualls, RP, Houston (twice!); Alan Embree, RP, Oakland; Edwin Jackson, RP, Tampa Bay; and Javier Valentin, C, Cincinnati [7/31-9/14]

The original by-laws of the Gowanus Rotisserie Baseball Gazette required me to accurately report all transactions that occurred in the league. I've since amended that unilaterally in what will be known as the Farman-Elders Proviso, mandating that if you futz around with shitty players for no obvious or real gain, you do not get the full transaction written out. Hence the paragraph of Crapiness that's above, wherein we see a bunch of players that are a 2B and 3B shy of actually being a full starting lineup, albeit one that's worse than mine. So let's instead focus on the four most interesting things here, namely:

(1) Correctly discarding Chris Carpenter and Barry Zito, the fruits of my deal with Tucker from July. Now, granted, he gave up zilch in the way of picks, and you could argue that Billingsley & Loney aren't exactly Grade A prospects either, but here's a deal where he actually got nothing in return for a couple of prospects. It wasn't that this was a bad idea at the time, it's more indicative of how everything just hasn't quite broken the way of the Defending Champs this year.

(2) The absolutely ballsy trade of Sahil's ex-players to the first place team for Wells, Figgins & Young, especially while all three are suffering down years. Granted, he picked up a deuce in the process for his troubles, but he also ran the risk of re-arming his chief competitor in the process, especially when it was clear that IEP! was going to be around at the end. Which then lead to...

(3) Waiving Wells, which has to be considered one of the bigger surprises from this year. It wasn't hard to come up with the idea that Sir Vernon would regress from his contract push last year, but he's in the Alou category of outfielders this year, with a second half that would make Mike Greenwell blush. It's a fair criticism to say that the Torkies have made absolutely no progress on the trade front this year, and have yet to make a trade that looked poor at the time it was made. However, as a slight save at the end is the....

(4) Claiming of Buchholz. I'd argue that I'd rather have him than Philip Hughes at this point. Nice save. (El Angelo)

The IEP! trade looked to me more like an attempt to solidify 2d than an effort to get over the top for 1st. At this point in the season, it's getting down to a bit of a crapshoot anyway. I for one kind of enjoy watching the leaders agree to shut the door on everyone else, and play the rest of the way for the cash. Going for it now is generally an underrated play in this league, as people get scared of the keeper ramifications. But flags fly forever, and the case of Lowenbrau that you can buy with the 2d-place money will last . . . well, probably not past the next week of NFL games. So never mind, I guess. (Teddy)

Hand Banana

• Signed Zach Greinke, SP, Kansas City; Released Antonio Alfonseca, RP, Florida [7/28]
• Released Greinke; Signed Oscar Villereal, RP, Arizona [8/10]
• Released Villereal; Signed Bobby Howry, RP, Chicago (NL) [8/13]
• Traded Willy Taveras, OF, Colorado, Chuck James, SP, Atlanta , Ian Snell, SP, Pittsburgh and their 1st round pick in the 2008 draft to The Sex Cannons for Roy Halladay, SP, Toronto, Roy Oswalt, SP, Houston, Kevin Gregg, RP, Florida and their 6th round pick in the 2008 draft [8/13]
• Signed Doug Davis, SP, Milwaukee; Released Jeff Francis, SP, Colorado and Brian Fuentes, RP, Colorado [8/15]
• Released Howry [8/24]
• Claimed Ian Kennedy, SP, New York (AL) off waivers; Released Adam Jones, OF, Seattle [9/6]

This deal deserved an earlier TA, but them's the breaks. Ignoring the deck-chair shuffling known as their relief corps, the real interseting point here is the deal, which really turned out to be Snell & a 1st rounder for Oswalt, Gregg & Halladay and a 6th rounder. If you're going to give up a first rounder, you'd better get something good in return, and here's a pair of studs thrown to a team that was in the thick of contention on the date of the deal.

A month later, it doesn't look as good, because now you've got a pair of aces that cost 3 slots next year and a horrible closer, and are in all likelihood out the 10th pick in the draft. This team's great at mid-level picks in March, and maybe they'll double-keep Halladay for next year, but it's tough to call this a huge win for this team. Still, I applaud the stones of someone who makes a concerted effort to win, and that troika did help get this squad into the 80's point-wise. Of course, I also tried this last year, and I'm stuck in last place until the 2012 election.

