Probably a disappointment for both clubs. Shawn Green could have fetched a lot more a couple years ago, when he was miscast as the Wings centerfielder. While he hit 106 home runs over the 2002 and 2003 seasons he gave some of that back in defense. When his HR production dropped to 9 last year, drew just over 500 PA, and was shoved aside for Kenny Lofton, that was the beginning of the end.
Randy Winn was a huge overinvestment for the Greencastle Cannons. A late first round pick by Cucamonga, he came to Greencastle for Juan Pierre and a couple of picks. He performed adequately, hitting .301/.360/.457 and .276/.346/.402 in his two seasons with the Cannons, while providing good defense. Jason Bay won't match the defense of Winn, but Green adds to the power supply in the outfield.
Post-mortem: Pretty similar players. Winn turned out a little better than expected, though Green rebounded nicely as well. Both were parttime centerfielders and both are on the wrong side of 30. Pretty much a draw.
The Flatlanders didn't leave a lot of draft picks for the 2004 season, and the trade of a part time pitcher for two regulars isn't the worst option, even though the trade sniffs a little of panic. Whereas Bonds filled two holes (see below), Halladay fills two more. While it's difficult to fill key positions with draft picks in the 200 range, Halladay seems like a high price to pay for two outfielders, one a once was and the other a may never be. At the end of the day, Gerut and Sanders were replaceable parts, while Halladay has the potential to be irreplaceable.
Post-mortem: That's one the Pelicans aren't going to like. Gerut is struggling to find a job, and Sanders can't be far from retirement.
No question this should make the Nonames the favorite this year, as anyone with Bonds and a decent team is going to be hard to beat. The longevity of a balmless Bonds is another issue though, and the trade settles into a variation of a win it now strategy. Apparently, this is the best option that New Orleans could come up with for Bonds. It's not a great package unless Zito returns to his form of 2-3 years ago, though the draft pick turned into something signable.
Post-mortem: Bonds was Bonds and Nashua won a pennant. Zito is now the lone dependable starter on the Pelicans staff, but a Bondsian led team probably would have finished higher in the standings. Given Bonds' 2005 injury and age, it's not too bad for N'Orlins, but there's always the feeling it could have been more. Were we reading Japanese stats from right to left?
It wasn't that long ago that Dresden acquired Randy Johnson for Chad Gaudin and Marco Scutaro. Having proved himself not your run of the mill 41 year old, the Unit investment got quite the dividends for the Blacks. Madiba now has an extra half a starting pitcher to fill the holes created by the trade, as stopgapping with Juan Gonzalez, Jay Gibbons, and/or Josh Phelps isn't consistent with a team trying to win with 41 year olds.
On the Dresden side, taking into account this deal only and not the last one, this leaves them about a starting pitcher short, but does fill holes at 1B and RF. They'll still need to work on catching and the middle infield. Injuries and bad signings created a situation where there's still too much missing for the Blacks to actually compete in 2004. However, the trade does make it appear they're getting closer to fielding a respectable team for 2004 and for the future.
Post-mortem: Good deal for the Blacks, notwithstanding the Gaudin/Scutaro fiasco (the two guys Madiba got from Dresden for Randy in the first place). Giles and Nevin were the heart of the Dresden offense driving in 245 runs between them, though Nevin's fall from grace makes it a Giles for Johnson going forward. That still favors the Blacks.
It wasn't too long ago that A-Rod was untouchable, now he decamps for a couple of relievers. Either new management is nutty, or the value of the future hall-of-famer has indeed dropped. Yeah, it would have been a good idea to dump Ken Griffey at age 30, but then again look at the miscalculation the Reds made when they sent away Frank Robinson. While A-Rod isn't as valuable as a third baseman as he was as a shortstop, and his first year in Yankee Stadium wasn't as gaudy as recent efforts in Arlington, this is IIBL and these are relievers. It's a lot to ask that Mota and Nathan perform to ARod VORP equivalents in the next few years, even though year one is pretty even up. Pretty big advantage to the Crush.
Post-mortem: Still doesn't make sense for Swanee. As anticipated, A-Rod's 2004 season was a slight downbeat on a hall of fame career; Mota, Nathan, and Mirabelli will have to stop for gas and ask directions to Cooperstown.
Younger pitcher for an older hitter. Matsui has more current value, but the Lightning still have an outfield of Crisp, Pierre, and Ibanez, not to mention cameo appearances by Mark Teixeira and Paul LoDuca. While Marquis' K/W and HR rates are less than could be desired, 26 year old 15-game winners aren't a dime a dozen.
Post-mortem: Mitsui is a premium hitter, while Marquis isn't quite a premium pitcher. Texas might like to have that one back.
Seems a little cheap for Tim Hudson. Jose Uribe is a fine power hitting middle infielder, though his K/W ratios don't approach anything worth of Hudson-dom. The other side of the coin, the Gonzalez-Waechter trade, is also a puzzle. Waechter, who seems to have been around forever, is still only 23, and possibly on the upswing, while Luis Gonzalez probably has passed his sell-by date. Still, Gonzalez's part time appearance in 2004 should probably worth more than a pitching prospect with a poor K/W ratio. Do we catch a drift here? On the basis that new management in Charlotte wasn't watching the K/W ratios, we'll give a resounding endorsement to the Heat here.
Post-mortem: Bad trade for Charlotte. Though Uribe has his uses, he was somewhat wasted as a 2B for the 2004 Knights. Even Luis Gonzalez summoned up his strength for one last year. Waechter, to not too many people's surprise, turned out to be useless.
If you substitute Joe Mauer in the above equation for the #1 pick, this is probably a nice little deal for the RiverWolves (fka Antioch Wizards, defending IIBL champs). In sending away A-Rod and Helton, the defending champions have gone Marlinesque in packing their bags following a world championship. However, whereas the conventional strategy was to throw all the toys out of the pram and rebuild anew (see Hurricanes, Carolina 2000), this variation sees the RiverWolves pick up a number of players in their 30s.
The loss of Burnitz may pave the way for Aubrey Huff to go to the outfield, where he's less of a defensive liability. The picks can go for help on the left side of the infield, though sending Derrek Lee to solve that problem is more of a possibility. Hollywood's bullpen is still a problem, as the signings of Claussen, Acevedo, and Vogelsong created a difficult drafting situation.
Post-mortem: Burnitz and Rowand both went away in a deal that brought Swanee a lot of Red Sox, but this deal on its own was probably a good deal for both teams. Helton won't keep it up forever, and while the draft picks were relatively short term in nature (or effect), but Burnitz and Rowand are decent collectables.
