BLOCKBUSTER TRADE! Nick and Torto deal to push towards AL Playoffs



King Felix is eccstatic to hear the news he'll be playing for a real contender this season.

 Although a number of AL series went down last Sunday at Fish's house, the big news was the blockbuster 6-player trade that went down.  Nick was frustrated with his ace, 2010 AL Cy Young award winner Felix Hernandez, and I was looking for a 2nd situational lefty and an ace to lead my staff.  To land said ace, a big bat needed to be in play, and Jose Bautista was in the mix. In what must have been record time, we quickly (< 10 minutes) put a 6-man package together and agreed to a midseason trade.  The transaction was approved by Fish, Keith, and Mario and went thru immediately.  The trade details are as follows:

Nick acquired:
Jose Bautista - RF/3B
Koji Uehara - RP
Jeremy Guthrie - SP

Torto acquired:
Felix Hernandez - SP
Darren Oliver - RP
Ben Zobrist - RF/2B/1B

Other details:  As Guthrie was scheduled to get the next start for my squad, he is eligible to start immediately for Nick's next game.  King Felix needed to rest 3 more games before his next start, so I had to spot start Brian Duensing in Game 1 vs. Keith in my series immediately following the trade, followed by my normal #2 and #3 starters (Pineiro and Vargas).  Therefore, effective my next series, King Felix will get the next start, falling in as my #4 starter for the remainder of the regular season.

A classic Big Bat for Big Arm trade - with some nice secondary pieces attached.  Both teams win?  I think so.  Look for Nick's Bautista-Thome-Ortiz gauntlet we'll have to run (yikes).