Week 13 Waiver Wire- Trade Rumors Swirling Like Heads in a Toilet

My dreams are finally coming true; it looks like we have entered trade season.  We had our first trade since week 1 (part 2) go through at the end of last week and we have another that is pending.  On top of that, I hear that there have been a number of other trades offered and talked about, even if they never came to fruitition.  You can all rest assured, if there is a trade that is talked about that would involve a person that I am connected to personally, I hear about it.  And I love it.  I love that those things are being discussed and I love that you all are so excited about it and about our league that you tell me about it.  That is really what I was hoping to accomplish by setting up this league and doing the whole blogging thing...I wanted to give us all something to converse about when maybe, we didnt have anything else to talk about that day.  For you young guys, as you get older, your relationships with your friends change.  You will likely always be friends with the people you are close to now in the way that, if you call them up they will be happy to hear from you and you will catch up for 15 minutes on what has happened since the last time you talked, but you tend to drift apart due to things like not living 13 feet away from them anymore, having a girlfriend/wife (or boyfriend/husband...there is no judgement here) that you actually like spending time with, work or family commitments, or a million other little things that pull at your time and attention.  There are some exceptions (Tom and John), but for the most part this is a natural part of growing up.  Hopefully, this league is something that keeps at least a core group of us together and we all can continue to shoot around witty, meaningless texts and talk about tater tots in ways that make peopel within earshot a bit uneasy for years to come.  Basically what I am saying is thank you to all of you for getting so involved.  Ok, now I will stop being all mushy and get on with the waiver adds (9?  Shit son) before someone gives me a swirly.

TRADE!!!!!!
Backyard SuperStars get SS Jimmy Rollins
Huckleberries get SP Chris Archer

This is a classic win-win trade.  BySs has been rolling out Everth Cabrera and his .129/.205/.143 slash line in June at shortstop and badly needed an upgrade.  While Rollins isnt the perennial All Star that he was a handful of years ago, he is still a middle of the pack offensive shortstop who can contribute in all 5 categories and has a clear path to playing time, even if he is traded (no one is going to trade for him and then bench him).  Middle of the pack isnt great, but it is lightyears better than the shit show Everth has been staring in.  Archer is a solid upcoming pitcher, but if there is one thing BySs has, its starting pitching.  Kevin, on the other hand, needed another SP and already had Hanley Ramirez at shortstop.  Giving up Rollins as a back up to the injury/effort prone Ramirez hurts, but the 25 year old Archer gives him a great SP to build on for only $7.  This one is ADVANTAGE: PUSH  in the short term, but leans towards Kevin in the long term because of Archer's age and the extreme unlikelihood that Kyler keeps Rollins.  Kyler likely would not have kept Archer either, so to get something he can use now is very beneficial, but it keeps it from being a totally level swap.

Yahoo tells me the other trade will process for next week, so we will include that and any others with the next waiver add.

If you hit it, you can rename it...You want to call it the masterbater dont you?

RP JP Howell - $5 - Les Moles - No Drop
RP Chad "DJ" Qualls  - $2 - Huckleberries - Drop RP Joe Nathan
Howell is a member of Project Mayhem, as is Qualls though at a slightly different (lesser) level.  If this were the Masons, Howell would be a 28th degree Master Mason and Qualls would be a 3rd degree Jr Mason, and they would both be plotting to take over the world using clues left by Nicholas Cage and Nostrodomus.  I am going to willfully ignore the Joe Nathan drop because it makes me sad when great players (and especially ones that seem like decent human beings) hit the wall and lose their Major League talent.

OF Krush Davis - $5 - Bob's ATers - Drop OF Matt Holliday
There is a lot to like about Krush.  He has solid pop (33 of his 68 hits have gone for extra bases), wont kill you in the BA department and has a killer nickname.  There are things not to like as well, like he refuses to take a walk (15 in 280 plate appearances) and doesnt run particularly well or often on the bases.  Basically, he is a great guy to have on the bench in case you need a week or 2 fill in, but he isnt someone you would want to roam your fantasy outfield (or dreams) on a regular basis.

Brock Holt LOVES the itsy bitsy spider.

1b/3b/OF Brock Holt - $5 - Huckleberries - Drop SP/RP Drew "Pinata" Pomeranz
I love that the Red Sawks thought it would be a great idea to start the 5'10" Holt at 1b 6 times this year.  It says something about the injury woes that the Sox have dealt with, but it says a lot more about how much the Sawks like Holt.  Holt brings great contact skills (.318 average), an occasional stolen base (5 this year), and multiple position eligibilty to Kevin's team.  He doesnt hit for a whole lot of power (15 HRs in 2070 minor league PAs, with 7 HRs coming in A ball) and may end up being the Swiss Army knife of the Sawks season (never finding a true position), but as long as he is at the top of the lineup, hes start worthy.  Pinata Pomeranz will make a return to the waiver adds at some point this season...he is too good not to.  But he isnt good enough to warrant stashing on the bench while he rehabs his hand and his sad face.

Is that a wildebeast?  Look at that mess of hair.