A trade which probably owed more to the relative drafting and rebuilding positions than anything else. The Lightning never warmed to Teixeira, losing a lot of playing time to Ben Broussard last year. He's not the full package yet, but at age 25, he's likely to get a lot better, even to the point where even non-believers are going to scratch their heads wondering what might have been. Texas now completes their pitching staff (Garcia, Marquis, Maroth, Ponson, and Harang), though at the cost of Matsui and Teixiera. The availability of two first round picks (and only one in the next seven rounds) mean that Texas will have to fill their holes at 2b and 3b. Welcome back, Mark Bellhorn?
In Detroit, the addition of a quality player can't be bad, and the Wheels still have a first round pick to help rebuild. It probably also signals the end of the steroid-enhanced Jason Giambi. It's a little bit of a mess, but this looks like a step in the right direction.
Post-mortem: If the 13th would have been better than Omar Infante, this might have worked out better for the Lightning. But, they'll be sorry they no longer have Teixeira.
Randy moves on, arguably for a better package than it took to get him. The 7th overall should get a very good player in what looks to be a pretty deep draft, Kerry Wood has just enough innings to fill out the Madiba rotation, and Sean Burroughs fills a position, though not terribly well. The problem is that Madiba is still short of draft picks, having squandered picks on nonentities like Sergio Mitre, Juan Gonzalez, and Jay Gibbons. This ought to force them to take Brad Lidge with one of those picks, and a secondbaseman (or a player to trade for a secondbaseman) with the other. A 16th and 17th (picked up when Manny was traded for Berkman) will provide depth. From Madiba's perspective, as it was from Dresden's perspective it's a good deal.
It's harder to see this from a Kiev perspective, even though they had extra picks from trading Jose Valentin and Marcus Giles to Sycamore last year. However, the offense looks week behind Miguel Cabrera, and the pitching looks thin behind Randy and Johan. Still having 4 picks in the top 50, there is still hope that depth can develop. It's a bit of a science experiment now.
Post-mortem: Madiba's haul here wasn't so good, though if you substitute Chris Carpenter (available at #7) for Jaret Wright it looks a helluva lot better. With Burroughs fading into irrelevance, and Wood a frequent visitor to the DL, this turns out poorly for United.
On one hand, it a trade of a pretty solid player for a 38 year old reliever and an injury prone outfielder, on the other hand these were two of Sedona's best commodities. Sedona's next best player is Mike Sweeney, who plays the same position as Lee; and there's also Ken Harvey hanging around wanting to play first base. In Hollywood, it might have been helpful to fill a hole (shortstop and right field spring to mind, not to mention the back and of the rotation), though Smoltz has some potential going forward s a starter.
Post-mortem: Surprise, surprise. Derrek Lee finishes 2005 with a VORP of over 100, and teams will line up to see what the Vortex might want in return.
And so the Pudge era ends in Washington. I-Rod had been with the team ever since 1994, amassing 211 homers and 799 RBIs. That's leaves only Sosa, Piazza (both Rosehaven), Javy Lopez, Frank Thomas (both Pocono), as the only players with continuous ownership since recorded IIBL history.
The deal provides the rapidly morphing Heat with their second best player. For the Grays, it really all depends on how good Kearns turns out, since we know what Torii can do... and he's no Ivan Rodriguez. All in all, it's a decent bet for the Grays, who recently traded away their outfield of Reggie Sanders and Jody Gerut to get Roy Halladay. Kielty is fairly useless, though he might make a decent platoon partner for Cliff Floyd.
Post-mortem: Pudge might not be any longer the player he was in his prime, but he did turn in a solid .325 season for the 2004 Heat, and can fill the position adequately going forward. Torii Hunter and Austin Kearns probably look better on paper than they do in real life, but an argument can be made that this was a draw.
Ginter is a fairly useful player for Sedona. Plays 2b, 3b, has some power, and should be signable given the plans in Oakland. He's about as good as anyone else the Vortex could have gotten at #48, and the #110 represents the signing potential premium. Dresden is hoping that Rickie Weeks would be available in 2006.
Post-mortem: Ginter wasn't much of a haul, and Sedona wound up trading down for a future pick.
Not a particularly good trade for the Grays, at least in current terms. If you compare Berkman to Hafner, that's about even, with Hafner having a 1 year age differential offset by Berkman's position flexibility. Oswalt is a cut above Wood (97 innings, to be exact), and getting LaTroy for a 17th round pick is quite a bargain. The variable, of course, is Wood, who could rocket past Oswalt in short order.
Post-mortem: Good trade for Madiba, as Hafner and Oswalt outweigh Berkman and Wood. Hawkins turned in mediocre stats, but was still signable.
Sedona Vortex trade
Mike Sweeney
Swanee RiverWolves send 17th round pick (#103, Jayson Werth)
Sweeney at one point was worth a lot more; when Madiba traded him in 2000 it was for a 13th, 20th, and 22nd. But he has regressed, he is over 30, and the future of 1b in Sedona now belongs to Derrek Lee. On the other side, Swanee was lacking a 1b after trading Helton; this is a low investment strategy to fill the position.
Post-mortem: Too cheap, and people will never learn.
Seoul Fighters trade
Adrian Beltre and Rafael Soriano
Red Mountain Coyotes trade Hank Blalock, 13th round pick (25th overall, Alexis
Rios)
When this came over the wire I had to look at it twice. To be sure, Blalock is a good player, but Beltre is probably the most complete property (age, offense, defense) out there (apologies to Albert Pujols). A rump first round pick (think Chris Carpenter) doesn't quite seem worth the difference. Even more interestingly, it forces a new look at the Coyotes, especially given their awfully strong defense featuring Beltre, Everett, Crawford, and Ichiro. This puts them in the mix with Seoul, Rosehaven, and Hamilton for the division.
Post-mortem: Worked out much better for Seoul than anticipated, but both Beltre and Blalock were disappointments. Soriano was hurt during the year and unsignable, but drafting and carrying Rios may not have been a better outcome.
New Jersey Patriots
send 14th and 18th round picks (#29 and #107, Juan Rincon and Jose Hernandez)
Madiba United send Eric Milton, 21st and 27th round picks (#188 and #344)
New Jersey's starting pitching has traditionally been quite bad (quite different about their bullpen, BTW) so it's somewhat excused that the Patriots really wouldn't know what a starter looks like. On the basis that Woody Williams or Carlos Silva would have been available at pick #29, it appears the Patriots overpaid almost as much as Cincinnati did. While it may be argued that those the potential draftees may never again have a H/IP ratio less than one, or an ERA less than 4, Milton hasn't really achieved much either. And I managed to get through three sentences without mentioning 43 HRs allowed.
