Well said, George.
Anyway, before going deeper into my recent team decisions, let's look at commenter G$'s trade he mentioned in the comment section of yesterday's post.
I dealt: Hosmer, Pedroia, Jason Heyward, and Garza
I received: A-Rod, Sam Fuld, Juan OOOOOOOOOribe, and Verlander.
So I went ahead and looked up point totals on these players in my league. I'd bet that G$ is in a categories league (correct me if I'm wrong) as most people play Fantasy Baseball that way. I think I've mentioned previously that we rock a total points league much like Fantasy Football. Why? Because it is more fun and better. We also are allowed to keep six guys at the end of the year. I'm going to look at the trade from the perspective of our league.
Hosmer: 93 points (upside)
Pedroia: 209 points (former MVP and brother is a sex offender)
Heyward: 97 points (UPSIDE)
Garza: 137.3 points (taking advantage of a Cub fan)
A-Rod: 195 points (strained shoulder?)
Fuld: 130 points (which almost all of them came in the first 4 weeks of the season- he sucks now)
UUUUUUU-Ree-Bay: 64 points (just awful- nice contract Dodgers)
Verlander: 370.8 (one of, if not the best pitcher going right now)
As commenter Dread mentioned, Verlander and A-Rod are the two best players in the trade no matter what the stats currently say. G$ dropped Fuld and Uribe immediately, so they don't really need to be factored into the trade. Their stats are statistically insignificant anyway.
In our league, I would have to believe that G$ received 2 keepers and gave up 1 certain keeper (Pedroia) and 1 potential keeper (Heyward.) Hosmer could be a keeper, but he hasn't shown he is worthy just yet. Heyward is worthy when not hurt and playing up to his potential. Garza is not even close. I think the Cubs over-valued him when they traded for him.
So going by the cliche "always get the best player(s) in a fantasy trade"- G$ wins. I can see reasons for trading the best player in a deal for other high level players to help stock a roster, but it rarely is a good idea. Especially in a keeper league.
I don't actually think this trade is possible in our league. For one, giving up Verlander AND A-Rod had better get you back a better haul. I learned this lesson HARD in my early fantasy years when I had A-Rod and he struggled out of the gate as a Yankee. I got sick of him immediately and traded A-Rod and Flash Gordon (a throw in) for Scott Rolen (4 more points than A-Rod the previous year) and Octavio Dotel (savage closer at the time for the A's.) Dotel had elbow surgery that year and Rolen regressed. A-Rod went on to dominate. It was a horrible trade and it gave me perspective on exactly what level of premium players one needs to get back when trading a superstar.
Verlander is the gem in this deal. If a Cubs fan is such a homer that they think trading Verlander in any deal to get Matt Garza as a replacement, then they deserve to suck at fantasy. I myself, being a Cubs fan, have taken my knowledge of my favorite team and made sure I don't have any Cubs on my fantasy team. Though, my team is currently 3-8 so I guess that hasn't helped either. But I digress- I declare G$ the clear winner of this trade.
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Let's talk about a deal that commenter Dread offered me last week.
Kevin Youkilis (199) and Bud Norris (207) FOR Shin-Soo Choo (129) and Anibal Sanchez (276.7)
This is not a bad trade. Choo has struggled, but I have to believe he is going to come out of his DUI haze at some point. Sanchez clearly has the most total points and has really come into his own as a stud pitcher in this league. He or Daniel Hudson are more than likely getting kept this year. I'm leaning toward Sanchez.
Youk would give me a huge upgrade at 3B as Ty Wiggington is currently filling in for me. Bud Norris is essentially an over-achieving throw-in in my opinion. I worry that Youklis is getting older and could get hurt at any moment. It's tough to give up a stud pitcher like Sanchez for Youkilis. I may have a hole at 3B that will get outscored by an opposing 3B more times than not, but my current rotation consists of Daniel Hudson, Jered Weaver and Anibal Sanchez. Throw in whatever two-start pitcher I can find and add Jon Papelbon and Jose Valverde as relievers and that is a solid staff. I'm actually pretty upset that this season has not gone better because I felt like my strategy was sound, but like I said- it has been a "Perfect Storm" of awfulness that has tanked my team.
So what do you think? It's called the comment section for a reason- use it. Any trades that you've made recently? Break it down, suckas!
8 comments:
Straight up dropped Fausto Carmona today. Sick of waiting for him to do something good. Fucking piece of shit.
Like I said, I can't disagree with your reasoning to reject the trade. One of the reasons trading is hard is that people value players differently; for example, I really like Bud Norris. How can you not like a 26 year old with a K/9 over 9? He's not a fantasy stud like Annibal quite yet, but I think of him as a mini Brandon Morrow/Max Scherzer type where you know he can strike out 10 guys in a start, and you just hope the inevitable inning or two where he loses his command doesn't get out of control. It's too bad he plays for the Astros.
I have to admit your rotation of Daniel Hudson, Annibal and Weaver is pretty good. Maybe not as good as Verlander, Josh Johnson (when healthy) and Ian Kennedy/Wandy Rodriguez, but good. (I am not saying Kennedy is as good as Hudson, of course. He's definitely overachieved a bit. As for Wandy: again, it's a damn shame these pitchers I like happen to be on the Astros.)
Carmona just can't strike out enough guys. A couple more Ks per nine innings and maybe he'd pitch his way out of some jams and turn into a solid pitcher.
Solid analysis, Dread. Bud Norris has been good, but like you said, isn't quite a reliable stud and pitchers for the Astros.
Did you see I was able to pick up Jhonny Peralta on out of the FA pool? Not the greatest 3B, but definitely an upgrade from Wiggy.
Yeah, pretty fortunate that he got dropped. You do still to deal with Wiggington this week, though. Hopefully he can score about -80 this week to help make up the 9-4 pitcher start differential.
He's on pace for -14 with -2 so far.
I heard Berry or Simmons say this a month or so ago...statistically and how he approaches the game, Youk shouldn't be as good as he has been. And when he finally starts to slide, he will crash immediately. I don't know how they know this, but it's something to file away.
Yes, the league is not a points league (which I have done before twice...and won them both). It's a weekly roto-league of ten categories. I find it fun and it's good for the casual fan because you can only update your roster on Sundays for the following week's slate.
Like I said, I didn't need PEDroia who is overrated anyway. I have A-Gonzo at first which makes Hosmer worthless. And Heyward is more like Hey Turd! this year. I lost no starters and gained a 3B and an Ace. My previous ace on this squad was Daniel Hudson!
I see that I motivated Joseph Stalin Castro to get some pop!
The more I think about it, the more I don't understand how you got away with this robbery, G$. Verlander was a huge upgrade for your staff.
If you were the one who motivated Castro- then I applaud you. If you're weren't though (likely)- I would rather send you some Mountain Dew to drink with the new ace of your staff. He does the Dew for sure.
I know. I hid behind the cloak of Fuld and OOOOOOOOORibe as a means to make it look fair. I'm cunning.
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