Don't look away...

It's really remarkable that if you sit on your team page and keep hitting Refresh, nothing really updates. But the second you go do...you know, work, Tom Glavine leaves with a ribcage injury or it turns out that you put Jim Edmonds in the lineup when he's still out nursing whatever is his Injury DuJour. You really need to monitor your team, they need you.

Trading deadline day...as usual, the only rumors I can focus on are those involving my players. And it rarely seems like players are being discussed being traded between two National League teams. J.D. Drew is on the block? Really - with who? The A's, the Blue Jays, etc. (Maybe the Marlins, though.) Odalis Perez?* Blue Jays, perhaps. (But the Cardinals need pitching, send him THERE. Maybe he'll get some more wins.)

I know there has always been a "Don't Trade within your own division" rule -- though when the Braves basically gave Kevin Millwood to the Phils for a ham sandwich and free parking, you have to question that - but what about not trading within the same league? That's so restrictive, it's crazy. Still, it's happening. Jose Guillen went to the A's yesterday, and Aaron Boone just got shipped to the Yankees - both are on Otto's league leading team, so this is great news. Jeff Suppan went back to the Red Sox - he's on Barmak's second place team, again a good thing for us cellar-dwellers.

Speaking of which, my team still fluctuates from anywhere from fifth to seventh place on a daily basis. Very close still in some categories. Fourth or even third place are very realistic targets. Second place is tougher and right now, Otto is absolutely running away with it - he's 15 points above Barmak who is in 2nd. That's a lot of ground to make up. But, with these trades, Griffey's injury and potentially Larry Walker finishing things, Otto should fall back...the problem is that Barmak's team is running into problems as well (Oswalt, Suppan going to the AL) so it might be up to the rest of us to help close that gap. We shall see. Oh, we shall see.


* Have I mentioned I own Odalis Perez now? Traded him for Phil Nevin and Jose Reyes, neither of who I was necessarily going to play. Of course, if Drew gets traded or Edmonds is hurt for a long time, I might be screwed here.

Time keeps on ticking...

Wow, it's been a long time since I posted...somewhat intentionally, because a daily review was just getting too obsessive. As of this posting, I'm now in 5th place with 40.5 points, a nice surge from the last time I wrote. My offense went insane for a few weeks, and some intentional managing with the pitching staff has helped get me out of last in K's with only moderate damage to WHIP and ERA. I think (since Prior went on the DL today for hamheld device, I can hold and stay out of last place in that category. Hard to even place when you are last in a category.

Interesting, I'm still waiting for Shawn Green to get untracked, as is everyone who owns that kid around the fantasy world. Traded Brian Giles a few weeks ago, in return for Wade Miller and Jose Jiminez. Literally hours after the trade, Jiminez got demoted from closer to unwanted set-up man. Makes no sense to me (his E.R.A. and W.H.I.P. are terrible, but he's converted 19/21 chances) but it's far from the last thing a big-league manager does that confounds me. I quickly grabbed Brian Fuentes (worst delivery in the majors) but little brother J-Hate (Statutory Hate) already had Justin Speier who seems to be more entrenched. I'm not waiving Jiminez, but wow that stung.

The good news is, Brian Giles may be headed to Oakland, so something is better than nothing. Hella Huck and FS shipped him to Right Said Ced for Millwood...so they essentially swapped Miller for Millwood which is probably an upgrade for them...but who knows? Not sure why they got involved in that trade, actually.

Some other trades I may not have mentioned earlier:

Traded Corey Patterson and Braden Looper to Right Said Ced for Jim Edmonds. Edmonds has essentially been an MVP candidate and while both guys I sent did well at first, Patterson's season-ending injury certainly made this a good move on my part, though I feel for the Ced.

Traded Chipper Jones to Statutory Hate for Derrek Lee and J.D. Drew. This is closer to a push. It seems to depend on timing who is doing better - I started out stronger, then Chipper apparently thought he was in a Hooters restaurant or something, going nuts all over the place. If Drew gets traded to the A.L., I lose in this trade but so far it's been pretty even.

Another thing to remember for future years is that I have some major contributors that were on the waiver wire: Jeromy Burnitz (now a Dodger, not slowing down); Morgan Ensberg (who everyone but Jimy Williams knows is the real dizzle); even Oliver Perez (who I'm hoping has some nice second-half starts). Losing Benitez will hurt my saves (still don't understand the Mets, but they're now my sworn enemies) but Izzy is coming around, and Fuentes, Jiminez and now some Pittsburgh scraps (who should grab a few with Williams gone) should help me stay out of last and even move up a slot or two. Should be an interesting second-half. Not sure I can pretend I can win this, but a money-spot is definitely within reach!