Post-mortem: As expected, Milton was and is a disaster.
Sedona Vortex trade
Ken Harvey
Scottsdale Cougars trade 25th round pick (#298)
You know, there actually may be 297 better people in the draft than Ken Harvey.
Sedona Vortex trade
Angel Berroa and Eric Byrnes
Detroit Wheels trade 15th round pick (#43, Termel Sledge) and Milton Bradley
Aside from the fact one has been in jail and one hasn't, there's not a whole lot of difference between Bradley and Byrnes. Bradley's a lot more volatile; he's as likely to hit .330 as .230, while Byrnes' expectations are in a narrower range. With Jason Giambi providing as much volatility as the Wheels can handle, it's no wonder that they've plumped for the safer option. Dumping Berroa severs the offense's last link with the Bavarian past. While Angel could be a big bargain, he'd also as likely to be a lodestone around Sedona's future building plans. Insofar you can sometimes get what you want with #43, it's a pretty decent gamble.
Post-mortem: Sedona got it right by dumping Berroa and Byrnes, but Bradley was hurt and Sledge was not the right pick.
Swanee RiverWolves
trade Roger Clemens
Madiba United trade 13th round pick (#9 overall, Chris Carpenter)
Swanee completes the dismembering of the defending champions by shipping their third most valuable commodity for a first round draft pick. This can't be wrong for the Wolves, since it's unclear whether Roger will sign up for 2005 and have any future value. If so, even a Dick Davis or Jaret Wright is going to surpass Roger's 2004 advantage by next year with even a subpar season. Likewise, this makes sense for Madiba, looking more short term. Simply, Roger is the best pitcher available in the draft. Madiba has plenty of talent that they need not even bother to sign Roger if he decides to retire.
Post-mortem: Nothing wrong with Clemens, but Carpenter outshone his projections in slipping to #9.
Of all the players in MLB, nobody seems to solicit more divergent views than Corey Patterson. A 168/45 strikeout/walk ratio and not a particularly strong fielder, and not a particularly good average, well, you get the idea. What's less clear is why the deal was done. New York, which had been one of the strongest teams in the league, loses its leadoff hitter and a mainstay in the offense; Kiev upgrades a position when, quite frankly, there were other needs that appeared more urgent. It's not quite sure where John Patterson fits in here, but he doesn't look terribly like a player who contributes to a playoff team, and he doesn't really look signable in 2005. All in all, a bad trade for New York.
Post-mortem: Silly trade for the Groove, though John Patterson turned out to be far better than anyone expected.
Bellingham
Pilots send 16th and 17th round picks (#63 and #84, Tony Womack and Alex
Gonzalez)
Hamilton Van Slykes send Ryan Klesko and David Eckstein
IF we break this down as Klesko for a 16th and Eckstein for a 17th, there are some interesting observations.
Eckstein for a 17th is probably right, the draft will produce a market for light hitting shortstops. Where ever Royce Clayton is drafted is approximately what Eckstein is worth.
The 16th for Klesko is a bit more puzzling. Granted, Hamilton still has four outfielders and a first baseman, so Klesko was superfluous. He lands in Bellingham, where he's still superfluous, vying for playing time with Overbay-Rondell-Bay-Shawn Green. While most owners don't like slow sluggers with an output of 9HR, these #s were San Diego park induced, and a 30 VORP in fact ranked 100th overall. So maybe he is a nice little pickup.
Post-mortem: Good trade for Bellingham, proving that established quality, even in limited doses, is sometimes far better than what you can get in the middle rounds.
Duluth Dukes
send Mike Cameron and 17th round pick (#94, Travis Harper)
Hollywood Heat send Nate Robertson
This surprised me at first, as Cameron has the rep, hit 30 HRs, and is a plus defensive CF. But, on the other hand he has a sub .250 lifetime batting average, a weak OB%, and is on the wrong side of 30. Robertson is the exact opposite: a pitcher, allows a high batting average, little rep, but on the right side of 30. A bit of a gamble for the Dukes, but a reasonable one.
Post-mortem: Good trade for Hollywood, as Cameron turned in a good season for the Heat. There's probably more upside to Robertson going forward, but he'll have to realize it soon if the Dukes are going to consider this a success.
Nashua Nonames
send Keith Foulke
Swanee RiverWolves send Joe Nathan
Pretty much a wash. Nathan much tougher against RHP, a bit weaker against LHP. Foulke a couple years older, but then again, Foulke has an extra 50 BF this year. About as even as you can get.
Post-mortem: Foulke didn't perform and Nathan did in 2005, so advantage Nashua. Foulke is borderline signable going forward.
Dresden Blacks
send 15th round pick (#48, Chase Utley)
Duluth Dukes send D'Angelo Jimenez and 24th round pick (#271)
Blacks send away the pick they obtained in the Ginter deal and wind up with an extra 18th and 24th round picks in the exchanges. A nifty trick for Dresden, since Jimenez is younger and has more current value. That said, Ginter has more value per plate appearance, it's just Jimenez has an extra 215 PA. That looks to be important for the Blacks, given they Blacks look forward to a summer of injuries (Chavez, Wells, Stewart, and Johnson).
Post-mortem: Who'd a thunk Jimenez would fall off a cliff like that. Great trade and pick for the Dukes, though DJ turned in a .314/.392/.443 season for the Blacks. That's the good news. The bad news is that he was signed.
Seoul
Fighters send Hank Blalock, Jake Peavy and Jon Garland
Victoria Seacrest send Adam Dunn, Rich Harden, Eric Hinske and Odalis
Perez
Sometimes trade analysis looks very difficult, especially when there's a big 7 player deal like this one. But it's really not so hard. Peavy and Harden are both 23 year old righthanders with good results and good futures. Peavy is a bit better this year, though Harden has a few more innings. Perez and Garland are slightly older but also fairly similar (though one is a lefty and one is a righty). Perez is a bit older and Garland has a few more innings. Once you get this far in trade analysis, you realize, just like 6th grade math, you can cancel out things on both sides of the equation.
That leaves Blalock for Dunn (putting aside the increasingly useless Eric Hinske). Last year I was fairly wrong in my assessment of a Dunn trade, so I'll try not to make that mistake again. Dunn and Blalock are both LHHs with good results and good futures. On the basis that Dunn's offensive stats are much better this year, Seoul "wins" the trade, though he's had bad years in the past while Blalock has not. You can also get a little bitchy about it thinking that Dunn will eventually gravitate to 1B and devalue (with the potential to have a really bad year like Jason Giambi this year), but with all the good 3b out there, third base is becoming the new first base. On the basis that Hinske was thrown in to balance the books, this should be a good deal for Seoul, but something in the back of my mind says that in most years I'd rather have Blalock.
