The Trade Deadline hath come and gone! And thankfully, while there was a huge amount of trades, we got through the deadline with minimal confusion and dissent. It’s a lot to buy into that you lose & gain players in AL -> NL trades. But alas, I think we’ve shown the league can work.
Speaking of working it, how about the Indians on the trading block?! They’ve made 4 trades I think it is in the past week, as they gear up for the stretch run. I think for next year I’ll have a trades section as well for these updates, but I’m lazy for now! The Tribe are still chasing the Blue Jays and the Orange Birds in the AL, while the NL is still a snoozefest as the Nats walk all over everyone. Here’s how week 18 went down in the 2016 REL League:
| NATIONAL LEAGUE | ||
|---|---|---|
| REL Dynasty – NL | ||
| Nationals | 139.5 | Waiver Adds and Prospect Callups Past Week: |
| FAAB Remaining: | $88 | Jacob Barnes Mil – RP $0 |
| After already having lost Melvin Upton to the Blue Jays, we lost Jonathan Lucroy as he was traded to the Rangers. Since Jeremy Jeffress was also attached to the trade, we sent over Hansel Robles to the Cubs for the rights to all of the prospects in the deal: OF Lewis Brinson, P Luis Ortiz, and a player to be named later. We’re happy with the prospect haul, and it seems JB is too because he keeps sending us trade offers! The trade opened up a roster spot on our team and we added yet another Brewer, reliever Jacob Barnes.
With the trade deadline approaching, we have a lot of younger upside guys we’d like to trade for major league depth to help us contend for the World Series this year. So send those trade offers over! |
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| Cubs | 113.5 | Waiver Adds and Prospect Callups Past Week: |
| FAAB Remaining: | $96 | n/a |
| J.T. Marlin | 103 | Waiver Adds and Prospect Callups Past Week: |
| FAAB Remaining: | $100 | n/a |
| San Fran Giants | 99.5 | Waiver Adds and Prospect Callups Past Week: |
| FAAB Remaining: | $6 | Eduardo Núñez SF – 3B,SS $75, Conor Gillaspie SF – 3B $0 |
| Pirates | 99 | Waiver Adds and Prospect Callups Past Week: |
| FAAB Remaining: | $60 | n/a |
| Suplex City Cards | 91.5 | Waiver Adds and Prospect Callups Past Week: |
| FAAB Remaining: | $79 | n/a |
| Knoche’s Rockies | 85.5 | Waiver Adds and Prospect Callups Past Week: |
| FAAB Remaining: | $59 | Matt Belisle Was – RP $0, Christian Friedrich SD – SP,RP $0, Brett Wallace SD – 1B,3B $0 |
| Dodgers | 78 | Waiver Adds and Prospect Callups Past Week: |
| FAAB Remaining: | $100 | n/a |
| Mookie Mets | 77 | Waiver Adds and Prospect Callups Past Week: |
| FAAB Remaining: | $95 | n/a |
| Diamondbacks | 65.5 | Waiver Adds and Prospect Callups Past Week: |
| FAAB Remaining: | $72 | n/a |
| Cincinnati Reds | 65 | Waiver Adds and Prospect Callups Past Week: |
| FAAB Remaining: | $5 | n/a |
| Philadelphia | 61 | Waiver Adds and Prospect Callups Past Week: |
| FAAB Remaining: | $45 | Cristhian Adames Col – 2B,SS $1 |
| Brewers | 42.5 | Waiver Adds and Prospect Callups Past Week: |
| FAAB Remaining: | $22 | Andrew Susac SF – C $16, Carlos Torres Mil – RP $0 |
| Well, the deadline passed and I unfortunately didn’t get any automatic pieces of it. Errrrgggg. I was hoping some of our trades would be in the NL so I could pick up some unprotected prospects, but the big trade was to the AL and the other in the NL with everyone owned. Poop.
