Trade Reviews

Montezuma's Revenge
Edinson Vólquez 
Round 19
Round 21

Donkey Punchers
Mike Minor 
Round 16
Round 17

I actually liked Minor as a guy to recover and end the season on a high note, but he’s pretty unreliable and Volquez is in a perfect situation in San Diego. He’s still a bit erratic at times, but the high K totals and consistent quality starts makes him well worth a seven-round upgrade, particular when the picks are all clustered in the late teens. Plus, my pitching has struggled the past couple weeks and CLewis has left us for the year.Again, Chris is selling in the right way, improving his keepers, improving draft picks and selling from the back end of the draft (he officially has no picks in the 20s). There’s still talent available for him to trade as well, so he’s got three more weeks to further improve his team.
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Billy
Víctor Martínez
Round 21
One Nut Wonders
Round 20
This is just friggin retarded. Christ just drop him Jason. One round in the 20s is irrelevant. Not a bad idea for Troy heading into next year though if VMart still has his C eligibility. He’s getting a bit long in the teeth, but may be worth it. 
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The Angry Pirates
Kendrys Morales (LAA - 1B,OF) 
Jason HammelDL (Bal - P) 
Round 8
Round 11

Cowhide Joyride
Jason Kubel (Ari - OF) 
Paul Maholm (ChC - P) 
Round 16
Round 16

I was less enamored of the trade from Dave’s perspective than the Walker one. Certainly Kubel is having a fantastic season. I drafted him hoping he’d show this type of power, then traded him when he was at 6 HR despite his nice RBI and OBP totals. Obviously that was a stupid move, but it happens. I was in negotiations with Kyle for 6-8 round upgrade in a deal involving Kubel, but wasn’t going to match this. The problem with acquiring guys like this at this point in the season is their historical performance does not support a continual torrid pace like this, meaning in most cases you’re paying for the past two months of Kubel and getting the production of the first two months – which isn’t bad at all, but a second round pick is a high price to pay and Dave has officially sold out 2013, with NO picks in the first five rounds. The other problem here is, unlike Casten’s acquisition of Halladay, who he can easily spin for a decent pick to a team looking to keep him and make up some of that 30-round downgrade, I find it highly unlikely Kubel works his way to obvious keeper status, making it difficult to trade him in the offseason. Maybe he’s just the perfect fit for that park, but guys generally don’t suddenly become big stars at the age of 30. That said, he could be a key difference maker for Dave this year. Not sure Malholm is worth anything, but hey Kyle Lohse seems to be doing it,so why not. Either way, Kyle has done an excellent job rebuilding with 9 picks so far in the first five rounds.
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Cowhide Joyride
Neil Walker (Pit - 2B) 
Round 17

Anal Hershiser
Rickie Weeks 
Round 12

Nice move by both teams as Walker has turned his season around after a slow start and Weeks has only been his former self in spurts. Certainly when you look at the numbers at the end, I’m willing to bet Weeks – with his historical performance considered – still looks like the better keeper. But certainly Walker is worth a five round upgrade to solidify the keystone with the 112th ranked player in Yahoo, sporting a sneaky 49/9/47/7/.361 line. Really, it’s a steal for Dave, who has to give up a former binky. But isn’t it funny how binkies can turn to dinkies in the matter of a few months? Dave has really turned things around from a difficult start and is steadily climbing the ladder.
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THE GRUMPY MUNCHKINS
Bobby Parnell
James Shields

One Nut Wonders
Tommy Hanson 
Jaime García

It’s always interesting when two contenders trade at this point in the year. And I actually like this one for both teams. Casten has enough high upside hurlers that he could trade some potential with Hanson young and inconsistent and Garcia injured for reliability. Shields has definitely had his issues, but you know he’ll go out there each day and rack up the Ks. Parnell will be back on the junkpile once Frank is back.
I like the move for Jason because he needs to take some chances and build up some depth to that pitching staff. If Garcia comes back healthy and Hanson can make it through the year better than the first half, I expect Jason will win this one. But that’s a big if, so I can’t blame either side. Either way, this trade looks more splashy than it actually is given the struggles and injuries as both of these two “studs” have the exact same shitty ERA – 4.39.
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THE GRUMPY MUNCHKINS
Roy Halladay
Round 22
Round 23
Round 24

Donkey Punchers
Joaquín Benoit
Round 7
Round 13
Round 19

If you ever needed evidence Casten is going all out, well here it is. That’s a lot to give up for a pitcher with 65 k in 83 ip and a 4.32 era, even if his name is Halladay. I certainly expect Roy to pitch better than he has and he could be a key cog in Casten’s run at a title. But at what cost? It’s difficult to show restraint when you’re in it and considering the impact for next year, and perhaps its foolhardy. Casten will either have a great keeper or someone to deal in the offseason, so its not all bad for him. For Chris, it’s a brilliant move – 30 rounds of upgrades, including a first rounder for a guy who has underperformed this year and has been surpassed by Matt Cain as the best pitcher on his staff. All of Chris’ moves thus far have made a lot of sense and I expect he’ll be a top contender going into 2013 – just wish he dumped all these guys before he played me.

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Montezuma's Revenge receives:
Round 15

Cowhide receives:
Travis Wood
Round 19

Oops. Didn’t realize I hadn’t done this one. Well, in hindsight I clearly made out quite well and capitalized at the right time, as Wood was lights out for a few weeks and plummeted after the trade (14 ER, in two starts since the trade). Must be the ballpark at Dave’s stadium. Four rounds is a nice bump for someone that ultimately I would’ve dropped. Perhaps its penance for not being able to trade HBailey for anything and having him suddenly become lights out. He still may pan out. He’s certainly got the talent.