Post-mortem: With Garland and Peavy the core of the Seacrest rotation, it's palatable to have tossed out Dunn and Harden. Sure, Blalock isn't the stud it was thought he would be, but Odalis Perez was even worse. On balance, probably a good trade for Seoul, but Victoria winds up with a a reasonable return.
Good trade for the Cougars. On the basis that Bagwell is two years younger than recent 1st round draft pick Moises Alou, this is a bargain. But, on the basis that he's old, plays 1B, and is on the decline... please go back and look at the levels from which Bagwell has descended. On the basis that we're comparing Bagwell to 14th round picks, by default we need to compare Marte to the 18th. Marte's value is probably slotted between B.J.Ryan and Ron Mahay in the pantheon of available lefty relievers. Ryan looks like a 14th round pick, Mahay a 16th round pick, so the 18th looks like a cheap pickup for Scottsdale.
Post-mortem: Bagwell was hurt and Marte had a bad season. The latter wasn't signed, though he was traded after the signing deadline for a live player. Bagwell still hangs on, but appears to be at the end of the string. Halliday got an even worse pick after the signing deadline, while Tomko ate some innings which helped eventually bring in Vladdy Guerrero. About even.
Seoul send 24th
round draft pick
Maui sends Jamie Moyer, Eric DuBose and Neil Cotts
Seems a little cheap. Moyer is probably worth more than the 24th on his own. Of course, Cotts and DuBose may have negative value....
Post-mortem: Wasn't cheap. These guys were awful: ERAs over 8.
Seoul
Fighters send Sean Casey, Victor Martinez, Odalis Perez and 16th round pick
(#61, Ryan Freel)
Madiba United sends Travis Hafner, Jorge Posada, Roy Oswalt
The six players are fairly even for this year's purposes, and their aggregate ages are similar, so it really comes down to the perception of the future.
In that respect, the players Madiba gets seem less dependable. Casey had 2 bad seasons in a row before this one; Odalis Perez has had his bad years as well. Victor Martinez is the jewel, of course, but even he has only had one killer season, and still has defensive problems behind the plate. Posada and Oswalt, on the other hand would be a surprise with a subpar year, though Hafner's good year experience is no more than Martinez'. I don't know if the difference adds up to a 61st pick, but it is what it is.
Post-mortem: Madiba would have been better off holding onto the Hafner/Oswalt tandem, despite Casey's good year and Victor's emergence.
Seoul
Fighters send Giovanni Carrara
Kiev Crossacks send Frank Francisco
Their stats look so similar, that only their mothers will know they've been traded.
Texas Lightning
sends Francisco Rodriguez
Swanee River Wolves send Russ Ortiz
If any fans are left in the franchise after the dismantling of the Antioch Wizards, they won't be after this trade. Russ Ortiz was the 61st pick by Antioch in the 1998 draft and spent three seasons in relative mediocrity until undergoing a Koufaxian conversion. Over the last three years, Russ has gone 59-19, including 25-4 last season, and pitched the most memorable game in franchise history, a no-hit win over Dresden in the 2001Conference final. F-Rod may be the better player, the usual caveats about trading relievers for starters aside, but the Swanee faithful are understandably upset.
Post-mortem: Whoops. While it's usually right to trade a reliever for a starter, this turned out quite poorly for the Lightning.
Madiba United
trades Jose Hernandez (picked #107)
Dresden Blacks trade John Mabry (picked #110) and 32nd round pick
Purely positional. Blacks needed an infielder, Madiba needed an outfielder.
Madiba United
trades Al Leiter
Nashua Nonames trade Jeff Kent
The players are eerily similar. Age, new team, new two year contract, both very successful. Nashua's pitching was a little thin following Pedro and Schilling, now Leiter rounds out a big three and hopefully a playoff rotation.
Post-mortem: Nashua should have done better than this, though Leiter did one hit Dresden twice in their 7 game playoff series.
Red Mountain
Coyotes trade Javier Vazquez
Swanee RiverWolves trade Guillermo Mota
On the theory that I generally like trading relievers for starters, I like the Swanee side of the deal. That said, Vazquez turned in an inferior year to Mora, and the Coyotes snatch fill a need with a top quality closer. If Vazquez comes back, trading A-Rod for Vazquez and Foulke sounds better than what they originally got.
Kiev Cossacks
send Miguel Cabrera
Seoul FIghters send Adam Dunn
Me, I'd rather have Cabrera, but I suppose that comes down to whether you'd rather have the sea bass or the turbot at Le Bernadin. If we discount the possibility that neither will have a bad year any time in the forseeable future, it comes down to minor differences. Cabrera figures to have a few more years in the outfield than Dunn, though with error rates of 187 and 198 the moves may not come soon enough. And one's a lefty and one's a righty. Not that it really matters, but I'd be remiss in not pointing that out.
Post-mortem: I'd rather have Cabrera.
Kiev Cossacks
send Bobby Crosby
Canbridge Longfellows send Rafael Furcal
It's hard to estimate trade values when you have no confidence in the listed age of the player. My spreadsheet says Furcal is 27.1 but I don't really think so. If he is, I'd rather have Raffy, since he seems farther along in developing his power than Bobby is in developing his batting eye. But, if the difference in age is more than 2.2 years, Raffy's value might never be higher than now.
Post-mortem: Crosby got hurt, and Furcal had his free agency year, but it's probably about even.
Washington
Grays send Torii Hunter
Cambridge Longfellows send Larry Bigbie and Brian Schneider
Good trade for both teams. Better for Washington in terms of filling holes and moving forward, better for Cambridge in cleaning up and consolidating some of the inherited mess. First of all, it spares the Grays the ignominy of having to use Todd Zeile as a catcher, and provides adequate backup in the outfield. Combining this with the earlier deal sending away Pudge, it turns out to be Bigbie, Schneider, and Kearns for Pudge and Keilty, which as a rejuvenation project looks quite adequate. On the Cambridge side of the ledger, while this doesn't quite make up for the (prior management's) misguided trade of Johnny Damon, it does turn two unneeded parts into something useful. Combining this with the prior trade sums to Damon and a 14th round pick for Hunter and Corey Patterson. With Steve Finley also around, the Longfellas fill have three bona fide centerfielders to patrol the outfield... for now.