So to get a piece, I overspent again amongst the frugal NLers to ensure I got Susac. True story, Susac was my backup add to getting Carlos Torres in last Thursday’s FAAB. For $0. Ugh. But he moves over to the Brewers, former #1 prospect for the Giants, started slow in AAA coming off injuries, but has been a monster lately with 12 multi-hit games since June 27 and finding power. Moves to a hitter’s park? Check. To a team needing a catcher? Check. Even though I own Willson Contreras, accumulating depth while rebuilding is the way to go. Got the long-awaited debut of Orlando Arcia which was nice, but man does he have a violent swing. Looks like a great athlete though. Maybe he can become the Carlos Gomez of SS… Nothing was more painful than seeing Brock Stewart get absolutely torched in Coors. Poor dude is KILLING the Minors, but gets called up to make spot starts in Miller Park then in Coors. #1 and #2 in worst NL parks. Ouch. I still like his stuff though, he throws like a 94ish MPH fastball with an 87 MPH slider and like an 80-81 MPH change-up. Weird to see a velo gap like that. Other than that, not too much going on, just still competing with my makeshift roster to try and hold off the Braves and Pads for 3rd worst haha. |
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| Braves | 41 | Waiver Adds and Prospect Callups Past Week: |
| FAAB Remaining: | $84 | n/a |
| Padres | 38.5 | Waiver Adds and Prospect Callups Past Week: |
| FAAB Remaining: | $100 | Chris Coghlan ChC – 2B,3B,OF $0 |
| AMERICAN LEAGUE | ||
|---|---|---|
| REL Dynasty – AL | ||
| Blue Jays | 130 | Waiver Adds and Prospect Callups Past Week: |
| FAAB Remaining: | $92 | Gavin Floyd Tor – RP $3 |
| Another week has gone by, and ALOT has happened. The MLB trade deadline came and went, deals were made, REL teams were effected, strategies were finalized. One constant though is that the Jays are still hanging onto first place! I actually improved going from 125.5 to 130 points, which is awesome. The Orange Birds dropped a couple, and the Tribe gained 3.5 points. Overall though I almost doubled my lead in the last week from 6.5 to a very solid 12.5 points.
With the MLB trade deadline in the mirror, and the REL trade deadline looming on the horizon now, the contenders were putting their plans to fill any gaps into motion. The Tribe went out and made 3 separate deals in one fell swoop. Effectively signalling their desire and intention to win it all this year. Then they quickly followed that up with a fourth move. The farm has been reaped, there’s no question about that. We’re still waiting on what the Orioles will do now, no moves yet but surely something to come. As for me, I dealt away my beloved Rowdy Tellez, along with Conner Greene and Emilio Bonifacio to bring in some starting pitching help. In addition to getting Jordan Zimmerman, I also grabbed a young prospect in Derek Hill who has some crazy speed and can hopefully turn into something good in a few years. I also got Francisco Liriano (ummm, yay, I guess), thanks to a real life MLB trade, along with a couple of good young prospects for Drew Hutchison who I just finished trading for in the REL. Good deal for me I guess. I just hope Liriano doesn’t explode my teams WHIP and ERA. Hopefully working with Russell Martin again will bring him back to form. At least he gets away from that horrible pitching coach Ray Searage…. Sounds like Sanchez is (probably) for sure going to the bullpen now (or at some point soon). Though I guess that depends if you listen to the players, the manager, the GM, or the President of the organization. They all seem to be on different pages. I for one am against it completely, as I think totally changing the routine Sanchez has been going through all year and turning him into a bullpen guy is more likely to cause an arm injury than allowing him to continue what he’s used to. He’s been so good, and he’s thrown among the least pitches per inning of any starter in baseball at only 14/inning. He doesn’t look tired, he hasn’t lost any velocity, and I dare you to show me one piece of scientific proof that he’s more likely to get injured if he stays in the rotation. And, well “X player got injured when he had an innings jump” doesn’t cut it, because I can name you any number of guys that did have a big innings jump that didn’t get injured. Hell, lets just go Jays here. Dave Stieb pitched 129 his rookie year and followed it up with 242 the next year. No arm injuries there. Jimmy Key went from 62 to 212 in his first 2 years. Again, no injuries. Does that prove anything? Other than the fact that we baby pitchers now based on a hunch, which doesn’t seem to do anything other than cause more injuries than we ever used to have. Anyway, end of rant. Good luck the rest of the way. |
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| Orange Birds | 117.5 | Waiver Adds and Prospect Callups Past Week: |
| FAAB Remaining: | $79 | n/a |
| Well it took six months of ownership and countless trade talks, but the Orange Birds have finally made their first trade! I sent Derek Holland and acquired Kevin Kiermaier. I get my speed fix and the Rays get starting pitching depth. Kiermaier is someone I’ve had my eye on since I first joined the league and while he has already contributed after one day, I still only have 12 steals on the year… (Two of them came yesterday).
