Well, at least it isn't a steroid controversy...

YES! I pissed people off! I foresee my ending to life coming violently …

Anyway, it seems like there is a bit of controversy around the Smurfs/Tones (or whatever his name is now) deal, so I’d like to make a few quick explanations and then a proposal.

First, when doing the keepers, I checked with every person personally about who they were keeping before sending the available players to Adam and Kyle. Every person that is, except for Tony who had his preliminary keepers posted since September. I never checked with him to make sure those were his keepers.

Tuesday I received an IM from Jason outlining the trade and noticed David Wright was involved. I was confused because I thought Tony had not kept Wright. After talking to Tony, I realized that I should have talked to him before registering his keepers. Because I’m a pansy, I allowed him to make the switch in keepers because I knew Kyle or Adam would not have kept him if given the opportunity, the trade was fair(ish) and because I felt Wright and Pujols were plausible first round picks for this draft. So that’s that.

As for keepers, it does not matter how many “keepers” one has on their roster if they have traded for them. If one wanted to, they could trade all three of their keepers to me for my first three picks in the draft. The only stipulation is that a draft pick must be involved if one team will receive more players than the other and that one can only select three keepers from his current roster prior to the deadline (a deadline that I did a terrible job of following). The only problem with this trade was that Wright was not “officially” kept when I announce the keepers Tuesday.

With that said, I am thinking about overturning the trade provided I receive a reasonable explanation from three naysayers. If I do we’ll go from there. If not, the trade will stand. It’s up to you. Post your thoughts on the League Page message board.

Now… on with the evaluations!

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Keeper Review – Krunk Smurfs (Ugh, what a stupid name...)

Chosen Keepers
Erik Bedard
Aaron Harang
Jose Reyes (via trade with Tones)
David Wright (via trade with Tones)

Draft Picks Lost
1st, 19th and 28th round (Lost 15th round pick in trade with Tones)

Last Year Fantasy Point Total (position rank)
Bedard – 681 (3)
Harang – 632 (6)
Reyes – 546 (1)
Wright – 892 (2)

Players Not Kept of Note
Brandon Webb
Francisco Rodriguez
Jose Valverde
Jimmy Rollins
B.J. Upton
Mark Teixeira
Gary Sheffield
Carlos Pena

Thoughts:
The Krunk Smurfs (God I hope he changes that name soon…) based his strategy on Bedard and Harang duplicating their success (while costing him very low draft picks) and that David Wright and Jose Reyes combined are more valuable than AROD and any other shortstop (“A wise premise in my view.” Tim McCarver).

Keeping Bedard and Harang are risks, but safe risks given the draft positions surrendered. Bedard has never gone through a full season without missing a start. He has also never posted an ERA under 4.32 in his four full seasons in the majors. Additionally, his 5.96 career ERA at Safeco Field is third only to Angel Stadium (9.22) and Fenway Park (8.10). Bedard is 6-7 with a 6.66 ERA in his career versus the Angles, Rangers and Athletics (that can’t be a good sign). Bedard will be 29 years old this season.

Harang was the benefactor of good luck last season, going 16-6 for the lowly Cincinnati Reds. However, his 218 strikeouts (two more than his total from 2006) were not luck. Harang’s 4.19 to 1 strikeout to walk ratio was the best in the National League last year. Harang will be 30 years old this year and pitching for a team that did not appear to improve itself much this season. The health of Ken Griffey Jr. and the future of Adam Dunn may negatively affect what is an already terrible team. Harang will have to maintain his excellent strikeout to walk ratio if he is to have another big year for Jason.

I’m not really high on David Wright. I think he will lose RBI’s to a reinvigorated Carlos Delgado and Moises Alou. I also think his power will regress (Shea is just so huge) and he’ll fall back to the mid-20s. I’d also be surprise if he stole more than 34 bases if the lineup in front and behind him is healthy.

As for Reyes, the new point changes will make him a greater force given his ability to steal bases and score runs. His occasional home run power is also nice.

Damn you Jason…