Post-mortem: Bigbie wasn't worth anything, so it's Hunter for Schneider (essentially a 2nd round pick). Given the catcher scarcity, it's still probably on balance a better deal for the Grays.
Cambridge Longfellows send
Mike Lowell and Corey Patterson
Madiba United send Hideki Matsui and Sean Burroughs
Sure Burroughs was pretty horrible as a full time player; Madiba couldn't live with a thirdbaseman who only hit 3 home runs; and now they have a lineup with 7 20HR hitters. On the other hand Matsui was by far their best outfielder, and probably their best player overall. The remnants of the outfield are a substandard collection of Lawton, Patterson, and a collection of right fielders, the best of which is probably John Mabry. That's fine as long as you have Hank Greenberg, Honus Wagner, and Mike Schmidt on the sacks, but Madiba has no .400 OB% nor a .550 slugger.
On the Cambridge side, this makes much more sense. Patterson was the third best centerfielder (after Hunter and Finley and Lowell the second best thirdbaseman (after David Wright - - if not now, very very soon). The Longfellows will score a lot of runs with their starting eight, the problem will be for their pitching staff to avoid giving up more.
Notwithstanding the elimination of duplication, if you compare it on the future value basis, you'd have to think there's more upside to the Burroughs side than the Patterson side. I'm north of the Charles River on this one.
Post-mortem: Madiba caught two players in a freefall, despite their relative ages. Advantage, Cambridge even after having to take Burroughs.
Maui Stingrays
send Manny Ramirez, Kevin Millar, David Wells, Bronson Arroyo
Swanee RiverWolves send Aaron Rowand, Jeromy Burnitz, Damion Easley, Chris
Carpenter, Jesus Colome, Mark Redman
A 10 person trade which breaks down into two neat groups of 5 hitters and 5 pitchers, each time Maui receiving 3 players and sending 2. On the hitters side, the loss of Manny Ramirez would appear to justify the premium of the extra player. Aaron Rowand is the highest single value player received by the Stingrays, though his spotty track record makes him a questionable exchange for Manny. Well, maybe not if you factor in Manny's defense. Millar and Burnitz are very similar, corner outfielders in the 40 VORP range, and just about cancel each other out. Damion "hey, I'm not altogether useless" Easley is a nice pickup for Maui, though completely unsignable.
Positionally, this means that Craig Biggio won't have to patrol CF, and essentially leaves the Stingrays with a 4 man outfield of Guillen, Biggio, Rowand, and Burnitz, which is sufficiently durable and flexible. Swanee meanwhile has to do with Ramirez, Podsednik, and Millar, with Jay Payton as the principal backup.
It's on the pitching side where Maui has a small advantage. Carpenter and Wells are fairly similar, Arroyo and Redman fairly similar, leaving a Colome to the Stingrays. Whatever small advantage Carpenter has, both in present performance and in long term value, gets cancelled out on the Redman/Arroyo exchange.
If you can get past the trading away of Manny, it's overall a slight advantage to the Stingrays.
Post-mortem: Manny is Manny, but Carpenter might be worth as much these days. If you cancel them out, As such, the supporting cast picked up by Maui looks to be far superior to the Millar/Wells/Arroyo axis. Advantage Islanders.
Seoul Fighters
send Joe Kennedy and Mike Myers
Bellingham Pilots send 2005 13th round pick and Gary Knotts
Bellingham gambles heavily by adding a #3 starter (behind Clement and Rodrigo Lopez), but is it enough to make the playoffs. According to total VORP, Bellingham is still only 12th overall, and 4th in the division, so the pick might be very very good. On the Seoul side, this reduces their dependable pitchers to Oswalt, Harden, and a couple of relievers. That ought not to be good enough for the playoffs either, and they move back to 13th in overall VORP. Maybe 2 of the top 5 picks next year for the Fighters, but at the expense of a playoff run?
Washington
Grays send Luis Castillo
Madiba United send 2005 13th round pick
The dangers of committing yourself too early. Following the Kent-Leiter trade, Castillo becomes quite superfluous. Sure, there are teams who need a second baseman, but excepting Nashua and Seoul, none of them are likely to give up their first round pick. Best case scenario should be for United that they get their pick back. Washington does quite well in getting a first round pick for someone who is, quite frankly, expendable.
Post-mortem: Bad trade for Castillo, only because Madiba didn't really know what to do with him. Between a passable 2004 performance and some good OBP skills going forward, he's worth a displaced end-of-the-round 1st round pick, but sometimes teams are just too clevefr by half.
Portland Crush
send Edgar Martinez
Cambridge Longfellows send Matt Holliday
It's not like Holliday was really a prospect. Cambridge has to sort through Rick Ankiel, Mike Adams, and Joe Blanton, while Portland only has to sort through Shawn Chacon and Jason Frasor.
Edgar plays his last season back with the team he spent two years in his prime. He'll likely be in a platoon with J.T. Snow with an occasional cameo role from Adam LaRoche. He'll get to 1500 lifetime hits, but the 125 ribbies he'll need to get to 1000 will leave him short of IIBL hall of fame criteria.
Post-mortem: Edgar was sent away for a draft pick, which is more than Holliday fetched, even though there the right move may have been to sign him.
Portland Crush send
Kelvim Escobar and Toby Hall, three fillers, two trash picks
Maui Stingrays send Tomo Ohka, Mark Redman, three catchers (Greene, Alomar,
Borders), and three good picks (13th, 20th, 22nd)
Escobar was an inspired first round pick by the Crush last year, won 19 games for them, and followed it up with two stunning playoff performances (though losing game 1, 1-0). Before A-Rod, it's been the closest thing the Crush have had to a franchise player. So when 1st round picks are going for the Joe Kennedys and Luis Castillos, this looks to be a notch above. But this looks more like an upgrade than a trade, since Ohka and Redman are reasonable innings eaters.
Those who thought Toby Hall was a prospect find themselves increasingly lonely, and the package of three catchers for one probably is on the side of the Crush.
Post-mortem: The draft picks will be missed by Maui, especially given Escobar's 2005 injury.
Scottsdale Cougars
send Mark Mulder, Brandon Donnelly, Kirk Saarloos, and Jose Parra
Cambridge Longfellows send Steve Finley, Wade Miller, Mike Adams, and Zach Day
If we cancel out Donnelly for Adams (relatively equal stats, relatively equal signing potential), we wind up with Finley and two pitchers for Mulder. It's too hard to have too much of an opinion on this, since possible outcomes of Mulder and Wade Miller are far to wide to make any sense out of this. But on the theory that one could actually conceive of a scenario where Mulder and Miller are not too far from even, the picking up of Finley and Day has to make the trade a positive one for the Cougars.