I really need the Orioles to swipe some bags and my pitching to be on point for the next month if I want to have a shot at winning the league. The Blue Jays have a commanding 12.5 point lead and the Indians made so many trades to improve their team in the last few days that it really puts me in a tough spot. I have been hesitant to move some of my prospects so far, but I am definitely more open to it with the trade deadline less than two weeks away. Anyone who has an interest if any prospects or players, please let me know. I will probably be sending offers/emails out myself. |
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| The Tribe | 117 | Waiver Adds and Prospect Callups Past Week: |
| FAAB Remaining: | $92 | n/a |
| Well I’m all in. 4 trades so far this week. What could I have been thinking? I basically traded the whole farm away. Now my team is getting beat up by the Twins. My pitching staff, that is supposed to be the strength of my team, can’t get out of the 4th inning. Am I sitting here second guessing every move… sure but that’s what makes it fun and it has definitely been a fun week. I like to make trades and I’m always surprised at how they turn out. Sometimes the ones I loved at the time end up the stinkers and the ones I hated as soon as I agreed end up looking masterful. So hopefully these will lead to a REL title.
I’m bouncing around 2nd and 3rd with the Jay’s putting lots of space between him and us. I needed power and S/H and that’s what I got. Pujols and Gattis will provide the extra power and Kintzler and Miller should provide the saves along with newly promoted Bedrosian. I might be able to make a strong run with the S/H as Allen, Rogers, Warren, Shaw and Abad could all get late inning work. With Warren and Rogers also qualifying at SP it will allow me to have as many as 7 late inning relievers in a night. I still have at least one more deal to make. I’m overloaded with OFers and players in general. I would like to either do a 2/3 for 1 deal or trade some established player for guys in the minor leagues preferably the lower minors. They don’t have to be top flight guys just fair offers. I have Ellsbury, Rasmus, Davis, Gomes, Montero, Shaw, Abad, Fiers, and Furbush not only on the block but readily available. I would consider trading other guys as well which probably doesn’t need to be said at this point. Send any offer I don’t get offended and you never know I might just say yes. Go Tribe! |
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| Red Sox | 104.5 | Waiver Adds and Prospect Callups Past Week: |
| FAAB Remaining: | $22 | Heath Hembree Bos – RP $0 |
| Astros | 102.5 | Waiver Adds and Prospect Callups Past Week: |
| FAAB Remaining: | $52 | Kyle Crockett Cle – RP $0, Dillon Overton Oak – SP $3, Alex Bregman Hou – 3B,SS (called up) |
| The REL Stros run in ’16 is officially over and everything I do from here (a few days ago) on out is geared toward making a run at the title in ’17. I’m unloading some older, disappointing players and focusing in on guys either in their prime or soon to be entering it. Sure there’s that but it’s certainly nice to be a team that is constantly calling up high upside prospects and keeping things interesting for me week in and week out.
