I just don’t get it.
How the hell do the Phillies let the trade deadline pass
without even dealing Marlon Byrd? They dealt no one.
Hell, even Coldsmith and the Sex Panthers made trades this
season in the JLB. Why couldn’t Ruben Amaro find a deal?
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| Polly want a redo? There were three deals on deadline day, another four days prior and then there was the blockbuster on July 18. The Choo shifted the rotation of the world, obtaining the services of Gregory Polanco, Steroid.ERA's adopted man-child, whose trade stock was insanely high whenever anyone asked. Then, all of a sudden, he goes for Todd Frazier, Ben Zobrist, Jake Arrieta, James Jones and Nick Kingham. It's an interesting deal. For ERA, this wasn't a move for the future, because the move for the future would be to hold on to the stud RF who has two more years of JLB minor league eligibility. Instead, he gets a group of players who can only collectively help him win this year. There's no way they all find themselves as keepers going into 2015. Maybe two of them survive the March cut before the draft. So, for ERA, it was all about this year. For Choo, it was a good deal, but a bit baffling considering he has Yasiel Puig in RF. That, and Polanco had been struggling. Those struggles continued as he went 6-for-32 (.188) in his debut matchup for the Choo. Hardly a blockbuster. |
It’s just baffling, and for Phillies fans, it’s upsetting,
especially considering how busy the MLB trade deadline was. The names that went
on July 31 were insane and it made for an exciting afternoon.
The JLB trade deadline was on Friday and it was just as loud
with three big deals going down.
All three teams at the top of the National League East were
in the mix, upgrading where they can as the regular-season winds down.
The Outs picked up an ace — as if he needed one with the way
his pitching has been this season — grabbing Zack Greinke from the Jerks. He
also picked up closer David Robertson.
In return, the Jerks got a decent package with Nelson Cruz,
Tyson Ross and Alex Cobb. Jerk is still in the running for a playoff spot, and
I think this deal could help him get there. He just needs to start winning,
because his big 17-5-2 loss to Vandelay was a big setback.
The Industries had a huge pitching week, posting 113
strikeouts in 12 quality starts with a 2.43 ERA. And that was without Cole
Hamels, who he grabbed in a trade with the Otto Parts. He sent out Gerrit Cole
and Matt Harvey for the Phillies left-hander, and he’s in good shape to make a
run at the 2014 title.
The Otto Parts, who are out of the race, pick up some good
starters for the future.
Vandelay also won nine batting categories against the Jerks
in the win, and it was greatly fueled by Carlos Santana, who had six homers and
13 RBIs in the matchup. He won homers 15-14 and RBIs 57-45, so Santana was the
difference.
Not to be outdone, the Cheese Steaks also whooped his
competition last week, winning 17-4-3 over Coldsmith, and he, too, made a deal.
The Steaks picked up Derek Norris, Pedro Alvarez and Tanner
Roark in exchange for Chris Tillman and Chase Headley. Roark provided a
7-inning quality start, one of 15 quality starts against Coldsmith. The Steaks
pitching went 7-3 with a 2.63 ERA and 108 strikeouts. Offensively, it was
Austin Jackson leading the with 17 hits, eight runs, a homer and eight RBIs.
The Steaks just have to hope that production continues in Seattle.
The Slammers also dealt Charlie Blackmon to the Bombers for
Jared Cosart a few days before the JLB deadline, and then, all of a sudden,
Cosart was traded from the Astros to the Marlins, which I’m perfectly OK with.
Interestingly enough, I had four players on my roster
involved in real MLB trades — David Price, Yoenis Cespedes, Jake Marisnick and
Jared Cosart.
Too bad it doesn’t really matter for me this season.
I beat the Bombers last week 13-9-2, but with the big
hitters in the NL — Outs, Vandelay and Cheese Steaks — all picking up bigger
wins, I lost ground.
Hard to compete with that.
Steroid.ERA also took a step back, falling to 21 games out,
and now 15.5 games back from the final wild card spot. He lost 11-9-4 to the
Gamblers in a matchup that was extremely close. Sixteen categories were
extremely close, and the four ties came
in GWRBI, walks (batting), wins and losses.
Clayton Kershaw was the key to the win for the Gamblers,
picking up the lone CG SO, going 1-1 with two quality starts, 15 strikeouts and
a 1.69 ERA.
Still, the win didn’t help in the standings against the
Choo, who holds a 22.5-game lead.
It’s nice and cozy up there in first place. So cozy, a
15-8-1 loss to the Outs didn’t sting at all. The Outs pitching, as mentioned
before, was ridiculous, posting 143 strikeouts, 13 quality starts, 13-3 record,
8 holds, 1.83 ERA and an 0.89 WHIP.
Even he has to be amazed by this.
Greinke provided seven innings of shutout ball with 10
innings, which was nice considering the guys he traded — Ross (2-0, 13 innings,
17 strikeouts, 0.69 ERA) and Cobb (2-0, 12.2 innings, 12 strikeouts, 1.42 ERA)
— had huge weeks.
He’ll miss them for sure, but he hopes Greinke will
dominate.
In the other matchup last week, the Otto Parts edged the Sex
Panthers 11-9-4. Both are pretty far out of the playoff race, although, the Sex
Panthers could make a push for the final AL wild card.
That would require winning ASAP. And here comes Coldsmith on
the schedule, so it’s possible.
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