The other fun question is whether their splitting the difference of winning now and later worked with the Kennedy/Jones trade-out; Kennedy has looked good so far, but even putting TINSTAAP aside, all indicators are that his upside is that of a 3rd starter, which doesn't exactly make him ripe keeper material. (El Angelo)

Ang has the trade nailed down pretty good, so I'll just chime in on Ian Kennedy. I think he has a nice fantasy career ahead of him as a pitcher who isn't quite good enough to keep, but who makes whoever drafts him in the 7th round happy most years. There are worse fates. (Teddy)

Evil Empire

• Released Chris Capuano, SP, Milwaukee [9/3]

Man, now here's a guy who was underrated for years and just flopped miserably in this campaign. I can't criticize EE for picking him or dropping him, but when picks like this don't pan out for you, it makes the degree of difficulty in fantasy leagues geometrically harder. (El Angelo)

Agreed--I had Capuano circled on my draft sheet, but ended up not going there because I somehow acquired the entire American League all-star pitching staff by about Round 8. Think I might have gone after too much pitching last year? (Teddy)

It's Enrico Palazzo

• Signed Andy Phillips, 1B, New York (AL) [7/21]
• Released Scott Rolen, 3B, St. Louis [8/5]
• Released Phillips [8/8]
• Signed Mark Ellis, 2B, Oakland [8/10]
• Traded Vernon Wells, OF, Toronto, Chone Figgins, Util, Anaheim, Michael Young, SS, Texas and the 2nd round pick in the 2008 draft to Le Dupont Torkies for Jason Bay, OF, Pittsburgh, John Smoltz, SP, Atlanta, Todd Jones, RP, Detroit and their 5th round pick in the 2008 draft [8/12]
• Signed Shawn Hill, SP, Washington; Released Michael Cuddyer, 3B, Minnesota [8/16]
• Signed Dmitri Young, 1B, Washington [8/23]
• Signed Rafael Soriano, RP, Atlanta [8/28]
• Released Hill [9/5]
• Signed Kevin Millar, 1B, Baltimore; Released Hideki Okajima, RP, Boston [9/12]
  

You have to laugh at any transaction line that begins with Andy Phillips, because defensive stats have never counted in this game. Outside of the deal with the Torkies, which I covered pretty extensively above, everything else is window dressing and unproductive, though it's a bit sad to see Hideki Okajima lose out on getting a ring at the end of the year from this squad. And I reiterate my applause once again of not only making a bold deal at the end of the trading season but for also doing it with your chief competitor. The top 4 guys this year all took big risks with varying levels of success, but it's great that they did so and made this one of the more interesting years to watch the league. (El Angelo)

I just enjoy the idea of picking up 2 Washington Nationals during the stretch run. It's like IEP has decided to try to win with a degree of difficulty. (Teddy)

Belmont Gets a Good Saturday

We last talked about racing here in early June, where yours truly kvetched that the Belmont sucked because Street Sense was passing on the race to point for the Travers. Since that post, we actually got a pretty good race in super filly Rags to Riches outdueling Curlin, and Street Sense returning with a pair of wins at Saratoga, the latter in the Travers over a stubborn Grasshopper. But we'll get to him at a later date.

We're now back at Belmont for the Fall Championship Meet, which used to be of titanic significance, and is now stuff laden with good races, but they're mostly preps for the Breeders' Cup. Still, occasionally, you get a day like tomorrow, where there's a few interesting horses running. Let's note the top 5, in reverse order.

#5: The Leopard. This multi-million dollar purchase isn't even the most expensive horse running on the card, but he may be the fastest. He goes in the Futurity against...

#4: Kodiak Kowboy...the poorly spelled colt out of Posse, with the winner likely being one of the favorites in next month's Breeders Cup Juvenile, the championship race for 2 year old colts. Here, we have the question of potential versus production. Kodiak Kowboy is out of top-notch trainer Steve Asmussen (of Curlin fame), and has done nothing but win consistently to date. The Leopard was an expensive purchase in the Pletcher barn who's got speed but has only won 1 of his 2 races to date (over a horse that flopped at 1-5 last Wednesday). And more importantly, they both have sucky names. As I've noted repeteadly, I am firmly anti-crappy names for horses, and refuse to even admit that Lil E. Tee ran in the '93 Derby. So if people try to convince you that these guys are the end-all-and-be-all, don't buy it. Take a stab with Paint instead, who will be a price.

