re: FSBDL 2017 - MWG is your Champion

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I'll release a Trade Deadline Winners/Losers piece later this morning.

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In anticipation of my deadline LOSER write up, I'll describe my thought process leading up to my failure.

Dear Diary,

I was fully prepared to be a seller. I had a few hail mary offers out there for my offense just in case I could land a big bat, but I knew those would be auto rejected. So it was selling time - I was down 9-3 to Boo on Sunday and my offense hasn't done shite in 3 weeks. Had a few offers & negotiations going on that would have probably netted a decent prospect return for some of my older players and I even contacted some owners for cheap replacement MLBers should I go through with those trades for prospects.

Then my pitching takes over on the weekend and Boos pitching blows up and a 3-9 deficit finishes 6-6 and I still have a little playoff hope. So I reject trades for prospects and start trying to add hitting.

Had at least 10 owners contact me about Walker Buehler, but the 1 for 1 offers for him brought back guys that might help somewhat rest of season, but probably not enough to kickstart my O the way I need. Didn't want to trade him for marginal improvement that probably still doesn't make me a legit threat THIS season. Considering his upside and all the love he is getting in the prospect rankings now I can probably move him in the offseason for similar or better returns than what was being sent to me at the deadline. He might be the #1 pitching prospect in MILB by next spring. Actually I preferred to offer Buehler in a package for an impact bat but couldn't get any traction there. So he is still rostered by me for now.

My other prospects werent fetching much in return even when packaging together with multiple 1st round draft picks (Its amazing how far Greg Birds stock has fallen). Even when offering Buehler with them I couldn't get anything going.

My trade for Gamel had nothing to do with improving this season, . He was one of the players I reached out about earlier in the week when I was looking for cheap replacements should I sell some OFs off for prospects. Then I lost Desmond and Owings to the DL this past week and Souza might be out for a few days with a sore ankle, so that trade was just for OF depth.

So that's how one becomes a seller, to a potential buyer, to ultimately not getting shite done at the deadline.

MWG
Added: Lorenzo Cain

Lost: Dustin Fowler, Dexter Fowler, Scott Schebler

Comments: While I feel like MWG overpaid, he needed to boost his NSB cat heading into the playoffs. One thing I know for sure is that MWG did his homework and evaluated all possible avenues before settling on this deal. And when you really look at it, he can afford to lose the power that Schebs offers, and Dexter Fowler is nearing the end of his career in terms of fantasy relevance. Losing a mid-level prospect like Dustin Fowler won't matter either, as MWG will just find another one to use as a chip when the deadline rolls around next year.

Verdict: WIN

Gyno
Added: Nelson Cruz, Wade Davis, Byron Buxton

Lost: Gregory Polanco, Mitch Haniger, Archie Bradley, Phil Maton

Comments: Gyno went from having no bullpen whatsoever when the season started to having a mountain of RP on his roster entering last week. Then he went and added Wade Davis to the mix. When he made the Buxton deal, I was a little puzzled why a contender would make a move like that, but when you look at what he gave up (two RPs), Gyno was obviously buying low on the potential that Buxton has. The dude found a way to improve his team THIS year in the Cruz/Davis deal as well as potentially improve it moving forward with the Buxton pickup. Kudos.

Verdict: WIN

Lester Earl
Added: Evan Gattis, Ender Inciarte

Lost: Brandon Finnegan, Koda Glover

Comments: Kinda scratching my head on LE's approach. He's got the offense to win this thing, but he didn't do anything to address his weak pitching staff. Potentially losing Cueto isn't going to help either, and it came at the worst possible time, just hours before the deadline. Another thing that LE had working against him is that while he likes his prospects, he doesn't really have the big names to land what he would need to get over the hump. Maybe he was under the same thought process and felt that he didn't have what he needed to truly make a run at the ship this year. Doesn't seem like the LE I'm used to, though.

Verdict: LOST

RollDatRoll

Added: Koda Glover, Phil Maton, Archie Bradley, Brad Miller, Jon DuPlantier

Lost: Ender Inciarte, Byron Buxton, Willie Calhoun

Comments: RDR went out and addressed his biggest weakness at the deadline, and that was his bullpen. I like the pickups there. The worst kept secret in the league was that RDR was trying to unload Buxton. I'd be willing to bet that every team in the league received an offer that included him at some point this year. Bad luck that Albies got the call right after you dealt for that shithead Miller. RDR probably hurt his future when he dealt Buxton and Calhoun, but he's trying to defend the title. Can't fault him for that.

Verdict: EVEN.

Lester wasn't OTB chap. T&P window opens back up next year.

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Losing Guerrero probably stung a little

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It stung a lot, man. It still stings. If I don't place in the $$ it's going to really hurt.

Here's how the T&P roster shakeout ended.

OUT:
Corey Kluber
Ian Desmond
Joc Pederson
Travis Shaw
Trevor Rosenthal
Edwin Diaz

IN:
Eric Hosmer
David Price
Clint Frazier
Kyle Tucker
Luke Weaver
Yordan Alverez
Franklin Barreto
Josh Hader
2018 1st
2019 1st
2019 1st
2019 2nd

Nice wins:
Turning Ian Desmond into Kyle Tucker and Clint Frazier
Turning Joc Pederson into Eric Hosmer

Loss ATM: Kluber deal. Would have been a peak value sell at the deadline.