Post-mortem: Mulder, Day, and Miller were the only signees in this bunch, which makes this a pretty easy win for Cambridge. Finley fetched the better part of Matt Lawton, but even that's not enough to narrow the gap.
Hollywood Heat trade
Orlando Hudson
Portland Crush trade Ray Durham and 26th round pick in 2005
Simple trade of current value for youth. 33 year old secondbasemen generally don't have too long a life expectancy, and Hudson is coming into his prime. Expect this to turn out well for the Crush in time, though the Heat are chasing the pennant now.
Post-mortem: It didn't. Hudson still didn't turn the corner, and Durham defied gravity for another year. Defensively, Hudson is sans pareil, but Durham is still putting more runs on the board.
Madiba United send
Jeff Kent and Cory Lidle
Cambridge Longfellows send Jake Westbrook and Tom Goodwin
Madiba was long a second baseman, having committed to Luis Castillo before they got Kent. As such, Kent comes and goes, leaving a net result of Leiter and Lidle for Westbrook. True, Leiter is old and Lidle has been somewhat awful, but Westbrook, aside from his 2004 season, looks like Lidle two years ago. The fact that Cambridge is now long a second baseman (Kent and Loretta) and desperately short of pitching shows they basically agree. Probably Madiba made the best of a bad situation, but net net the team would have been stronger with Kent at 2b and a passable right fielder for Lidle.
Post-mortem: Westbrook and Lidle might not be all that far apart, which means this is a huge win for Cambridge. But while Westie continues to get hitters out where Lidle doesn't, we can pretend this is almost even.
Seoul Fighters send
Neal Cotts and a 21st round pick
Portland Crush send Jason Frasor
Dresden Blacks send
Jose Cantu and Jose Capellan
Portland Crush send Billy Wagner and Eric Bruntlett
Portland Crush send
Lance Carter and Jason Christiansen
Dresden Blacks send Shiggy Hasegawa and Garrett Atkins
A complete purge of the bullpen. What's left looks like Baghdad today, and Portland will have trouble getting anywhere near .500 and getting a top 10 pick. For their troubles, they get a number of prospects, of which Capellan and Cantu are the most promising. Cotts and Atkins might surprise, but there isn't going to be a lot of time to tell if they are for real. Whichever of the newcomers is signed are probably better ideas than recycling Juan Encarnacion or Dmitri Young, but they represent gambles for a team that is heavily relying on Alex Rodriguez for the forseeable future.
Post-mortem: The only one of the three of lasting note is the Wagner trade. Cantu and Capellan is a good haul, but there was serious risk involved.
A extra hundred or so at bats for an inconsequential pick.
Florida Aqualungs
sends Geoff Jenkins and Tim Worrell
Madiba United sends Juan Cruz and a 26th round pick
Jenkins spent 5 relatively successful seasons in Martinez/Florida, after being the #3 overall pick in the 1999 draft. His .362/.410/.684 line for the 1999 Wolfpack is arguably the best season in the franchise's history. But over the last three seasons, he's barely become an adequate outfielder, with a declining OB% and moderate power. When Jenkins started out his first 10 games in Florida with a .182/.262/.263 line, the Aqualung brass shipped him out.
With Todd Worrell being worth marginally more than a 26th round pick, the question is whether Cruz represents good value for Jenkins. Cruz hasn't done much before, but he is 26 years old and supposedly has good stuff. Still, he's likely to be a reliever and all the usual caveats about signing relievers apply.
Jenkins isn't the outfielder Madiba would have wanted to fill their third spot, since Corey Patterson and Matt Lawton (and John Mabry) are also lefthanded. Given Kiev is based around a left handed pitching staff, their 7 game regular season series and a potential playoff series matches well for the Cossacks.
Post-mortem: Turned out much better than expected for Madiba, as Cruz flamed out.
Maui Stingrays send
Dave Williams and Humberto Quintano
Portland Crush send Jeff Conine and Todd Greene
Greene and Conine weren't signable anyway, so the question is really whether Williams or Quintano are. Quintano is a backup catcher, so that's not terribly likely, but Williams was once the 33rd overall pick by Seoul in 2001. He was also though of enough to be signed for 2002, albeit there wasn't a lot of options. Arm troubles followed, but he made a little of a comeback this year. It will be interesting to compare him to Mark Redman, also on the Pirates pitching staff.
If anyone in Portland cares, the loss of Conine probably means a shift of Dmitri Young to 1B, and Bobby Higginson and Juan Encarnacion each get their own corner of the outfield. The bigger loss appears to be Greene, a useful hitting catcher. In Maui, Conine looks to spend long stretches on the bench, whereas the presence of Greene looks to be quite useful against the division's copious LH pitching.
Camano Island
Pilots send Guillermo Mota and 20th round pick
Swanee RiverWolves send 13th & 24th round picks and Elmer Dessens
Mota goes back to Swanee, and if we substitute Vazquez in the above equation, that looks like an efficient pickup of a good starter. It's somewhat cheaper than Joe Kennedy and a lot cheaper than Kelvim Escobar.
Post-mortem: Way too expensive. Camano Island winds up with the first pick in the draft (read: Felix Hernandez) for a deal involving cheap little draft picks.
Madiba United sends
Luis Castillo and Odalis Perez
Cambridge Longfellows send Mark Loretta and Brett Tomko
More second base shenanigans in Madiba, but this time they look settled with 2004's best. Jeff Kent came and went, and now Luis Castillo has come and gone. The downgrade of the pitching staff from Perez to Tomko will hurt and create more dependency on Jake Westbrook and Jaret Wright. Net, this trade is a positive for Madiba, though they pick up two over-30s for two under 30s. On the Cambridge side...
Hamilton Van Slykes
send Vladimir Guerrero, Johnny Estrada, and Brett Myers
Cambridge Longfellows send Odalis Perez, Trot Nixon, and Jason Varitek
The Longfellows can't hang on to their good pitching, having sent away Westbrook and now Odalis. Hopefully, they don't think Brett Myers is a suitable replacement, he looks like filler. The key, of course, is Guerrero, who had been with Hamilton since the 9th overall pick of the 1996 draft. To be able to monetize part of the excess 2b situation as well as an injured RF is a net pickup for the Longfellows.
On the Hamilton side, this isn't so bad either. Sure, not having Vlad will hurt, but there's still a good core of hitters remaining, and the pitching staff gets a major upgrade. (Not to mention the confusion factor in having both O.Perezes.) If the Indians follow through by moving Casey Blake to RF, this will avoid a further logjam. Not so bad on the Hamilton side.
