MITTS TRANSACTION PAGE

Over the years the Mitts have made hundreds of trades.  Like yours too some have been great, others have been flopperoonies, and most are relatively even.
When I joined a different league I decided to track my trades and I've found it helpful to look back and see whether my thinking was clear or faulty.
Unfortunately my written records in the CBL are sketchy and barely go back more than a year.  The earliest one I'll list below has been pieced together by recollection and may not be 100% accurate.  It's the "Barry Bonds Trade".
You'll find the trade and then usually a comment as to what I was trying to do at the time.

10/10/09  Mitts trade Mike Adams to Ungulates for Ungulates #3
COMMENT This was a trade that was necessary but not fun to make.  Adams' limited innings card is going to be fabulous but it would be wasted on a team that has no playoff aspirations.  The worrisome aspect is that if Adams can stay healthy (I realize that that is a big IF) he may enjoy several years as a dominant set-up reliever.  Perhaps he'll even become a closer and wouldn't that be just another finger in my eye?  All that being said the Mitts now have a pick in round 3 to go with the two #2's so the draft situation which was modest is now almost up to average.


3/7/09  Mitts trade Yorvit Torrealba + Bombers #7  to Huskers for Wil Nieves + Huskers #8
COMMENT One would think that making a small trade like this involving two nondescript backup/platooner catchers would be an easy, one email process.  And one would be wrong.  Chris and I had a fundamentally different take on these two modest talents.  Chris felt that because Nieves has a better card vs LHP for the upcoming season that the Huskers were entitled to a draft pick compensation in addition to Torrealba.  I tried to make the case that Yorvit is younger (yes, just by a year), better defensively, has a more secure job during the upcoming major league season, and projects to out-hit Nieves during the major league season.  Then it just came down to a haggling of what smattering of extra draft pick value would even it up sufficiently for Chris.  This is what we came up with.
3/1/2009  Mitts trade Paul Loduca + Icons #8  to the Bombers for Bombers #7
COMMENT In a way this is a reversal of the trade made a year ago when the Mitts traded a #7 to the Bombers for Matt Treanor + a #8.  LoDuca is old and poor defensively but he still represents an upgrade at backup catcher for the Bombers who otherwise might have had to use the terrible Johjima card.  Meanwhile the modest price restores the 7th round position that was vacated when we traded for Colome.
2/28/2009  Mitts trade Revival #7 to Blackjacks for Jesus Colome + Icons #8
COMMENT When we made the trade bringing in Greg Zaun we gave up Jose Veras who was slated to be the team's #6 RP, admittedly not a crucial position.  We were ready to turn the job over to Tony Pena who has a good arm but had a mediocre 2008.  Colome would seem to be an upgrade at that position and will allow us to store Pena in the minors or perhaps trade him.  The price, just a bit more than a one round bump late in the draft, was not prohibitive.
1/10/2009  Mitts trade Lyle Overbay + Aaron Cunningham + Mitts #1 to Huskers for Aubrey Huff + Huskers #2
COMMENT It was no secret that we thought our offense at DH vs RHP was a bit light with Overbay who we thought would be best positioned as someone's platoon 1bman. We knew that Huff could be had if enough future value could be added to Overbay who should make a nice 1b platoon partner for Paul Konerko.  Cunningham is a solid prospect who has a shot at some playing time in the Oakland outfield.  Meanwhile the big attraction for Chris was getting a 1st round pick albeit one that should come late in the round.
1/8/2009  Mitts trade Matt Treanor + Jose Veras to Sluggers for Greg Zaun
COMMENTThe Sluggers desired to add some relief pitching.  The Mitts wanted to use something stronger than LoDuca and/or Treanor when Salty's ABs run out.  It is a pretty natural fit.  Veras was slated to be the Mitts' #6 RP.  His job now falls to Tony Pena whose card is slighly inferior to Veras' but who can close in a pinch and has more available innings.  The tradeoff  at the final RP slot is minor while Zaun should be a better bat in the 9-hole for about 100 ABs.
