IBC

Athletics wrote:I'm not so sure about this one. It's definitely a win this year move, but like you said Helton fills a big hole for JB and he wasn't using RJ, which basically means he gets to add Helton to his lineup for free (I'm guessing as a platoon with Sheffield, which basically adds 150 points of OPS to the strong side of the platoon). That makes him that much harder to beat this year, not sure if adding RJ to your rotation makes up that difference. And from the rest of the AL, a big fuck you

Bingo...and what use is it winning the division when you get steamrolled by JB?

I get to stop your run of AL Central Championships - and you never know in the playoffs, just gotta make sure I get there to get a shot...

Cold dead fingers, Brett, Cold dead fingers.

Pirates trade
Mike Lowell, , , , , , ,
to RedSox for
Chris Carpenter, , , , , , ,

I mean, I'm not even sure what to say on this one. It makes more sense if Bren is playing for this year - but he's got 3 teams in between him and the AL East crown. If he's not, I'd certainly rather have a 33 year old ace with injury problems then a decent 34 year old 3b with injury problems.

Did Bren make this move because he wanted to build a more united clubhouse? Does Bren know that SIM baseball players don't have an "intangible" rating? Did JP say "yes" to this trade in .01 seconds, or .1 seconds? Does Bren really think Mike Lowell makes him closer to an AL East champion then Chris Carpenter when pitted against Pat and JB? If Carpenter has a good second half and gets another good SIM, is it possible that JP's pitching staff becomes the equivalent of this year's Giants offense?

Unless I'm missing the full story on Carp, I just don't get this one...

I'm not so sure about this one. It's definitely a win this year move, but like you said Helton fills a big hole for JB and he wasn't using RJ, which basically means he gets to add Helton to his lineup for free (I'm guessing as a platoon with Sheffield, which basically adds 150 points of OPS to the strong side of the platoon).

Yea, not playing to beat JB - playing to beat Andrew. I'd be thrilled to get the opportunity to beat JB in the playoffs.

Fair enough, but if you don't beat Andrew then you owe both of us something for making our playoff lives more difficult

I mean in terms of monetary or player compensation of course, gotta make sure there are no minsinterpretations when Andrew's involved, not that theres anything wrong with that.

Outstanding addendum - we'll figure out a "Leaders of the AL West and AL Central GM Summitt" location and I'll bring the beers if JB steamrolls one of you two...And if I end this season with the best record, you have to refer to me as "Sir Brett" the entire night...

Athletics trade
Matt 0-Tuiasosopo, Tom Glavine, , , , , ,
to Indians for
Matthew 7-Mangini, Frank Thomas, , , , , ,

Interesting move - as currently paced Jake's team was humming both offensively and on the mound - so interesting move for him. Thomas does give him a big bat for the middle of his lineup.

Easy trade for the Injuns. With a team ERA of 5.17, that ship needs to be righted immediately.

Royals wrote:

I'm not so sure about this one. It's definitely a win this year move, but like you said Helton fills a big hole for JB and he wasn't using RJ, which basically means he gets to add Helton to his lineup for free (I'm guessing as a platoon with Sheffield, which basically adds 150 points of OPS to the strong side of the platoon).

Yea, not playing to beat JB - playing to beat Andrew. I'd be thrilled to get the opportunity to beat JB in the playoffs.

Just show up and you canbeat JB in the playoffs...

Royals wrote:

Pirates trade
Mike Lowell, , , , , , ,
to RedSox for
Chris Carpenter, , , , , , ,

I mean, I'm not even sure what to say on this one. It makes more sense if Bren is playing for this year - but he's got 3 teams in between him and the AL East crown. If he's not, I'd certainly rather have a 33 year old ace with injury problems then a decent 34 year old 3b with injury problems.

