Rounding Third: FAAB Results, Trades and The Shield

NFBC Main Event

This team has become a disaster - well, it was always pretty shaky, but every time I get a bit of good news (Jurickson Profar gets the call, great!), I get two bits of bad news (Jedd Gyorko and A.J. Burnett to the DL). I'm now that the point where I have very little FAAB left after continually trying to plug the holes in my lineup, so I've been outbid on key free agents, like Koji Uehara when Andrew Bailey (that's my Andrew Bailey, by the way) lost the job. So I've switched team names (that'll show them!) from El Scorchos to "Undone," the "Destroy My Sweater" song by Weezer. Not many know that the latter song is about a man slipping into insanity, and not just some frivolous, goofy song. I think it fits.

By the way, "deadmoney2" is owned by KC Cha, who is leading the overall contest. He's the second guy in this league to have a lead in the overall, following "Pollos Hermanos." And here's your quick reminder that the final eight episodes of Breaking Bad start airing on August 11.

RFBOC

There were a handful of tame bids this week. I'm in an interesting spot - I only have 19 pitching points, but I'm leading in saves. It's moments like this where I wish we could trade, so I could get full value for one of my three closers. In a 12-team mixed league, it's pretty tough to compete in wins and strikeouts with six starters and three relievers, so I'll probably have to take a few chances and go 8/1 at some point to make up ground. That my ratios are so lousy is actually liberating, in that I can max out two-start weeks a little bit more with little repercussion for bad starts.

XFL

Three years ago I took over a team in this 15-team dynasty league, and I've made enough good moves to have a chance to compete this year. But I still have a long way to go to make up ground on Trace Wood's first-place squad. Luckily, the two categories where I have the most room to gain are stolen bases and wins - both commodities that are easier to trade for. The downside was that I needed a big swing in bags to catch up there - adding a mid-tier guy wasn't going to do the trick. So I swung for the fences and traded three prospects in a big deal with Greg Ambrosius, landing Jacoby Ellsbury in the process. The full trade:

I deal: Billy Hamilton, Zack Wheeler, Travis d'Arnaud.
Greg deals: Jacoby Ellsbury ($19), Matt Cain ($25), Alexei Ramirez ($12).

All three prospects are $1 players until they are no longer rookie-eligible. The year after that, they advance $3 each year, and we can keep 15 players - including prospects, not in addition to prospects - each season. All other players advance $5 each year, unless they were originally drafted as prospects. Both Ellsbury and Cain are +$3 players, but realistically Cain won't be keepable at that price. It was a hefty price in prospects to pay, but I still have other great prospects - Jurickson Profar, Kevin Gausman, Gregory Polanco and Danny Hultzen. It was time to cash in on that farm system. Flags fly forever - let's hope this deal is enough to raise that flag.

Schedule Notes

Five Games Alert: Anaheim (with the added bonus of flying to Chicago for two games, then flying back to Seattle for three); Houston (at STL for two, then at TB for three).

Seven Games: BAL, BOS, CHI-A, CHI-N, CIN, CLE, COL, DET, KC, LAD, MIL, MIN, NY-A, PHI, SD, SEA, SF, TB, TEX, WAS

In other words, if you're using all but the elite hitters on Anaheim and Houston, you're losing ground on the field, especially in the NFBC half-week. Don't go crazy and bench Mike Trout, but think twice before using the likes of Alberto Callaspo, Brett Wallace, Chris Iannetta, etc .... It's hard to overcome a two-game deficit in counting stats.

Unrelated TV Observation

My wife and I are catching up on The Shield on DVD and are four episodes into Season 3. We love it so far - all the acclaim it has received seems merited. One quick question - who is the bigger screw-up? Shane on The Shield or Herc on "The Wire?" Everything he says and does is cringe-worthy.