Open Trading Period Trade Reviews (Alternate)

TEAMS	RECEIVE	TOTAL RNDS	ASSESSMENT	WINNER
Anal Hershiser	Ryan Howard Phi - 1B	2	Ryan Howard is on pace for over 100 rbis with a .307 OBP and is being replaced by a guy who is on pace for 85 rbis and a .373 obp, so the trade off is RBI for OBP. Given the state of the Phillies and Nationals, you're more likely to see LaRoche playing and driving in RBI going forward, as well as getting on base. Both have the ability to be very streaky. LaRoche has been better over the last 30, so makes sense.	Keepin. Good upgrade, minimal sacrifice.
	Round 17
Keepin it REAL	Adam LaRoche Was - 1B
	Round 19
Anal Hershiser	Dan Straily ChC - P NA	3	Classic deadline closer deal. Janssen has good overall numbers, but has more BS than S in the last month. The oft-injured closer is tough to rely on, but makes sense for a team not wanting to fully committ to a run in 2014.	Even
	Round 17
Moose is Loose	Casey Janssen Tor - P
	Round 20
Urban Achievers	Charlie Morton Pit - P DL	3	Dan Haren is just a pretty name on Hector Noesi's body. Not worth a roster spot and certainly not worth trading for.	Urban.
	Round 15
Keepin it REAL	Dan Haren LAD - P
	Round 18
The Angry Pirates	Joe Nathan Det - P	5	Great move by Dave to get one of the best closers in the league for a late round upgrade. Even though he still has a job for one of the best teams, Nathan has been a mess all season. You have to wonder if they ultimately go to Soria. Of course, Koji has sucked since Dave got him. Still, makes a lot of sense. Now, just need the Sox to win.	Cowhide
	Round 15
Cowhide Joyride	Koji Uehara Bos - P
	Round 20
Mike Ehrman-Trout	Round 15 Round 16	6	Classic case of the deadline looming and a team getting what value they could. Shomphe delivers with a  steal for a guy who has been pretty dominant over the last 30 and hasn't had a bad start since early July. Surprised there was more action on him.	Munchkins. I'm sure Russ wanted more.
I Ate The Munchkins	Chris Archer TB - P
	Round 18 Round 19
Montezuma's Revenge	Starling Marte Pit - OF		Lost years from Choo and Fernandez make this a potential boon for Dan. Choo went 20/20 last year with a .420 OBP in 2013 and should be better with a healthy year in Texas next season. While JoFern may not be back until the all-star break, he's worth waiting for and young enough to be a maintstay in Dan's team for the next decade. Marte, meanwhile, is only on pace for 72/10/52/31/.343 due to some injuries. He's only 25 with emerging power, so he's got keeper potential. He's been hot since coming off the DL and is the #1 overall player in the last 14.	Urban. Short term may be in my favor, but Dan wins long term.
	Round 21
Urban Achievers	Shin-Soo Choo Tex - OF	4
	José Fernández Mia - P DL
	Round 17
Donkey Punchers	Tommy Medica SD - 1B,OF	6	The pick was a high one to give up, but is ultimately only six rounds. The guys Dave received are mostly short-term hot hitters and young unproven pitcher. That said, its what Dave need as he tries to secure a playoff spot. Wong was dropped and Aoki is just OK, but Hendricks has been outstanding. In the end though, this is huge boon for Dave becasue of Mesoraco. The former first round draft pick is on pace for 52/25/80/1/.345 in 392 abs.  Give him 550 abs, and thats a pace of 72/35/112. That's not just a keeper, that might be the top catcher in fantasy next year.	Cowhide. Mesoraco's long-term potential is worth far more than 6 rounds.
	Matt Adams StL - 1B
	Jenrry Mejía NYM - P
	Trevor Bauer Cle - P
	Round 9
Cowhide Joyride	Devin Mesoraco Cin - C
	Kolten Wong StL - 2B
	Nori Aoki KC - OF
	Kyle Hendricks ChC - P
	Round 15
Mike Ehrman-Trout	Stephen Vogt Oak - C,1B,OF	14	Im sure Russ never envisioned such a unceremonious end to CarGo's long, distinguished tenure with his squad. But injuries continue to be an issue and Russ has better options. It made sense for Moose to take a shot at CarGo, who was expected to return at that point. It was a risk for 2014 and now he won't be returning.  But Brian still gets a nice keeper, despite his brittleness. JD has had a nice season, but is coming back to earth a bit and is bound to remember he's JD Martinez at some point.	MET. Brian took a shot, but the injury was a risk that isn't going to payoff this year.
	Jeff Locke Pit - P
	Round 9 Round 18
Moose is Loose!	J.D. Martínez Det - OF
	Carlos González Col - OF DL
	Round 20 Round 21
Ring of Fire	Jake Peavy SF - P	2	Peavy has been pretty good since joining SF. Actually, he's been better than Hudson, whose lack of K upside limits his overall value. So while Hudson may have better numbers earlier in the season, its all about what he'll do in the future.	Ring. Got the picks and the better pitcher.
