CC Sweepstakes!
So I find myself at the bottom of the standings in my NL only, auction keeper league. I was starting to figure out my moves to pick up some good keepers so maybe next year I can compete, when a funny thing happend: My top farm system prospect Matt LaPorta was traded away for CC Sabathia. Now, I have one of the top 3 pitchers in baseball on my roster for $31, and I'm looking to deal him away for some prospects.
The problem I'll run into is that since I'm in the bottom of my league, I'll probably be inundated with crappy low-ball offers trying to pry him away from me for mediocre players and a minor leaguer or two. The hopes being that they'll make great value keepers!
Case in point...the first offer I received: John Maine ($6) and Jarrod Parker (farm) for CC.
I'm now contemplating getting rid of him, and I'm looking for some help in figuring out what I might expect to get for him. Honestly, heading into next year's draft with CC and Ben Sheets as keepers would be a sick start to my staff next year, but I think I'd rather pick up a solid bat or two instead...but either would suffice.
I'll post the trade happenings here, but would also appreciate any advice or suggestions you might have.
Being Ambitious...and it didn't work
So here's the first offer I made. I thought I'd go for some big guns. There's a guy in our league that has plenty of power, has a good shot at winning the league, but needs some pitching help. That being said, I offered:
(Player name - $contract - yrs to keep at cost)
I'll give: CC-$31-2, Ben Sheets-$24-1, Aramis Ramirez-$28-2, and Ty Wigginton-$11-0
For: Prince Fielder-$18-1, Ryan Braun-$18-2, Orlando Hudson-$16-2.
I thought this was more than fair. He's getting unbelievable pitching help that would easily propel his staff to one of the best in our league, and he's getting some good pop to replace what he's giving up. True, he's losing power, but pitching is what he really needs.
But, it didn't go through. Turns out he's not interested in dealing Fielder or Braun. Oh well.
UPDATE = he actually had Patterson for the Cubs, so he ended up getting Harden and Gaudin in that trade. Probably another reason this trade didn't go through.
Fun with Rotowire.com...
I just wanted to check and see if what I offered seemed fair, or if I was far off (I get that the deal didn't work for the other team...esp after picking up Harden and Gaudin), so I submitted a question to Rotowire.com's Ask and Expert feature. Here's my question and their response:
ME:
This trade got turned down by the guy I offered it to in my NL Only, 10-team Keeper League ($260), but I wanted to run it by you to see if you thought it was a reasonable trade: (note- Player name-$-yrs left at price)
I'd Give: CC Sabathia-$31-2, Ben Sheets-$24-1, Aramis Ramirez-$28-2, Ty Wiggington-$7-0
I'd Get: Prince Fielder-$18-1, Ryan Braun-$18-2, Orlando Hudson-$16-2.
I'll be honest, I felt like I might be offering a bit too much, but it turns out he's not willing to deal Fielder or Braun at all.
"EXPERT RESPONSE":
I can see why you'd offer it, especially if you needed hitting, but yeah, I think what you were offering probably had a little more value than what you would have received. It's certainly a fair offer. I'd suspect that he is out of the race this year and really wants to keep Fielder and Braun, at what appear to be decentrates.
Good luck
MPStopa
Attempt #2
Ok, so the first deal went down in flames. No worries...I'm back for another attempt!
Here's what I threw out there:
(Player name - $contract - yrs to keep at cost)
I'll give: CC-$31-2, Aramis Ramirez-$28-2, and Ty Wigginton-$11-0
For: Dan Uggla-$6-1, and Jay Bruce-$10-2
Like, dislike? Let me know. I'll keep you posted as the saga continues...
On pause...
So this second attempt didn't go through...but didn't necessarily get thrown out, either. The owner's contemplating his options...so although it's not going to happen now, we could possibly be able to pry these guys away at a later time.
Think it's worth pushing?
He did counter w/ Kelly Johnson & Randy Wolf for Ramirez. Don't think I'll go there yet. I'm still holding out for a "bigger" trade where I can do all of my dumping at once for the best quality keepers.
didn't work....
not going to happen...see next response thread for more details...
What to make of this?
Ok, so the last trade offer for uggla and bruce is a no-go.
The owner ended up making a big deal consisting of Randy Wolf, Chad Tracy, Dan Uggla, Josh Anderson (M), and Jay Bruce for Johan Santana, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, and Josh Willingham.
OK, so you're probably wondering why I haven't been mentioning Utley or Howard in my talks. They would be great keepers to go after. But that's the thing: Howard, Utley and Willingham are all free agents after the year and can't be kept. They'll be in the free-agency pool regardless. And Santana probably will to with his $39 price tag. Kudos to the owner for pulling that off. It's a good deal, and although I'm dissappointed that I lost my shot at Uggla and Bruce, I get that this is a great deal for the owner who's definately trying to make a push at it this year.
And soon after that trade went through I got the following trade offer:
Brent Lilibridge (M), Felipe Paulino (M), Pedro Feliz ($16), Jason Werth ($3), K. Kendrick ($1) and M. Owings ($4) for Sabathia, Pujols and Ramirez.
Hmm...I definately don't like this offer. Ignore the fact that I'd really like to keep Pujols next year, the only person I'm remotely interested in with this offer is Werth, and he's not necessarily someone I would be targeting right now.
But, maybe I'm crazy. I need some help on this one. My gut says no, and I was wondering if you'd help me out with what you think...
Well...for starters...
Some of these trades that are happening in your league are CRAZY!!! I understand the dollar value and free agency thing...but seriously Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Johan Santana, and Josh Willingham...for that group of stiffs outside of Uggla...jesus...WAIT WAIT WAIT...someone will get nervous before the trade deadline...otherwise just keep him!
JDuff23
Phils win the East in 2007, looking to reapeat in 2008