Did Bren make this move because he wanted to build a more united clubhouse? Does Bren know that SIM baseball players don't have an "intangible" rating? Did JP say "yes" to this trade in .01 seconds, or .1 seconds? Does Bren really think Mike Lowell makes him closer to an AL East champion then Chris Carpenter when pitted against Pat and JB? If Carpenter has a good second half and gets another good SIM, is it possible that JP's pitching staff becomes the equivalent of this year's Giants offense?

Unless I'm missing the full story on Carp, I just don't get this one...

2 months of Carp isn't going to do me much good this season and I'm not confident on his future projections. Lowell lets me move Youk back to first and get Catalanotto out of the lineup.

2 months of Carp isn't going to do me much good this season and I'm not confident on his future projections. Lowell lets me move Youk back to first and get Catalanotto out of the lineup.

So...you...traded...Chris Carpenter...for...Mike Lowell? Wasn't there a cheaper way of doing this? For f sake I'm literally trying to give away Dmitri Young.

If you manage to hang anywhere in striking distance Carp helps - and his future projections? He's coming off of 3 awesome seasons, and, when healthy, he's awesome. I'm pretty sure he's a guy you don't get .50 cents on the dollar for...definitely selling low here.

Athletics wrote:I mean in terms of monetary or player compensation of course, gotta make sure there are no minsinterpretations when Andrew's involved, not that theres anything wrong with that.

Bullocks to you.

Royals wrote:Outstanding addendum - we'll figure out a "Leaders of the AL West and AL Central GM Summitt" location and I'll bring the beers if JB steamrolls one of you two...And if I end this season with the best record, you have to refer to me as "Sir Brett" the entire night...

Beer is good, Squire Zalaski

Royals wrote:

2 months of Carp isn't going to do me much good this season and I'm not confident on his future projections. Lowell lets me move Youk back to first and get Catalanotto out of the lineup.

So...you...traded...Chris Carpenter...for...Mike Lowell? Wasn't there a cheaper way of doing this? For f sake I'm literally trying to give away Dmitri Young.

If you manage to hang anywhere in striking distance Carp helps - and his future projections? He's coming off of 3 awesome seasons, and, when healthy, he's awesome. I'm pretty sure he's a guy you don't get .50 cents on the dollar for...definitely selling low here.

"When healthy" best case scenario he's back at the end of July. Best case. I'm not hanging within striking distance without a 3b, Carpenter is my only 'spare' chip and he's not a chip that many folks put much value on. As pitching mad as the league is, a 33yr old with 2 TJ surgeries to his resume hasn't been a marketable bargaining chip (can't imagine why). Having a 3b now is more valuable than maybe getting an SP in late July.

DBacks trade
Jeff Francoeur, Andrew Brown, J.A. Happ, , , , ,
to Indians for
Sean Gallagher, J.P. Howell, Nolan Reimold, , , , ,

Wow - all those in favor of stepping off the Francoeur train please stand to the left.

Trying to work through this trade - bear with me:
Gallagher: enigmatic young pitcher, struggles with control
Howell: young pitcher who doesn't have the stuff to start, and successfully converting to pen
Reimold: an intriguing OF prospect, just not a huge track record of success

Brown: Nice rp
Happ: Decent MILB arm
Francoeur: So here's the deal - there are seperate trains of thought on this dude - 1) he's insanely talented, but needs better pitch selection 2) pretty much all of 1, except he's never going to learn the latter part.

Jagger seems to be firmly entrenched in camp #2 for making this move. I have not finalized my personal opinion on Jeff, but for what the Indians gave up, it's certainly worth a shot.

"When healthy" best case scenario he's back at the end of July. Best case. I'm not hanging within striking distance without a 3b, Carpenter is my only 'spare' chip and he's not a chip that many folks put much value on. As pitching mad as the league is, a 33yr old with 2 TJ surgeries to his resume hasn't been a marketable bargaining chip (can't imagine why). Having a 3b now is more valuable than maybe getting an SP in late July.