12/5/2008  Baseball trades BJ Ryan + Jamie Moyer to Mitts for Erik Beddard + Tim Redding
COMMENT The Cannonball club had two good closers (Ryan and K-Rod) but did not expect to contend.  The Mitts had a modest excess at starting pitching with plans to use Bedard for about 16 starts.  We agreed that the SP for closer idea could work and that the Mitts were entitled to a slight upgrade elsewhere since Bedard offerred more innings and the potential to be a #2 or #3 SP in the future.  We traded veteran pitchers with Moyer being a better #5 starter for the Mitts than Redding would have been.
11/17/2008 Baseball trades Mike Cameron + Darren Oliver to Mitts for Alfonso Soriano + Wil Ledezma + Mitts #3
COMMENT When Cameron got a cf-1 rating it made him attractive to our team (and several others).  He will become the team's CF'er vs all LHP and will either start vs some RHP or be available for late game defense.  Oliver is a better pure reliever than Ledezma who is a balanced LH SR.  The draft pick was in there to balance the value since the Mitts received back more firepower for the upcoming season.  Not only will the Mitts' D be better in CF vs LHP but the trade allows us to move Edwin Encarnacion (3B-4) to DH while Jeff Keppinger (3B-3) will step in at the hot corner when we face a LH SP.  Soriano's power figures to play well in Cannonball's HR friendly park.  
11/12/2008  Mitts trade Tim Byrdak + Mitts #8  to the Revival for Dontrelle Willis + Revival #7
COMMENT  The trade we made on 11/11 which brought Dennys Reyes to the Mitts pretty much sealed the fate for veteran LOOGY Tim Byrdak.  We noticed that Andy's Revival team had one LH RP and we know that many mgrs prefer to have two southpaws coming out of the pen.  The approximate value to this type of pitcher is about a 7th round pick.  We've made this kind of trade often enough to know.  Will Willis be cut or be in the Mitts' minors?  That probably won't be known til cutdown day.  We have this impish thought that Willis might resurrect his career a la Rich Ankiel and come back as a slugging LF'er or 1Bman.
11/11/2008  Mitts trade John Lannan +  J.C. Romero to the Dream for Justin Masterson + Dennys Reyes
COMMENT  There was never a doubt that Lannan and Masterson were close to even in talent.  The Mitts took Lannan with the 18th pick of the draft.  The Dream took Masterson with the very next pick.  When the smoke cleared the Dream had an unenviable 5th starter situation while the improved Mitts' bullpen still had areas that needed bucking up.  The lefty relievers gave the Mitts a slight upgrade at the second LH RP slot to make up for the fact that Lannan should give the Dream 32 starts while Masterson will be coming out of the Mitts' pen for just about 100 innings.
11/9/2008  Mitts send Mitts #4 (pick 78) + Cubs #7 (pick 126)   to Ungulates for Joe Crede +  Sluggers #8 (pick 146)
COMMENT We had an announced need for a 3Bman to face RHP.  Edwin Encarnacion will have a  big offensive card vs the lefties.  Matt had the rather unusual Joe Crede available.  Crede will be horrid vs lefties yet should pound righties (910 OPS that way).  He is also a defensive oddity as Lamanna predicts a 3b-2 e35 rating.  We decided that Crede was probably worth a 3rd round pick but the Mitts didn't have one so we supplemented a 4th rounder with a one round late swap in Matt's favor.
10/20/08  Mitts trade Bobby Crosby to Cubs for Yorvit Torrealba
COMMENT This is your prototypical minor trade.  Crosby never blossommed for the Mitts after being an early 1st round pick.  Injuries have marred his career which had the promise of above average defense combined with 20 HR power.  His '08 season for Oakland was relatively healthy but resulted in a modest offense with OPS under 650 both ways.  Torrealba is rather poor vs RHP but about average vs lefties which is where he'll get his ABs.  With numerous teams looking for catching help we hoped to get some help in this area before the draft.  Between Yorvit and Salty most of the catching ABs will be covered.  It is possible that we may need to go out and get one other catcher to fill the position.