#3: Lear's Princess. If you're going to ever take a hunch bet, this would be the time to do it, as betting Goneril's namesake while Sir Ian McKellen is performing at BAM makes just too much sense. Sadly, this horse is good, not great, and she's going against...

#2: Rags to Riches. Her last start was the Belmont Stakes, where she became the first filly since 1903 to take the classic, and instantly catapult her to something resembling stardom, all whilst getting Todd Pletcher off the schneid in Triple Crown races. Why hasn't she run since? Bad luck and infirmities, ranging from a cough to a fever to some gimpiness, it just hasn't been a good summer for her. But now she's back, and is working on Grade 1 win #5 here. A win here and in the Breeders Cup Distaff vaults her squarely into Horse of the Year talk.

So how is the defending Belmont champion (who was also the first filly to win in >100 years) not the most interesting horse running? Easy, because also on Saturday's card is...

#1: The Green Monkey. For those not innundated in racing every day, this name won't be familiar to you, but here's why this is the most notoroious horse to have never run a race. Last year at a sale for 2-year old horses, he cost $16 million. Let's try that again. SIXTEEEN MILLION dollars. And has yet to run a race. For the same price, Michael Tabor could have bought 20,000 bearded collies and gotten a better performance, not to mention a lot more laughs. Instead, we have The Green Monkey, who I'd dock severely for having a stupid name, but the golf course and resort are on such a high level that it gets a pass with me. He's going to be even money in the 4th race against 5 horses that cost under a million dollars combined. Karma and Murphy's Law both indicate this horse is going to flop, right?

Can the Leader be Caught?

We're down to the homestretch of the season, and for all practical purposes, we're down to three teams with a chance to win it all. Which lends the question, besides why your humble author is guilty of putting up pictures that are relevant only for entertainment purposes: while It's Enrico Palazzo has held the lead for over two months now, does anyone have a realistic chance to catch them? Let's start with the standings as of September 11:

It's Enrico Palazzo-----91.5
Le Dupont Torkies-------85
Hand Banana------------84

To do this somewhat analytically, let's start by looking at each of the two challengers to the top spot and see if they can make up the necessary ground.

Hand Banana: As noted somewhat in my mid-season review, the talent on this squad has pulled through, leaving them in a nice 3rd place spot and in striking distance of the lead. They're currently in first place in R and RBI, making any gains there literally impossible. They're in second place in SBs and about 45 behind the leader, meaning they've maxed out their gain there as well. They're 5 HRs behind Jon for 2nd place in dingers, but only 3 ahead of the 4th place squad. At best this is a wash for also no gain. Which leaves OBP, where they're 0.001 behind two squads tied for 4th place. Seems easy, right? Well, maybe. Given the fact that they're already had roughly 5000 PAs for the season, the team would need to have a collective OBP of .377 for the rest of the season to make a jump of 2 points. That's a lot to ask. So let's split the difference and say they gain 1 spot here. Offensive gain: +1 point.

On the pitching side of the ledger, this squad is pretty much locked into their slots on Saves and ERA. They're only 7 K's behind Sexy Rexy, but he's still throwing heat daily with Oliver!, Snell, Halladay, Zito and some nice relievers. They'll be lucky to make up that point. They're tied with Jon in the Wins department, and his starters have given up on the year, so give them the half point here. The team two wins ahead of them, Tessio's Revenge, just lost Bonderman for the year and has Noah Lowry as their best starter, so let's even say they catch them for 5th place and another gain. Which leaves the amorphous and unpredictable category of WHIP, where we find this squad tied with our Newcomer for 9th and a hundredth of a point behind the next team. To drop that point would require a WHIP of 1.25 for the rest of the season---not impossible, but not exactly something you can bank on the way this team's pitching has been all year. Let's be nice and give them a half point for breaking the tie. Pitching gain: +2 points

Final tally--Hand Banana, 87 points, 89 if everything breaks well.

Le Dupont Torkies: We now come to our defending champs, who have had a rollercoaster year. Have they peaked? Maybe. They have zero shot of gaining a point in runs and are going nowhere in OBP, but are a mere RBI behind Hand Banana for the top spot, that's a placing they could gain. They're 4 SBs from gaining a deuce in steals; if they don't get these, you can point directly to the Utley injury as the straw that ruined this team's year. Still, I like them to make up that ground in the last month. Infinitely more intriguing is the fact that they're a homer behind both IEP! and Tessio, who are tied at 169 dingers. Given they've got the best dinger-ific lineup of the troika, I like them to gain both points here. Offensive gain: +3 points.