SP Yovanni Gallardo - $5 - Huckleberries - Drop SP Ryan Vogelsong
The Vogelsong yo-yo continues as he is dropped back to the waiver wire for what feels like the 49th time this year.  Gallardo is back in our lives thanks to 3 straight 7 inning starts in which he gave up a total of 2 runs and struck out 20.  When he is right, Gallardo is firmly in the second teir of starting pitchers thanks to his ability to strike batters out and generate weak contact.   It always seems though, that Gallardo is one outing away from completely imploding for no appearant reason then going on a bender in the Brewers' clubhouse.  Vogelsong hasnt been able to regain the form that made him on of the NL's better starters in 2011 and 2012.  He has shown occasional flashes, but hasnt been consistent.  In fantasy, lack of consistency = lack of roster spot.

Drooling the drool of regret upon the pillow of remorse.

OF Cory Dickerson - $4 - Bob's ATers - Drop C Yan Gomes
Have I mentioned that Bob is a dick lately?  I also tried to nab Dickerson's services this week, but underbid by a buck.  Dickerson is a 6 category stud (355/412/664 28R 29RBI 5 SB in 167 plate appearances) who now has a clear path to playing time IN COLORADO with the tentacle tumor removal surgery that CarGo had.  With a month+ to solidify his spot in the Rockies OF, I am confident that even CarGo's return wont push Dickerson back to the bench.  I am going to be kicking myself for a long time on this one for not going the extra couple of bucks to make sure I ended up with him.  There will be many tacos had in Colorado thanks to Dickerson.

Im having Jeff Pico flashbacks...

SP Jake Arrieta - $3 - Les Moles - Drop SP Nathan Eovaldi
Eovaldi celebrated his release last night by posting bagels for 6 innings against the Phillies, though, to be fair, lots of people post bagels against the Phillies this season.  Arrieta was injured to start the year, but has picked up right where he left off after he came to the Cubs from Baltimore last season in the Scott Feldman trade (the Cubbies won that one BIG time).  In 9 starts, he has 4 QS (mostly due to the Cubs keeping his workload down, not performance) including his last 3 where the training wheels have finally come off.  In the last 3 starts he has thrown 20 innings, given up 1 run, 10 hits, 2 walks and struck out 27.  Arrieta was a top prospect with the Orioles before he struggled and lost some of his luster.  As a hopeful Cub fan, I fully endorse this pick up.

Equal parts Chuck Norris and Teen Wolf (the one with MJ Fox)

C Derek Norris - $3 - UCCMA - Drop 2b/22 Jed Lowrie
Remember when Jed Lowrie was on the leader board for OBP at the 1 month mark of the season (.423 at the end of April)?  He followed that up with a 189/257/295 May and an even worse 169/244/254 so far in June.  Pumpkin, they name is Lowrie.  Norris started the season off extremely hot in April, which got him more playing time in May.  He struggled with everything but walks in May and the A's have scaled back his PT in June, and his numbers have sky rocketed again.  Reliablity will be an issue with Norris as he has started only 44 of 76 games the A's have played so far this season, but as a backup and injury replacement, he will likely be one with the least drop off from the starter.

SP Henderson Alvarez - $1 - BySs - Drop SS Everth Cabrera

Brothers dont shake hands...

Weve covered Cabrera and his suckitude already.  Alvarez is an interesting case. Yahoo is pimping the shit out of him right now and he is on a silly good run over the past 3 or so turns.  He even has a no hitter to his name (game 162 last year vs the Miguel Cabrera-less Tigers in a game that was won 1-0 on a walk off wild pitch with 2 out in the bottom of the 9th and Greg Dobbs up).  I am just not sure theres a ton here to get excited about.  He doesnt strike guys out (his K rate is at a career high 5.8/9 innings right now) and he gives up a ton of hits.  He does limit walks and has become great at preventing balls from leaving the yard.  But the high hit rate means that he likely will never be a great help with WHIP (though he wont kill you either because he walks like no one...no wonder Toronto traded him, he didnt fit the organizational idea of what a pitcher should be) even if he keeps his ERA down by avoiding the big flies.

OF/1b Brandon Moss - $1 - ZAttack - Drop C Mike Zunino

"I think I see my career veering into foul ground."

Moss's vacation on the waiver wire was short lived as Bob dropped him on Saturday to make room for Jose Abreu on the active roster (Anyone who needs 1b help, I hear that Bob has Jose Abreu on his bench with Anthony Rizzo starting).  Moss is currently 7th in MLB in RBI with 55, right ahead of guys named Mike Trout and Paul Goldschmidt.  And though he doesnt have the category juice that those other 2 guys have, 55 RBI in 73 games makes for a playable guy in any format.  He has struggled in the past 2 weeks, with only 3 runs and 2 RBI in 45 at bats, but his track record suggest he will turn it around again.  Zunino, Zunino, Zunino...his power has been there, but pretty much nothing else has.  It is starting to look like the former college player of the year and one time top prospect (he was seriously compared to Matt Weiters and Buster Posey when he was coming out of Florida) is heading more towards bust than boom.