	Round 18
Keepin it REAL...	Tim Hudson SF - P
	Round 20
Anal Hershiser	Justin Morneau Col - 1B	14	I really didn't understand this one. A second round pick is a lot to give up when the best player you're receiving is Josh Harrison. He's nice. I like him, even offered a couple rounds for him. But he's not as good as he was playing at the time of the trade and was not worth anywhere close to this much. If the Pirates believed in him so little that they spent the season struggling to find him regular at bats, there is little reason to believe he will become anything more than a serviceable UTIL type. Meanwhile, the closers were anything but stable in Mejia and Nathan. I actually would have preferred Janssen, who was dealt to Anal in the deal (and later dealt for three rounds). And Chris Young is Chris Young, who isn't bad but he's not this good either. He's a good end of the rotation type, but that's it. I don't hate the guys Dave got, but I don't like the price he paid.	Anal. I'm sure Andrew got much more than he expected.
	Casey Janssen Tor - P
	Chris Capuano NYY - P
	Rubby De La Rosa Bos - P
	Round 8 Round 17
Cowhide Joyride	Josh Harrison Pit - 2B,3B,OF
	Joe Nathan Det - P
	Jenrry Mejía NYM - P
	Chris Young Sea - P
	Round 18  Round 21
Urban Achievers	Danny Salazar Cle - P	12	In my search for guys displaying good underlying stats over the last 30 days, Porcello burst to the surface as a guy who could definitely help down the stretch. He has the occasional stinker and is never a big K guy, but he regularly works deep into games and can be dominant with excellent control. Meanwhile, Stroman was a bit of a wildcard as he's a rookie potentially looking at innings cap, but who has a rare blend of control and tremendous secondary stuff to warrant a flyer. He's awarded me with 10 er in 5.2 innings, bringing his era from 3.34 to 4.11. That's what you get when you gamble on rookies.	Urban. Probably got double what he would have had the trade been executred closer to the deadline
	David Buchanan Phi - P
	Round 15 Round 16
Montezuma's Revenge	Rick Porcello Det - P
	Marcus Stroman Tor - P
	Round 21 Round 22
One Nut Wonders	Matt Kemp LAD - OF		This trade was just so Jason, it's perfect. In an effort to gather the greatest collection of names, Jason effectively topedoed his 2015 draft. 35 rounds is by far the most ever exchanged in a single trade but the return was lackluster, in my opinion. Shields is not James Shields of two years ago. He is Mike Leake. Really, check out the numbers:  7.1 K/9, 3.45 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 18 QS for Shields, 7.0 K/9, 3.51 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 15 QS for Leake -- almost identical. Dagan could've gave him Leake and my guess is it would've cost a lot less. That lousy K/9 is also not far from Homer Bailey's 7.7 -- down almost a full point from his breakout 2013, while his ERA is a pedestrian 4.17 and his BB/9 is approaching 3.0. Maybe the recent injury (he hasn't pitched an inning for Jason) was reason for the performance. And Matt Kemp? He's just not good anymore. He was great before the trade, which worked out very well for Dagan because he struggled (.262 obp) since Jason got him. He's on pace for a 66/19/76/9/.342 season in 530 abs. Nothing special. That resume sure is nice to look at, but it doesn't help your cause in 2014. The one guy I really liked and tried to get, but obviously fell short in terms of compensation, was Arrieta, whose breakout season is tremendous and 100% legit. Compounding all this further is Jason's failure to recognize Collin McHugh is a pretty good pitcher and its not just the underlying stats saying that.	Ring. And its not close. Jason's got two rings and he made some good trades. This is not one of them.
	Homer Bailey Cin - P DL
	Jake Arrieta ChC - P
	James Shields KC - P
	Round 21 Round 22 Round 23 Round 24
Ring of Fire	Ángel Pagán SF - OF	35
	Charlie Blackmon Col - OF
	Collin McHugh Hou - P
	Brett Anderson Col - P DL
	Round 8 Round 14 Round 16 Round 17
Keepin it REAL...	Matt Carpenter StL - 2B,3B	10	Matt Carpenter played well over his head in 2013 and has come back to life this year. Life is pretty good though and he's the best unspectacular player you'll find in an OBP league. He doesn't hurt you anywhere and he contributes significantly in runs and OBP. If we were in a wins league, Peralta would've received much more attention but his 6.7 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 make it less fun to watch, while 4.39 xFIP suggests the 3.61 ERA is due for some correction. Morton got hurt shortly after, but was a nice get at the time. Overall, for the quality received, Pierce did quite well for only 10 rounds.	Keepin. Carp was probably worth 8 rounds alone