That's it for the good news, because if you're inclined, take a look at the pitching side of the ledger. There are NO places for this team to go up, and a small chance they'll lose a point here. We'll just call it a wash and call it a day.

Final tally---Le Dupont Torkies: 88 points, 90 points if all breaks correctly.

Which means that as currently constituted, both squads are going to need IEP to regress a little bit. Can this be done? Let's break it down by each category:

Runs: The team below them trails them by 48 runs. Nope.
HR: As mentioned, they're tied with Ironhead and a dinger ahead of the Torkies. They could lose 1 1/2 points here, they could gain a 1/2 point here. Let's say they lose 1/2 a point to be safe and argumentative.
RBI: Jake could catch them for a spot, as he's only 5 behind. However, he's rightfully celebrating the birth of his beautiful new child, so that's just not gonna happen.
SB: Jose Reyes has a better chance of coughing up his title than IEP.
OBP: Not happening. At worst, we're looking at -1 1/2 on offense, and less is likely.

Wins: Nope.
Saves: Nope.
ERA: Nope.
WHIP: Nope.
K's: There's an outside chance Alex re-rallies from his amazingly disappointing second half and snares a point here. That's wishcasting a bit though. I like no change here either.

Final Tally: 90 points, at worst, we're looking at 88.5 here.

So what's the ultimate conclusion? The leaders are in great shape, but have clinched nothing. The defending champs are still in it, but need some help. Hand Banana (the '05 champs), need double help--not only to have things break well for them, but for both teams in front of them to regress. I'd call it unlikely, but not impossible.

All in all, it actually means for a change we have a September that's meaningful in the league for the race to win it all, which has been a rarity to date. How refreshing.

Transactions Analysis Part II: Dog Days Edition

We're taking something of a different approach here. Teddy & I have done half of the remaining TA, which we'll put out for publication now, while Chadsky's out on the left coast. We'll finish this edition up and play catchup later this week, with a special help from a little friend of ours. (El Angelo)

abe vigoda's spleen

• Released Matt Stairs, 1B, Toronto [7/17]


• Traded Jason Bay, OF, Pittsburgh; Ty Wigginton, 3B, Houston, John Smoltz, SP, Atlanta and a 6th round pick in the 2008 draft to Le Dupont Torkies for Bobby Jenks, RP, Chicago (AL), Sergio Mitre, RP, Florida; Justin Germano, SP, San Diego and a 3rd round pick in the 2008 draft [7/25]


• Signed Reggie Willits, OF, Anaheim; Released Cliff Lee, SP, Cleveland [7/27]


• Claimed Casey Blake, 3B, Cleveland off waivers; Released Nick Punto, IF, Minnesota [7/28]


• Released Dave Roberts, OF, San Diego and Mike Gonzalez, RP, Atlanta [7/31]


• Claimed John Buck, C, Kansas City off waivers [8/3]


• Released Buck [8/6]


• Signed Jose Guillen, OF, Seattle [8/10]

In the Wankdorf League's version of the Lend-Lease program, we have the Vigoda-Torkie exchange system. If you're keeping track at home, which I know you are deep down in your soul, the two swaps between the squads, after canceling out common players that went back and forth twice, resulted in Jenks, Mitre, Germano, Chad Gaudin, Noah Lowry and Jhonny Peralta going to the Pancreases for Bay, Magglio Ordonez, and Wigginton. That's a ton of middling pitching and a flyer on a SS that's still undetermined as to how well it's going for a pair of good outfielders, so while it's not like these guys were robbed, they also didn't make out with a stud for either Bay or Ordonez, albeit while they're in their walk years.

There's also the matter of the swap of picks, which is a nice recovery for this squad, who's already shy a second rounder for next year, so trading up about 30 spots is a plus, especially given the volatility of standings between the 3rd and 8th place teams. It makes up for the fact that Cliff Lee has decided to become the midwestern Kei Igawa, and no, that's not a complement.