3/2/08 Mitts trade Mitts #8 to Bombers for Matt Treanor
COMMENT Straight from the "Bargain Bin" on deadline night.  Saltalamacchia has 369 available CBL ABs.  I started figuring that he could run out of ABs by season's end and this would force us to use LoDuca vs righties and Duke don't hit them much at all.  Treanor has a nice card vs RHP but admittedly no long term value.  I see us mixing him in as a part-time starter in block 4.
2/28/08  Mitts trade Jo-Jo Reyes + Jonathan Sanchez + Mitts #5 to Huskers for Marlon Byrd + Huskers #7
COMMENT  The original form of this trade that I proposed to Chris included Brad Wilkerson + a prospect.  When it turned out that he had no need for Wilk but liked the lefty prospects we went this way.  Reyes and Sanchez go from the Mitts' minors to the Huskers while Byrd will use his first decent strat card to become a part-time CFer for the Mitts.  We may use him in CF vs RHSP and in LF vs lefties.  Andruw Jones will go from fulltime to part-time and well-paid defensive back-up.
2/20/08 Mitts trade Darren Oliver to Baseball for Baseball #7
COMMENT Not too much here.  Ollie was on the "bargain bin" list.  His card is very good vs righties and quite mediocre vs lefties.  It was unlikely that he would have escaped the cut on cut-down day.  Meanwhile Baseball can spot him vs righties and get reasonable mileage from the veteran southpaw.
2/13/08  Mitts trade Jose Vidro to Comets for Jeff Keppinger
COMMENT This trade is a natural fit for both teams.  Eric did not have a quality leadoff batter on his roster.  Vidro is unlimited with a very high OBP both ways.  He'll plug in at 1B for them.  For the Mitts who didn't need most of the  ABs that Vidro offered we get a superior card albeit fewer at bats.  One of the best parts of the trade for the Mitts is that Kepp is a 3b3e19 which is a defensive improvement that we can use late in games for Encarnacion.  This trade could definitely go down as a win-win.
1/26/08  Mitts trade Hayden Penn to Sluggers for Jeremy Reed
COMMENT In a chat session with Mike L we discovered that his patience with Jeremy Reed had justifiably run out.  He said he'd probably cut him.  So I listed the Mitts' probable cuts and we made a deal.  He took back oft-injured pitcher Hayden Penn for oft-injured outfielder Reed.
It is quite possible that on cut-down day both Reed and Penn will be sent a'packin.  But perhaps one will stick and justify this tiny little deal.
1/23/08  Cubs trade Cubs #7 to Mitts for John Grabow
COMMENT Well, trades don't come much smaller than this.  Grabow was the Mitts' third option for #6 RP.  He has a card that gets lefties out and is only so-so vs. RHB.  Don's Cubs have been looking for a southpaw for the pen and this was an inexpensive option for him.
1/19/08 Rogues trade Kevin Youkilis + Rogues #5 to the Mitts for Hank Blalock + Chris Iannetta + Mitts #3
COMMENT  The  2008 Mitts will be a pitching/defense team.  To that end we went hard after Youkilis a defensive wiz  (1b1e0).  Youk will become the team's fulltime 1bman but may be needed to cover 3B vs LHP if Edwin Encarnacion is injured.  It was very hard to give up Blalock but it was the only way a deal like this was going to happen.  Iannetta has a very solid future but clearly we've invested our hopes in Saltalamacchia as the "catcher of the future."
12/15/07 Mitts trade Casey Blake + Kevin Cameron to Ponies for Brad Wilkerson + Todd Jones
COMMENT  The main target was Jones who while quite old upgrades the closer position for the upcoming season.  He will get most of the save opportunities for the club while Al Reyes will take the rest.  Joe Borowski's status with the club becomes questionable.  Blake received a 3 at 3B which was a pleasant surprise.  He upgrades the Ponies at that position.  Wilkerson did not have a great 2007 but even still hit lefties well and was a 3 at RF and 1B.
