Done Deal

I did it. I finally did it. With the trade deadline rapidly approaching in my keeper league, I contacted about 6 different teams looking to work a deal out. I am in a dog fight for first place and I really needed an impact player. Enter: Roy 'Doc' Halladay. I somehow pulled off a ten player deal, sending out seven players and getting three in return all while keeping the salaries balanced which keeps me under the salary cap. Here was the deal:

I sent out Max Scherzer ($11, matching rights), Octavio Dotel ($8, expiring) Brad Hawpe ($7, expiring), Scott Baker ($6, 2012), Kelly Johnson ($4, 2011), Kris Medlen ($1, matching) and Gio Gonzalez ($1, matching) for a total of $38.

I got back Doc Halladay, only the best pitcher in fantasy with an expiring $30 contract, Huston Street ($5, expiring) and Hiroki Kuroda ($3, expiring) for $38.

With Dotel getting traded in real life to LA he loses most of his value since he won't be a closer anymore. Gettng Street back in this deal was nothing short of huge for me and should allow me to keep my lead in the Saves category.

Kuroda was pretty much a throwaway to make the money work, but I do like him. I am just up against an innings pitched limit and am not sure I'll be able to get him in the lineup.

And then there's Halladay. Oh....Halladay. This guy is a beast. No less than seven innings pitched every time out and more times than not he'll give you 8 or 9 which gives him a great chance for the Win every single start. I figure he has about 80+ innings left at a 2.50 ERA and 1.00 WHIP. That will be big for me as those are the two categories that I have the most to gain in. I also took a recent dip in Wins, where there is a total logjam. I am in the middle of the pack but only two Wins out of first place, so a little Wins run by my staff and I can gain 5.5 points. Huge.

Am I going to miss any of the guys I traded away? Not really. Baker's hurt me more than he helped me. I've barely started Medlen or Gio, both of their values resided in their matching rights for next year. Scherzer is coming into his own and has some serious upside, but he still pales in comparison to Doc. I'll miss Kelly Johnson's offense, getting legit pop from the MI slot is big, but I plan on picking Ty Wigginton up off the waiver wire which will help me fill that void.

With the remaining three empty roster spots I have, I plan on filling them with highly skilled middle relievers who will give me good ERA/WHIP numbers and hopefully some cheap wins and/or saves down the stretch. I have my eyes set on Jason Motte, JJ Putz, and Matt Thornton. These guys have been putting up silly numbers all year and I have no reason to think they won't continue. There's the added bonus that Putz and Motte will be closing next year and I'll have matching rights on them. Booyeah.

So this is it. I have done everything I can to improve this team for the final 8 weeks. If I can't capture the trophy this year I will be extremely disappointed. This is the fourth year of the league's existence and I have built this team carefully and it is all coming together now. I only have $2 left on my payroll heading into 2011, so I am starting over regardless. I just hope I have the championship at next year's draft table.

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