I'm a strong cryer... (and Casey too)

Sorry about not having a blog yesterday. I’ve been helping Meredith’s cousin move into their huge new house. Today I learned that I have absolutely no upper or lower body strength, but I do have strength where it counts… my tear ducts.

As for these trade shenanigans I’m going to go ahead and just veto the thing. I do want to make a few quick points though.

Jason would not have had four keepers, he would have had three (AROD, Bedard and Harang). He then would have traded a player and a draft pick for two players. Reyes and Wright would have still been considered Tony’s keeper selections. That really doesn’t matter though, what matters is how many times a specific player has been kept in a row. Once the keepers have been selected, it does not matter who gets traded up to the draft because they are all keepers anyway. If you have question or are confused by this, e-mail me.

Tony and Jason – if you two want to make a trade involving Reyes and AROD you don’t have to wait until the draft to do it. If you come up with a deal that is fair and works send it to me. Maybe a Santana and Pujols for AROD and a 10th rounder would be enticing? I don’t, just thought I’d get the ball rolling.

As for today’s evaluations, we have Mr. Casey at the bat. Enjoy.

P.S. Tomorrow I plan to post the players who cannot be kept after this season. I’ll expand to that list after the draft, but I want to give you a heads up.

P.S.S For clarification, Tony's keepers are Pujols, Reyes and Santana while Jason's keepers are Harang, Bedard and AROD. Just for clarification...

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Keeper Review – KC

Chosen Keepers
Ted Lily
Vladimir Guerrero
Travis Hafner

Draft Picks Lost
2nd, 3rd and 28th round picks

Last Year Fantasy Point Total (position rank)
Lilly – 472 (16)
Guerrero – 619 (2)
Hafner – 413 (3)

Players Not Kept of Note
Orlando Cabrera
Ken Griffey Jr.
Derek Jeter
Gil Meche
Roy Oswalt
Mark Buehrle
Rich Harden

Thoughts:
KC made a bold move when sacrificed his second and third round picks for an aging Vladimir Guerrero and an underperforming Travis Hafner. To counter his bold move, he gave up his last pick for Ted Lilly, who will likely be better than the player he would draft there anyway.

Keeping Guerrero is an interesting move given his age and round he may have been drafted in (I’d presume later than the second round). Guerrero, who will be 32 this season, had his lowest home run total since 2003 hitting only 27 bombs. However, he did see a spike in his doubles numbers, tying his career mark with 45. This would suggest that he hasn’t lost his power all together. It is a concern though and makes one wonder if Casey could have easily gotten Vladimir in a lower round. A fifth round pick maybe?

I understand the Hafner decision. Despite his down year, Hafner carries a high value because there are not a lot of DH eligible players who produce at a high level. With Hafner being off the board, we are left with David Ortiz and Gary Sheffield as the only reliable DH’s available. There may be an early run on DH’s in the draft. Casey, though, is set at that position.

Ted Lilly will have decent value in the 28th round. If he wasn’t kept, he probably would have gone around the 18th to 21st round. Lilly set career highs in strikeouts and innings pitched while tying his career high in wins last season. He too will be 32 years old this season. The condition his arm is in will be interesting.