11/11/07 Mitts trade #6 to Zips for picks 138 and 158
COMMENT This was a trade made during the draft.  While others were bemoaning the fact that no one good was left we had a decent number of inviting candidates on our board.  With pick 138 we took RH RP Kevin Cameron and expect to use him or trade him.  We rated him as 4th round value (clearly we were alone in that assessment) and were pleased to snag him this late.  With pick 158 we took LH SP prospect Jo-Jo Reyes.  We hope to be able to make him the #7 guy in our minor league roster.
3/5/07  Mitts trade Jae Seo to Lumberjacks for Ramon Martinez
COMMENT  Seo and Carlos Pena were vying for a tenuous spot at the end of the minor league bench.  Meanwhile the Mitts were seeking a utility infielder since no one but Bobby Crosby qualified as a backup SS.  The deal allows Crosby to be in the minors.  Ramon is a capable backup and this is not his first tour of duty as a Mitt.  Meanwhile the Ljacks had no room for Ramon and had adequate backups at all positions.  Seo may not remain a Lumberjack for long.
2/27/07  Mitts trade Juan Rincon to Baseball for Tony Armas Jr.
COMMENT  This was a spur of the moment deal.  Wayne reported that he needed a RP who can get LHBs out.  Rincon can do that altho' his card vs righties is a good bit worse than his usual one.  In Armas the Mitts get a SP who is better than John Thomson would have been as part of the 5th SP slot.  How much Armas will be used in '07 will be yet determined.  My philosophy has always preferred gathering starters over relievers.  Rincon has been a very good Mitt and will be missed.  But if Armas can finally find his way he could grab the #4 or #5 SP position on the team for the next couple of years
2/26/07  Mitts trade Ruddy Lugo + Mitts #6 to Dream for Brian Sweeney + Chad Paronto
COMMENT  This was a trade to even out the L/R balance of both teams' pens.  The Mitts pen had several reverse RH RPs and was going to have trouble getting out RHBs.  The Dream's pen did not have relievers effective vs lefties.  The draft pick was needed since the Mitts were getting back 112 IP for the 85 being traded away.  Sweeney is a one year card since he will not play in the U.S. during 2007.
2/12/07  Mitts trade Jason Lane to Titans for Irish #4
COMMENT  Wow.  Didn't see this coming.  About 12 hours after Lane was acquired as the minor league fodder in the Branyan-Vidro trade Rich Shirey emailed with interest.  We like Lane and expect him to bounce back but a 4th rounder esp'ly one that figures to be quite early was just too hard to not jump on.  Carlos Pena might just make the squad yet.
2/11/07  Mitts trade Russ Branyan + Kirk Saarloos to Bombers for Jose Vidro + Jason Lane
COMMENT  Branyan, a corner infielder and part-time OFer with power had no role on the Mitts major league roster while Overbay was not strong enough to face LHP.  Vidro, a natural 2bman, will become Overbay's platoonmate.  Meanwhile Saarloos may have to fill in a few starts for the Bombers and Jason Lane will probably head to the Mitts' minors hoping for a rebound season.
 1/16/07 Mitts trade Mark DeRosa + Mitts #5 to Baseball for Edwin Encarnacion + Titans #3
COMMENT This was a move to get a younger, more balanced hitter. Encarnacion is only 24 and may develop into an elite hitter and hopefully can improve on his "4" fielding rating.  DeRosa has an excellent card, esp'ly vs LHP and can play lots of positions.  At 32 he may have just had his career year in which case he was traded at his peak value.  This is a totally understandable move for Baseball as they are making a playoff push for the season.
12/18/06 Mitts trade Andy Sisco to Ponies for John Thomson
COMMENT Sisco is a talented young LHP coming off a bad year.  He would have only sat in the Mitts minors and we just don't like to put LHP down there.  Thomson has some serviceability as a SR.