	Charlie Morton Pit - P DL
	Wily Peralta Mil - P
	Round 15 Round 16
Donkey Punchers	Nori Aoki KC - OF
	Erick Aybar LAA - SS
	Jonathan Broxton Cin - P
	Round 10 Round 11
I Ate The Munchkins	Jesse Hahn SD - P	2	Its not a big sacrifice, but before he was injured Hahn was nearing his innings cap and is now sitting in the minors. Nice, unexpected year for the kid but not anyone worth trading for.	Donkey
	Round 16
Donkey Punchers	Round 14
Mike Ehrman-Trout	Starlin Castro ChC - SS	23	This is a pretty good trade with Hanley bringing Russ back a resurgent Castro and 23 rounds, including a third rounder. Hanley went on the DL, but its hard to blame Gibby for taking a shot at a guy who ended last season with some huge numbers while selling another guy who was basically worthless last year. Hanley is active again and could be key to Gibby's playoff push, while Castro and the rest of the baby Cubs struggle to score runs. Gee and Minor are a wash really, other than Minor is more volatile. Gee's 3.84 ERA and 6.3 K/9 won't help much, but they shouldn't hurt too much either.	MET. Lots of rounds and a good keeper to boot.
	Mike Minor Atl - P
	Round 9 Round 13
Sexual Napalm	Hanley Ramírez LAD - SS DL
	Dillon Gee NYM - P
	Round 22 Round 23
The Angry Pirates	Todd Frazier Cin - 1B,3B	10	Part of Jason's roster revision included sending off one of his best hitters, a surprise monster in Todd Frazier, and 10 rounds for a big-time slugger, a certified ace (for 2014 anyway), and an emerging corner infielder. For Kyle, I'm not a big fan because I just don't like Adam Jones that much in an OBP league. He's certainly a keeper and a great player who looks in line to get to his second straight 100/30/100 season. However, he's not stealing anymore (just 6) and his OBP is a dreadful .313. His career OBP is similar. Bautista provides all of that but with a great OBP. Jones is four years younger, but when you factor in Frazier's lack of track record and Cueto's dominance, you just would've expected a bit more in draft picks than 10 rounds. I actually also like Arenado a bit more than Frazier as a keeper, but that might just be me. Frazier is on pace for 88/27/83/21/.339, which is incredible and immensely valuable. I just wonder if this is the peak, at age 28.	One Nut. Jason gets better for this year and next in my opinion.
	Adam Jones Bal - OF
	Mark Buehrle Tor - P
	Round 11
One Nut Wonders	José Bautista Tor - 1B,OF
	Nolan Arenado Col - 3B
	Johnny Cueto Cin - P
	Round 21
I Ate The Munchkins	Yoenis Céspedes Bos - OF		Shomphe hasn't had many missteps since his drafting debacles, but I think this one can classify as a mistake. It's just too much to give up for Yoenis. I know he's got great potential in Boston and perhaps a walk year really motivates him, but Latos is no throwaway and Feliz is just a replacement RP at this point given the Rangers lack of ability to win. In reality, I think a fair trade would've been maybe 5 rounds. So 15, going from the last round to the the third round, is a lot to give up. Hopefully he flourishes next year and will certainly be a lot of fun to watch, but still a lot to give up.	One Nut. Jason cashes in on the Boston boost.
	Neftali Feliz Tex - P
	Round 24
One Nut Wonders	Mat Latos Cin - P	15
	Round 9
The Angry Pirates	Giancarlo Stanton Mia - OF	10	Now that is a blockbuster. When you get down to it, it’s a great deal for both teams. Shomphe gets decidedly better in the RP and SP categories, while only take a modest hit in the young OF with upside department.  Kyle gets what might be the #2 player in all of fantasy baseball next season and a good 10 round upgrade. The only issue I have with the trade is Anibal hasn't been the picture of health this season, so I'd prefer someone a little more reliable. But when he's healthy, he can be a legit #2 on any staff. And Chris already has like five #2s, so this could be a significant addition.	Even. Rare given the names involved, but I liked it for both.
	Lorenzo Cain KC - OF
	Brandon Workman Bos - P
	Round 10
I Ate The Munchkins	Yasiel Puig LAD - OF
	Craig Kimbrel Atl - P
	Anibal Sánchez Det - P DL
	Round 20