Post-mortem: Taking the two above together, Madiba comes out badly (partly due to Loretta's injury, partly due to overreaching), Hamilton turns out poorly as well (due to the emergence of Brett Myers and the injury to Odalis), and Cambridge winds up almost a full Vladdy up.
Madiba United sends
Josh Phelps
Cambridge Longfellows send Joe Blanton
A prospect for a former prospect, but Phelps under the right circumstances might have value. His 2004 showed good usefulness as a platoon 1B against LHP (thus rendering Edgar Martinez useless), and there's hope in Tampa for him to put up some numbers in 2005. If Blanton, as expected, eats innings in Oakland, he'll be a steal for a one-dimensional first baseman. The other option is, of course, neither of these guys might be worth signing.
Post-mortem: Good trade for Madiba.
Swanee RiverWolves sends
Javier Vazquez, Guillermo Mota, Aaron Guiel, Shane Halter
Cambridge Longfellows send Luis Castillo, Cory Lidle, Brandon Donnelly, Ryan
Howard
Probably a better deal for Cambridge. The L-Fellows get rid of a player who was taking up Kent's playing time, and send three marginal signees for a solid starter and a solid reliever. Any or all of the four players picked up by the RiverWolves are risky, meaning it probably makes sense to sign none or all four. If the former, why make the trade, except to compete, but the dropoff from Mota to Donnelly and Vazquez to Lidle certainly negates any advantage there.
Post-mortem: As it turns out the premier players a year later are Vazquez, Howard, and Castillo. As such, a slightly better deal for Swanee.
Florida Aqualungs
send J.D.Drew
Nashua Nonames send 13th round pick, Casey Kotchman, and Richard Hidalgo
A good deal for the Aqualungs no matter how bad Hidalgo is. Kotchman and a 13th round pick ought to be as good as Drew within short order, even earlier if Drew relapses into his medical past. On the Nashua side, this is a deal that they either had to make in order to give Bonds quality company in the outfield, or one of panic, since the future is starting to look a little thin. If the future is now, it comes down to a series of seven game series against someone, and the Nonames still look a little weak against LH relief.
Post-mortem: Still where we were a few months ago, as the success of the additional first round pick will determine whether this is a winner for the Aqualungs (now the Pirates).
Portland Crush send
Orlando Hudson, Russell Branyan, and David Bush, 20th and 24th picks
Washington Grays send Kerry Wood, Ty Wigginton, 34th and 35th picks.
Assuming this year is lost for Portland, this might not make too much sense for the Crush either. Wigginton is unlikely to unseat A-Rod, although there is a possibility Wigginton may again play 2b or A-Rod ss. As such, this becomes quite an expensive play for Kerry Wood. Portland has now traded away 5 picks ranging from 20th to 32nd, which is going to impact the team's depth. This is not good, when you're counting on youngsters like Jorge Cantu and/or Jose Capellan.
Post-mortem: Wigginton was indeed useless, and Wood's arm troubles make this quite an expensive disaster for the Crush. While Cantu's emergence made Orlando Hudson a bit superfluous, there's still a lot to be said for having the package the Crush coughed up.
Portland Crush send
Garrett Anderson, Aaron Sele, Roger Cedeno, Brett Prinz
Cambridge Longfellows send Paul Byrd, Charles Thomas, Clint Barmes, and Josh
Phelps
A lot of talent goes to Portland for a fourth outfielder to play behind Matsui, Hunter, and Guerrero. Of course, this is Cambridge, where nobody is really told to unpack their bags. Of the four players picked up, all have a chance to stick. Byrd is a starting pitcher who's been decent in the past; Phelps is coming into his peak years and may have a home as the Tampa DH, and Barmes is a young starting shortstop. Garrett Anderson had played in more than 800 games over the last 5 years, but his 2004 season wasn't all that good and could represent the start of a decline. While it would have been nice to get a sure thing for him, Portland has a lot of quantity to sort through anyway.
Post-mortem: Portland managed to sort through the quantity efficiently. Barmes was sent off for a decent draft pick, Thomas for a not so good pick, and Paul Byrd is a keeper easily worth the price of Anderson. Phelps died on the vine, but 3 out of 4 is not a bad haul.
Portland Crush send
Dmitri Young
Bellingham Pilots send Dave Ross, 20th and 26th round picks
Portland Crush send Shiggy
Hasegawa
Kiev Cossacks send 26th round pick and Dave Hollins
Portland seems intent on cornering the market on 26th round picks.
Cambridge Longfellows send
Jeff Kent, Garret Anderson, Guillermo Mota, Aaron Sele, and a 20th rounder
New Orleans Pelicans send Mark Prior, Marcus Giles, Octavio Dotel, and Neifi
Perez
The consensus on this one is that's it's a bad trade for the Pelicans, who get older for really no reason at all. Cancelling out the scondbasemen, the relievers, and the fillers; we're left with Mark Prior for Garrett Anderson. Maybe Prior will never put together a healthy Cy Young type season, but sending him away for a 30+ y.o. corner outfielder doesn't look like a recipe for success.
Post-mortem: Kent hung on better than expectations, but despite the arm injury to Octavio Dotel, this is still a bad trade for the Pelicans. With Kent holding up his end of the trade, he's still cancelled out by Giles, and the whole thing looks like a Mark Prior for Garrett Anderson swap. Ugh.
Cambridge Longfellows send
Sean Burroughs
Bellingham PIlots send Morgan Ensberg and a 22nd round pick
Ensberg really isn't signable. Nearly 30 years old, late bloomer, and only one good season on his CV. On that basis, picking up Burroughs for a 22nd round pick is a relative bargain. Of course, the only thing worse than an old fool is a young fool, and Burroughs will need to improve significantly if he's going to prove worthwhile. Advantage Bellingham.
Post-mortem: I guess I got that wrong.
Seoul Fighters send Pat
Burrell
Florida Aqualungs send Nashua 13th round pick and Jermaine Dye
Dye is largely unsignable, though if you stretch to 18, he might get an extended look. Had Burrell gotten off to a bad start, he wouldn't be much better. But Pat the Bat got off to a good start, and he's all of a sudden worth a 13th round pick. Stranger things have happened, but the draft pick, as bad as it might be, should be a good insurance policy.
Post-mortem: I guess I was wrong on that as well, as Dye put together a season that makes him a fringe first rounder. Burrell turned out to be worth a little more than the 26th pick in the draft so it's a good trade for Florida if they weren't going to sign Dye (which they didn't), but a bad pick if they were. (And this is from a team that signed Richard Hidalgo instead.)