Offensively I’ve been mostly fine hovering in the 3rd to 5th place range for the last couple of months in every category except batting average where I’m 2nd to last. This is what did me in this year and all I can really do is hope my youngsters progress enough to at least put me in the middle of the pack next year. Pitching has been a struggle for most of the year as seen by my languishing in the middle of the ranks in ERA/WHIP but I’m running away with Ks (yet 4th in innnings), Wins are catching up, and I’m in the top 1/3rd of the league in sv+hld. For next year (with their age next season) I’m currently looking at a squad of… C – Bandy (LAA-27) I really shouldn’t be surprised that my worst categories are the percents. As of yesterday the Astros had 7 rookies on their 25-man roster, and I’m hoping a few more of mine can get their feet wet before the season wraps up. Gillaspie (TBR-24) is probably the next man up after Gurriel but he just started in AAA and should stay there at least until September. Paulino (HOU-23) is already on the 40-man roster and under his inning limit but he might not be by the time September rolls around. It’s been said a few times and now everything I am doing is going toward one goal, for 2017 to officially be named, “The year of the Astro”. |
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| Tigers | 99 | Waiver Adds and Prospect Callups Past Week: |
| FAAB Remaining: | $25 | Tyler Collins Det – OF $9, Donnie Hart Bal – RP $6 |
| Mariners | 83.5 | Waiver Adds and Prospect Callups Past Week: |
| FAAB Remaining: | $15 | Ariel Miranda Sea – RP $5, Evan Scribner Sea – RP $0, Jonathan Aro Sea – RP $0, Charlie Tilson CWS – OF (called up) |
| White Sox | 80 | Waiver Adds and Prospect Callups Past Week: |
| FAAB Remaining: | $63 | Andrew Romine Det – 1B,2B,3B,SS,OF $0 |
| Yankees | 67.5 | Waiver Adds and Prospect Callups Past Week: |
| FAAB Remaining: | $59 | Nick Goody NYY – RP $0, Richard Bleier NYY – RP $0 |
| Halos | 66 | Waiver Adds and Prospect Callups Past Week: |
| FAAB Remaining: | $34 | n/a |
| Power Rangers | 63 | Waiver Adds and Prospect Callups Past Week: |
| FAAB Remaining: | $12 | n/a |
| Rays | 61 | Waiver Adds and Prospect Callups Past Week: |
| FAAB Remaining: | $4 | Zach Neal Oak – RP $0 |
| Royals | 50 | Waiver Adds and Prospect Callups Past Week: |
| FAAB Remaining: | $55 | Guillermo Heredia Sea – OF $2 |
| Well for the Royals, all the build-up, speculation, excitement and frenzy going into the trade deadline finally culminated in….Billy Burns for Eibner…WTF???? What about that boatload of top NL prospects that were coming over for Wade Davis, Hochevar, Volquez, etc?…crickets….
In an utterly cruel twist of fate, both Davis and Hochevar went down with injuries days before the deadline, just as the trade value for relievers was skyrocketing. Why cruel universe, WHY???? Definitely a setback for my REL Team, but there’s no crying in baseball, right? Kleenex please. After licking my wounds and moving forward, and with zero help from the real-life Royals, I did continue my rebuilding efforts this week. Traded Pomeranz to the Indians for pitching prospects Clevinger and Kaminsky. For those keeping track at home, I think that was deadline trade deal number 32 for the REL Indians. I still like Pomeranz as a solid mid-rotation starter for years to come, but really excited about the young arms I got in return. Hopefully, it’s the proverbial trade that “works out well for both teams”. |
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| Athletics | 39 | Waiver Adds and Prospect Callups Past Week: |
| FAAB Remaining: | $55 | J.C. Ramírez LAA – RP $7, Andrew Benintendi Bos – OF (called up) |
| Minnesota Twins | 19.5 | Waiver Adds and Prospect Callups Past Week: |
| FAAB Remaining: | $70 | n/a |