Donkey Punchers	Dayan Viciedo CWS - OF	14	I fully admit to giving up a lot here considering this is the only first rounder dealt in the past two years, but I also have no regrets. I identified Holliday and Cobb as the two primary targets among non-contenders (Dagan not included at that point) as both started to emerge after good-not-great seasons so far. This was compounded by the fact that Gibby, my closest competition, was also looking at the same guys. Chris Shannon expertly negotiated with both of us and once I found that out, it turned into as much of a defensive move as offensive. So I won him over and have no regrets considering the success rate of first rounders (Cespedes, Sanchez, Zobrist, PAlvarez, Latos, Jennings, Mauer, Hamilton, Shields, Butler just this year) and Cobb's dominance since he was acquired. In the end, the return was two mid round picks and the sacrifice was well worth the return.	Donkey. Chris played this one well and cashed in.
	Kevin Gausman Bal - P
	Round 7 Round 12
Montezuma's Revenge	Matt Holliday StL - OF
	Alex Cobb TB - P
	Round 16 Round 17
The Angry Pirates	Manny Machado Bal - 3B DL	7	Machado really is just a name right now. He's exciting and flashy with the glove, sure, but his bat still leaves something to be desired.  A .313 obp, 10 steals, 33 homers in 1,185 career at bats just doesn't inspire much confidence that he becomes something special. He is only 22, so Kyle has that going for him, but he might just end up peaking as a really good player and not a every year keeper. Given the numbers, its a risk to keep him. Meanwhile, Sonny Gray looks every bit the part of a keeper. He hasn't struggled at all in 235 ips in his carrer and has 210 Ks and a 2.91/1.18 in that time. He's just 24 and getting better, so -- even though he seems destined to get TJS eventually as every young pitcher seems to do these days -- I like him better than Machado. Meanwhile, VMart has been incredible this year, maybe the draft pick of the year. Burnett is a serviceable, volatile piece.	Sexual. Need more from Manny to make me believe.
	Yohan Pino Min - P NA
	Jason Hammel Oak - P
	Round 17
Sexual Napalm	Víctor Martínez Det - 1B
	A.J. Burnett Phi - P
	Sonny Gray Oak - P
	Round 24
Montezuma's Revenge	Clay Buchholz Bos - P	3	Just a situation where I know I wanted to upgrade a position and was trying to sell off the incumbent rather than give him away in a swap. Beckett was among the best FA pickups of the year, but his hip problems caused his season to derail after the All Star break. Jason grabbed him for very little and ultimately had to drop him as he went on the DL indefinitely.	Montezumas. Something for nothing.
	Round 20
One Nut Wonders	Josh Beckett LAD - P DL
	Round 23
One Nut Wonders	Fernando Rodney Sea - P		Standard closer trade for fair value.	One Nut. Five rounds is the right price, but the difference between 23 and 18 isn't much
	Round 23
Urban Achievers	Jake Petricka CWS - P	5
	Round 18
Cowhide Joyride	Mark Melancon Pit - P		Dave didn't give up a lot in this deal and didn't even trade any of his restricted picks, but I think it was a misuse of assets. Janssen has struggled and Dickey just isn't the guy we saw two years ago. He's the same guy from the rest of his career, which is a good QS guy who occasionally dominates and occasionally gets creamed. The volatility is difficult to stomach even if the end results don't look bad. Melancon is pretty good, so he was worth 3-4 rounds, a couple for Janssen I suppose, and Dickey was worth 5 or so. Pretty even, but I just think Dave could've been more aggressive given the players that were available.	Even.
	Casey Janssen Tor - P
	R.A. Dickey Tor - P
	Round 19 Round 20
Urban Achievers	Allen Craig Bos - 1B,OF DL
	Junichi Tazawa Bos - P	10
	Brad Ziegler Ari - P
	Round 14 Round 15
One Nut Wonders	Andrew Cashner SD - P DL		Smart move by Jason that sort of set the market in terms of single players. Of course, his presence on the DL makes it a little difficult to evaluate. His first start was OK. If he can be who he was most of last year, this is a great addition by Jason given the lateness of the pick.	One Nut. Could go sour given injury history, but a worthwhile shot.
	Round 24
Mike Ehrman-Trout	Edinson Vólquez Pit - P	9
	Round 15
I Ate The Munchkins	Brett Lawrie Tor - 2B,3B DL		It all timed up so well. Shomphe had a need at 2B with Phillips down, I was ready to move forward with FA Headley, and was looking for minor draft pick upgrade for a young talent coming back from a broken hand. He actually returned the day the trade went through and looked to show off more of that emerging power. Then, oblique injury  two days later. Timing is everything.	Montezumas. Rather be lucky than good.
	Round 21
Montezuma's Revenge	Round 16	5