Scottsdale Cougars send 18th
round pick (20th & 21st until signings)
Portland Crush send Clint Barmes
The SCO signing list isn't certain yet, and the analysis of this trade hinges on whether 12 or 18 are signed. If there's a youth movement afoot, guys like Jose Cruz, Steve Finley, Damian Miller, Trevor Hoffman, Jeff Bagwell, and Magglio Ordonez all have arguments why they should be cut loose. Despite Barmes' hot start, he still isn't an A prospect, but being better than the incumbent Royce Clayon isn't going to take too much effort.
Post-mortem: A three month injury carrying groceries obscured the true value of Barmes, but until then we were all pleasantly surprised. Since then, the trade has settled into what looks like equal value.
Nashua Nonames send Danny
Meyer and a 24th round pick
Cambridge Longfellows send Edgar Martinez
Insurance for facing Kiev in the World Series? Maybe, but then there will be two series before that, in which a David Ortiz/Edgar platoon may just confuse matters. Whatever, the offense already scores 7 runs a game; it's Edgar's defense which isn't going to help the pitchers much. Anyway, with Bonds and Nomar out for significant periods next year, there doesn't appear much chance at a dynasty, even if Danny Meyer turns out beyond expectations.
Post-mortem: Meyer wasn't signed, so the 24th lingers on in return for Edgar's swan song.
Maui Stingrays trade 24th
round pick and Michael Restovich
Portland Crush trade Charles Thomas
Portland sure is piling up the draft picks. Charles Thomas is unsignable, of course, so this only a relatively cheap idea to add a lefthanded bat for the pennant chase.
Dresden Blacks send Luis Matos
Portland Crush trade BEL's 20th round pick
Matos had a good year in 2003, a poor year in 2004, and is off to a hot start in 2005. Given the alternative was Juan Encarnacion, it's wise that Portland invests the draft pick in a CF who's younger, has more potential, and has better peripherals. Blacks didn't have room to sign Matos behind Vernon Wells and Jason Lane.
Post-mortem: If the question was whether to give up a 20th in order to have a choice of Encarnacion or Matos, it wasn't a terrible deal. Ency wound up with a career year, while Matos played a decent CF in yet another injury prone campaign.
Hollywood Heat send 20th pick
Portland Crush trade Paul Wilson
Paul Wilson defines "league average pitcher", but if the idea here is not to worry about filling out the rotation at the draft, Hollywood achieves that. At least the Brandon Claussen/Jose Acevedo/Doug Waechter/Ryan Vogelsong experiments are behind the Heat now.
Post-mortem: Paul Wilson was a league average pitcher, not someone you really want starting a playoff game. He is no longer a league average pitcher, and as such represents a waste of a 20th round pick.
Detroit Wheels send Bobby
Hill, Matt Perisho, 20th round pick
Cambridge Longfellows send Morgan Ensberg, Brett Prinz, and 25th round pick
Ensberg wasn't too expensive, costing only a shift of draft picks. He'll join Joe Crede in the battle for the title of third baseman of the future where, unfortunately, there will be a winner. On the other hand, Detroit bumped Daniel Cabrera to make room for Ensberg, so maybe there is a silver lining here.
Post-mortem: Easy come, easy go. Esberg was picked up for a song, and here he's let go for just a stanza.
Madiba United sends Joe
Blanton and Jay Gibbons
New Jersey Patriots send Moises Alou
Great pickup for Madiba, essentially getting the #12 overall for a pitcher who was drafted around 200. True, Alou is old, has already had a stint on the disabled list, but even if he flames out (unlikely), he'll provide United with an excuse to get past the first round. New Jersey's preliminary list had Alou unsigned, which provided the impetus. Blanton may turn out to be what the Patriots have needed for a while, but it's a pretty big risk getting there.
Post-mortem: Of course, Blanton turned out a lot better than expected and maybe Madiba would like this back, but Alou also had a good year, and fetched a first round pick in being dealt to Dresden for the 2005 season.
Dredsen Blacks send Scott
Linebrink
Kiev Cossacks send 13th round pick and Shiggy Hasegawa
Kiev left it quite late to get a closer (see Mota, Wagner, F-Rod, Foulke, et al moving above) and winds up with Dresden's #3 reliever. To be sure, it's as good as a #3 reliever to be had, with a strong combination of control, effectiveness against the opposite hand, and durability, but a 13th could have fetched a little more had the Cossacks started a little earlier.
Post-mortem: Still a good trade for the Blacks, but they seemed just one reliever short in losing games 5 and 6 to Nashua in their 7 game series. Perhaps it might have turned out a little differently.
Dresden Blacks send Kenny
Rogers and a 20th round pick
Texas Lightning send Freddy Garcia
Garcia wasn't a favorite in Texas, having gotten blown out of his first 5 starts. He wasn't on the signed list, and, given that, Texas gets replacement innings and a useful draft pick.
Post-mortem: Rogers turned out fairly close in value to Garcia, and as such is up a 20th round pick. That's for now, but sometime in the future the investment will turn out well for the Blacks.
POST-SIGNING TRADES (UNSIGNED PLAYERS IN TEAL, SIGNED PLAYERS IN BLUE)
Hamilton VanSlykes send
Chad Cordero, Tony Womack,
and Wes Helms
Cambridge sends Darren
Dreifort, Bobby Hill, and
23rd round pick
Seoul Fighters send 24th round
pick
Portland Crush send Josh
Phelps
Madiba United sends 28th round
pick
Portland Crush send Matt
Holliday
Nashua Nonames send 21st round
pick and Ramon Martinez
Sedona Vortex send Keith
Ginter
Post-mortem: Ginter played a key role in the Nashua championship, and it should be noted that this was a worthwhile investment.
Madiba United sends Matt
Lawton, Chad Gaudin, and Mark
Malaska
Scottsdale Cougars send Steve
Finley, Damaso Marte, and Julian Tavarez
Post-mortem: At the time, it looked like a steal for Madiba, but the guys brought to United didn't do all that much. Lawton lingers in Scottsdale, but, while he's useful, he won't be missed all that much.
Kiev Cossacks send 25th round
pick
Bellingham Pilots send Jorge
Julio
Dresden Blacks send
Alex Cora
and
Colin Porter
Nashua Nonames send 23rd round
pick
Duluth Dukes send Scott
Hairston
The biggest investment in the lot is the signed Matt Lawton, bringing in three useful parts for United.