Lastly, there's something hilarious about burning waiver priority not once but TWICE over execrable talents known as Casey Fucking Blake and John Buck, the latter of which couldn't even maintain a roster spot for more than 4 days. Sure, Ryan Zimmerman's had a fairly disappointing season, but Casey Blake isn't even an impossibility to be kept, he's not even worthy of mascot status. And unlike Guillen, he's not going to get into an altercation and give you bad press. Silliness abounds for the Tessios. (El Angelo)

Bobby Jenks has probably enshrined himself as a keeper by this point, so I mind the trade less than Angelo does. Regardless of the moves around the margins, this team is going to have to have a big draft next year to break the second-division cycle. (Teddy)

Ed Rooney's Office

• Signed Jason Schmidt, SP, Los Angeles; Released Esteban Loaiza, SP, Oakland [7/15]


• Signed Franklin Guitierrez, OF, Cleveland; Released Jason Jennings, SP, Houston [7/19]


• Claimed Julio Lugo, SS, Boston off waivers; Released Schmidt [7/24]


• Signed BUDDY! Carlyle, RP, Atlanta; Released Adam Hoffman LaRoche, 1B, Pittsburgh [7/25]


• Released Pat Neshek, RP, Minnesota [7/27]


• Signed Moises Alou, OF, New York (NL); Released Guitierrez [8/19]

The road to 3rd place runs through a ton of poor pitching. And that's the odd part, because this team's entire strength is it's starting pitching---when Kelvim Escobar is your FOURTH best starter, the last thing you need is to be picking through the dregs of Schmidt, Jennings and Loaiza. Carlyle and Neshek make sense in theory, but they have no value in the saves category. Wouldn't it make more sense to try to improve on Pena, who's turning into a pumpkin something fast, or either Hawpe or Willingham, who are redundant with each other? And this is while good trading chits in Saltalamacchia and Delmon Young are rotting on the bench. I hate to say this to my co-author, but this is almost smacking of Terry Ryan-ness, in failing to strike at a spot in the money that's wholly obtainable for the sake of being stubborn. (El Angelo)

See, I disagree that a spot in the money was reachable--I got up that far temporarily by having 5 guys play out of theis minds for 3 weeks on offense. That's the sort of overperformance I need to get up in the top 3, which means that any win-now move on offense won't really do me much good. I agree that I should move one of Salty or VMart, but I'm willing to wait until the offseason for that if nobody comes a-bidding at this point.

The pitcher moves are sort of deceptively important, because one of the downsides to a pitching-focused team is that the presence of 2 rate stats (instead of just the 1 on offense) means that the bottom of your roster can hurt you. As a result, having a plausible roster-filler starter or two is important, and that's an area where I've been lucky this year with Brian Bannister and (pre-injury) Jason Jennings. (Teddy)

Evil Empire

• Signed Corey Patterson, OF, Chicago (NL); Released Akinori Iwanmura, 3B, Tampa Bay [7/17]


• Traded Gilgamesh, SP, Kansas City and a 2nd round pick in the 2008 draft to Wind City Mikemonsters for Jorge Posada, C, New York (AL); Reeased Ramon Hernandez, C, Baltimore and Ivan Rodriguez, C, Detroit [7/26]


• Claimed Gilgamesh off waivers [8/1]


• Signed Mike Cuddyer, 1B, Minnesota [8/20]


• Signed Touchdown Tim Wakefield, SP, Boston; Released Rafael Soriano, RP, Atlanta [8/22]

That worked out nicely, didn't it? Giving up the immortal Gil Meche for Dumbo Posada, and lo and behold, he's available 5 days later! So obviously, the trade essentially came down to a 2nd rounder for Posada, which strikes me as overpaying a little but not a ton, which pays for itself if this team grabs the bronze medal this year.

Mike Cuddyer is a nice snag beyond that, in that he can spell the inevitable slumps that Patterson and Toriiiii and Delgado are having on and off this year. I'd make fun of the Wakefield pickup in that he's quickly en route to becoming a middle reliever for the Sawx, but this team is in contention with Shawn Marcum being its best starter. I'm in no position to criticize. (El Angelo)

Based solely on the league standings, the trade was probably a worthwhile risk. But I feel about EE the same way that I feel about my own team, which is that it was a little bit over its head, meaning that a win-now trade was more likely to stop the fall at 5th or 6th rather than put them over the top for a spot in the money. Of course, you can take that theory too far, which is why some years you see only 4 teams really trying for the 3 money spots. So it's nice to see a slightly larger group acting competitive this year. (Teddy)