Open Trading Period Trade Reviews

Week 20 Real Rankings

NOTES
- Congratulations to Dagan and Chris Shomphe for making the playoffs. Its not easy, so quite an accomplishment for your first year, son. Dagan, well, Dagan is always here. Even when Dagan gives up he makes the playoffs. Fucking Dagan.

- There are two spots left and seven teams with legit shots at it. It will be hugely disappointing for Brian and Dave if they do not get those spots given that they could've have sold off for a significant bounty. Both are going against sellers vying for the same two spots in Kyle and Dan, respectively.  The Real Rankings say Chris Shannon and Dave are the most deserving, but Shannon fell hard this week (12.6 is the lowest Real Ranking of the season) after some high quality liquidation. Just getting in can be all you need to go on a run.

- Mathematically, Gibby is still within shouting distance of the regular season championship and 25% of the pot but, at 8.5 games out, my team will have to fall on its face pretty hard and he'll need to be near perfect again Pierce. Though, I am facing Jason's remodeled Nut, so you never know.

- First place gets a little under $300 and second gets $100. Top second half gets $40 as well. I have to calculate that, but since I only lost more than three games in one week since Week 10, I think I have that tied up.


- Its pretty clear the Real Rankings won't mirror the actual standings as closely as they did last year. It will be pretty close in most cases, but right now it appears Chris Shannon and Kyle are getting screwed while Dan may luck himself into a playoff spot. That said, the Real Rankings were very close on the top 6 and the gap between average RR for the 6 and 7 spot reflects a pretty clear divide in the quality of the rosters -- as does the one-point gap between 13th and Lars.

- As the playoffs near, we all know that its all about who is hot at the right time. Here is the average real ranking over the past four weeks. Dagan is on top, though his performance has fluctuated heavily, ranging from 2.7 to 7.4.

1	Ring of Fire	4.80
2	Keepin it REAL...	5.85
3	Montezuma's Revenge	5.90
4	I Ate The Munchkins	6.25
5	Sexual Napalm	6.38
6	One Nut Wonders	6.40
7	Urban Achievers	7.35
8	Moose is Loose!	7.40
9	The Angry Pirates	7.68
10	Anal Hershiser	7.68
11	Donkey Punchers	8.23
12	Cowhide Joyride	8.53
13	Mike Ehrman-Trout	8.60
14	Prestige Worldwide	8.98

- Remember, the transaction limit is 60. Looks like only Myself, Andrew, and Dan are threatening to approach it though. A maximum or two pick-ups per week are allowed during the playoffs unless a rostered played goes on the DL during that week, in which case an additional pick-up is awarded.

- Still working on the reviews. Should have them in the next couple days.

Week 19 Real Rankings

NOTES
- Just a note on the trade deadline. What a crazy couple weeks. 25 trades went down. I'll try to find a way to do an overview of all the action in the next week or so. I know our initial goal was just to delay the sell-off and avoid creating dead teams to maintain the integrity of the matchups, but it has also create this really interesting and intense two weeks of dealing. Good job everybody.

- Congratulations to Jason and Pierce for securing spots in the playoffs.

- Montezumas maintains the top spot in the rankings, but the margin is still narrow. The win was namely due to a matchup advantage over Prestige, who was last in the real ranks. Six games up, but there's two tough matchups left with Cowhide and the hot One Nut Wonders. Meanwhile, the Revenge have slipped the past few weeks with Real Ranks over 6.0 in Weeks 17-19. I'll need to do better than that.

- Moose had a tough week. While the Real Rank probably didn't warrant a 2-8, he was up against tough competition in the rebuilt One Nut squad and fell 2-8 and into 11th in the standings. That said, he doesn't have a tough road to climb back into the playoffs with 8th place only three games away and three sellers immediately in front of him.

