2010 Fantasy Baseball Blog: I Have a Trade To Announce

I have a trade to announce. Cool HWIP (me) sends the rights to First Baseman Kevin Youkilis of the Boston Red Sox to Night Moves (shout out Bloomington, IN) for Starting Pitcher Yovani Gallardo of the Milwaukee Brewers and Third Baseman from the Cincinnati Reds Scott Rolen.

Reasoning: I need pitching and I need pitching bad. I’m currently sitting in fifth place with the best offense in the league and the worst pitching. I need an ACE who is capable of putting the team on his back and having a monster second half. Unfortunately, I have tried so many different avenues, trying to deal from strength (runs and steals) to get a potential ACE, not even an established guy, but to no avail. So, here we are. Gallardo was an absolute beast in the first half. 2.58 ERA. 122 strikeouts in less than 122 innings. But….cmon, you knew there was a ‘but’ coming….he is currently on the disabled list with an oblique injury. He is reportedly feeling great, good to go, and set to pitch Thursday night at Pittsburgh. Normally I would never take such a risk. This guy could be toast and I would be totally screwed, but I really had no choice. If I have any shot at making a run in the second half I need monster pitching efforts from more than one guy. I think Cole Hamels is capable. I think Brett Anderson, once he himself comes off the DL, is more than capable. I also have high hopes for Scott Baker who has established himself as a second half guy over the last few years. But I needed a no doubt about it if healthy anchor to get me points in bunches and that’s what Gallardo is. I am currently in last place in Wins and ERA. I’m in 12^th place in WHIP and just middle of the pack in strikeouts. In other words, if these guys do what I hope they can do then there are 20 more pitching points for me to make up. I just need a big time second half. It’s possible. Not likely, but possible. And that’s why I did the deal, I needed to take a chance. Had no choice. I am a patient fantasy owner. Probably to a fault. I gave my staff fifteen weeks to prove their worth and they disappointed me. They failed me. So enter Yovani Gallardo, strikeout beast when healthy. Please be healthy, Yovani, please be healthy.

Of course, there are other guys in the deal. So I also got back Scott Rolen in the deal. This is a guy who went undrafted in most leagues because he can’t stay healthy, he’s old, and he’s well past his prime. Not an ideal combination. But he hooked himself up to the juvenation machine this year and clocked seventeen bombs in the first half with 50+ RBI. On paper, he’s near Youkilis’ equal. But we all know better, Rolen will regress to the mean and I’m hoping for a mediocre 2^nd half. Actually, praying for it. Of course, right after I made the deal it came out that he got a cortisone shot in his right hamstring today and there’s a good chance he goes on the DL this week. Awesome. Nothing like buying damaged goods. Makes me sick. But if he just needs the minimum stint on the DL to get right, I’d rather have him healthy out there than struggling with a nagging injury. If he can come back in two weeks and hit me ten bombs the rest of the way I’ll be more than happy.

Which brings me to Youkilis. Youuuuuuuuuuuuuuk. God I’m gonna miss this guy. He is a model of consistency and reliability which are two things I value above all else in fantasy baseball. One reason I decided to trade Youk was that a ton of his value came from Runs. He leads the majors in them just as I lead my fantasy league in them. And I lead my league by a lot of Runs, like fifty. So while I value everything else Youk brings to the table I’m okay losing the Runs he brings to the table. And before Rolen’s injury I was hoping he can get me about 75% of Youk’s power the rest of the way (not that farfetched considering he went homer for homer for him so far to date). It was just a business decision. The difference between Youk and Rolen was more than made up for by Gallardo. Now he just needs to go out there and throw me a few 7 inning, one earned run, 9 strikeout games and I’ll happy.