Then for goodness sakes actively promote that you're trading him. It's not like you're getting back the beacon of physical health. If Lowell gets hurt, AGAIN, then you are now out a hell of a lot more then just a 3b. AND ff you think that you are one 3b from mounting a monsterous comeback in the AL East, then by all means I'm sorry for another post - get back to that glue you're sniffing.

RedSox wrote:

Royals wrote:

I'm not so sure about this one. It's definitely a win this year move, but like you said Helton fills a big hole for JB and he wasn't using RJ, which basically means he gets to add Helton to his lineup for free (I'm guessing as a platoon with Sheffield, which basically adds 150 points of OPS to the strong side of the platoon).

Yea, not playing to beat JB - playing to beat Andrew. I'd be thrilled to get the opportunity to beat JB in the playoffs.

Just show up and you canbeat JB in the playoffs...

Is JB even going to make the playoffs? Probably as the WC eh?

I'd say its a safe bet, his RF-RA differential is huge, and no Hank Steinbrenner to mess anything up, and there's the little matter of this slump he's been in coinciding with the loss of one Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez who should be returning to the lineup shortly.

Z, that sounds like a plan, and if you get me in the playoffs I will happily buy the beer.

As to my trade, the thing about Glavine is that he wasn't going to pitch for me this year unless someone got hurt, wait scratch that someone did get hurt (Noah Lowry) and he still wasn't pitching for me, and it's not like he has a much of a future sadly. Losing Keppy and his .860 OPS against lefties for the forseeable future also played into this deal, as I needed another bat against them (damn the DMB folks making Griffey a platoon player, damn them).

Anyway, I think it's now a safe bet that no one in this league has two hitters who had a better 1997 than I do.

Nationals trade
Franklin Gutierrez, , , , , , ,
to Reds for
Brad Hawpe, , , , , , ,

Three months ago and this trade is probably flat-out rejected - now, it's pretty passable. Hawpe, by the day, looks like a platoon player. His inability to hit lefties has been even more highlighted by his inability to hit righties this year too. Though he's kept his obp at .350, and it will probably climb, Hawpe is platoon player from here out.

As Ken makes a push for the division crown, Hawpe's SIM will be a tremendous asset. The last thing Nate really needs is more offense - Gutierrez gives him a talented young player to root for.

Not sure that now was the time to trade Hawpe, think he might have more value at the deadline, but certainly see where Nate was coming from.

Defense my man.. Defense.

EX in LF, VG in C, EX in RF.

Plus, youth on his side. Both are struggling. I just like the versatility he brings right now - being able to play all 3 spots compared to Hawpe's 1.

Royals wrote:Outstanding addendum - we'll figure out a "Leaders of the AL West and AL Central GM Summitt" location and I'll bring the beers if JB steamrolls one of you two...And if I end this season with the best record, you have to refer to me as "Sir Brett" the entire night...

Just wanted to point out that at the All-Star Break Randy Johnson if 3-4 4.55 ERA for the Royals and 6-7 5.23 in real life, and the Royals are 4 games out on a 4 game losing streak. Meanwhile JB is right back in it... just so you know my preference is Guinness, though since JB's bullpen is nothing but closers I should be fine.

So not only was my trade reaction a phenomenal 'get off my lawn' old man moment for me in this league...

...but turns out not only have I talked shit about trades, like 15 years ago I dedicated many hours of many days talking shit about other peoples trades.

I'm fucking old.

Also, wonder why I Brad Hawpe trade ended my tenure doing it...because I have zero recollection of writing these.

Wow.. fun thread.

Cueto was "over hyped" and wouldn't be anything.

A lot of arguing about Ian Kennedy. And I mean A LOT.

Some real names from the past.. Elijah Dukes.. anyone remember TOE NASH? Wilson Betemit.. yeesh. Hank Conger! Lastings Milledge!

Cliff Lee for the bullpen.. Cliff Lee not an ace.. "Lee has always been a tease" blah blah blah.. lol - I think Cliff Lee turned out to be a pretty damn good ballplayer.

Fun thread..