- Lars secured the title of worst team this week and will owe an additional $30 next season, now sitting 68 games out of first with a .308  winning percentage, which is one of the worst showings in league history. Unfortunately, he also made zero trades during the open trading period, so next year isn't off to the best start.

- The playoffs should be most interesting. Currently, there are two teams who were sellers at the deadline (ring and Urban) who are in the top 8. The teams in 9th and 10th, Anal and Donkey, were also sellers.

- Keep those lineups up to date. We only have two weeks left in the regular season.

- Reminder that the number of balls you get in the lottery will be impacted by how you do in the playoffs. The winner of the consolation bracket will get the most balls and the best chance to get the first pick.

Week 18 Real Rankings

 

Three weeks to go and its tight at the top. Mike and I benefited from Jason and Pierce playing eachother, as they were first and second in real rankings, but had to settle for 4-6 and 6-4. Mike had a tough week, finishing just below last placer Lars in the real ranking and ending in a split. Shomphe's bad week helped me get to 7-3 for the week and increase my lead over Mike to 5.5 games.

There's 30 games to go, so anything could happen in terms of the regular season championship. The top 5 all have a mathematical shot at the regular season championship and most go head-to-head at some point.  In Week 20, we have a S. Napalm vs. One Nut matchup that could be crucial. This sets up the final week. And, just as the fantasy gods drew it up, the current top four teams all play eachother: Montezumas vs. One Nut and S. Napalm vs. Keepin.

Shomphe has the easiest road, facing three teams that are in the process of selling off -- Anal, Angry, and MET. But he's also got the largest hill to climb, sitting at 19.5 games out.

Remember, payouts go to playoff champion (50%), regular season champ (25%), playoff runner-up (25%), regular season runner-up ($100), and best second half record ($40).

At this point, the Real Rankings are more or less useless when it comes to predicting how things will finish. There has been so much roster turnover in the past week, stats from previous weeks mean very little. There has been an incredible 18 trades involving 68 players and 48 draft picks. (Side note: I may take Dave's suggestion and do a recap when its all done rather than do 20+ reviews.)

At this point, its pretty clear who is selling and who is not. One of the sellers will make it in as Cowhide, Moose, Munchkins, Keepin, One Nut, Napalm, and Montezumas are the only team's looking like they're going to play this thing out.

I could be mistaken, but I believe the only teams that haven't made a move during the restricted trading period are Lars and Brian.

As the final week of trading ensues, try to take a moment and assess the format of the league. Is it too difficult for teams to rebuild? Has the goal of parity been achieved? Are teams staying involved who otherwise may have given up? Are the trade restrictions to limiting? How might it be improved?

My two cents:  I've found the past week to be very exciting. It's a lot of fun seeing proposal and announcements show up in my inbox on almost an hourly basis. While the side emails with various owners has been most enlightening. I also think the format serves its purpose of incentivizing teams to wait until later in the season to sell-off assets and has improved the integrity of the league by limiting dead teams and making each week competitive. While I'm sure sellers would like to do it sooner, its hard to argue against the format when a team is going to be done drafting by the 15th round (two others by the 20th, one done at 17th with one pick in the 20th). And while I also understand its difficult to acquire keepers, the offseason trading period is a great opportunity to add, look no further than my deal with Kyle (McCutchen for Kimbrel, JUpton, and Bautista). That said, I am looking for ways to improve.  I just ask you take some time to think about it and leave a post or email so we don't forget when January comes around and its time to discuss it again. The NA slot and more DL slots always seem to come up as well.

Week 17 Real Rankings

NOTES:
- Four weeks left in the season and its getting tight at the top, with Pierce closing the gap between 3rd and first by single digits. Shannon's trouncing of Napalam pushed Gibby back a bit, but the Sunday crap show from my entire team prevented me from taking advantage.

- At the bottom of the playoffs, there's still 13 teams with a chance to make it. Kyle is in 13th and 8 games out of the last playoff spot.

- That said, there's a lot of sellers out there. The interesting thing about that though is there has already been a slew of trades in the open trading period and as of 2 pm, none of them involved the previously restricted picks. Looks like there was some pent up desire to trade.

- Dagan had a dominating week, with a 2.7. However, it would prove to be bittersweet as a fastball off the hands lost his best player for the season.

- It was a week of stark contrasts for Pierce. His hitting averaged 11.2 RR while his pitching was at 2.6.

Four weeks to go and lots of trade offers circulating. Should be an interesting two weeks. I'll keep track of the traded picks on the site or the blog.