11/15/06  Mitts trade Jason Hirsh + Mitts #4 to A's for Joe Borowski + A's #5
COMMENT There are trades you make because you want to and those you make because you have to.  The Mitts sent Jason Hirsh to the A's for closer Joe Borowski  and swapped some draft picks with the A's picking up a round next year.
Jim obviously agrees that the monumentally tall Hirsh has a high ceiling (pun intended).  But the only closer the Mitts had was Danny Baez with limited innings and limited saves.   The number of teams with multiple closers was limited so we did the best we could under the circumstances.
8/15/06 Mitts trade Roy Halladay,  Matt Holliday, Felipe Lopez, Placido Polanco, Corey Hart, Paul Maholm and the Lumberjacks #1 to the Lumberjacks for Brandon Webb, Lyle Overbay, Alfonso Soriano,  Erik  Bedard, Orlando Hudson + Cubs #1
COMMENT  This is probably the biggest trade the Mitts have ever made in their history - both in terms of the quantity of players and their relative quality.  Of most interest to Tyson (Ljax) were Halladay and Holliday. It can be argued that taking on Webb and A.Soriano may be a step down from our side. OTOH the aspects of Overbay vs Lopez who was a redundancy at SS would seem to favor the Mitts.  Also Bedard for Maholm and Hart would look to also be more helpful, esp'ly in the short run, for the Mitts. Orlando Hudson would also seem to be the better for 2B than Polanco.  While the swap of draft picks swap favors the Jacks there may end up being just one to three slots involved which is not real big considering the backdrop of this swap.
1/14/06 Mitts trade Mike Hampton + Titans #6 to Terror for Bombers #4
 COMMENT    By my count we would have needed Hampton for very few starts if any.  Since his injury reduces his future value to a great extent we decided to not tie up his roster spot.  At this writing we have an extra 4th rounder, 5th rounder, and a 1st rounder that figures to be earlier than the Mitts'.
  1/10/06 Mitts trade Mitts #4 + Mitts #6 to Cubs for Mike Lieberthal + Cubs #5
COMMENT   This  was simply an attempt to solidify the #2 catching spot.  Lieb and LoDuca are similar offensively vs LHP but Lieb may have an edge on Paul vs RHP.  The actual cards will determine how much help this trade will provide.
1/5/06 Mitts trade Lew Ford + Olmedo Saenz to Bombers for Junior Spivey + Casey Blake.
COMMENT Saenz is a natural DH and this trade gives him that job for the Bombers.  Meanwhile the Mitts lose a little defense in the outfield corners (Ford's a 2, Blake's a 3) but add a "2" parttime at 2b where Spivey should be very effective vs LHSP.  Polanco will move to 3B vs lefties.
1/5/06  Mitts trade Jhonny Peralta + Mitts #1 to Lumberjacks for Jimmy Rollins + Lumberjacks #1 + A's #4
COMMENT  We hate to give up good hitters esp'ly if they are young and play the infield.  But the Mitts defense was in shambles given Peralta's 4, Rollins is a good fielder who hits OK, and the Ljacks #1 may turn out to be in the top six picks.  This is the kind of deal that could look silly in a year or two but for the moment it IMHO had to be done.
12/15/05 Mitts trade Jason Frasor to Irish for Titans #6

COMMENT  Frasor has a good arm and has a card that is tough on LHB.  He ranked #7 in the Mitts pen.  I rarely like to reserve slots in the minors to relievers preferring to draft them.

12/7/05 Mitts trade  Travis Lee + Mitts #8  to Irish for Irish #6

COMMENT  Lee was ticketted to the Mitts minors since his bat was not equal to those of Carlos Pena or Russell Branyan.  The trade makes cutdown day a bit easier to face.  Rich's best 1b-man at the time was Hatteberg who was inferior to Lee both offensively and defensively.

11/15/05 Mitts trade Glendon Rusch to Cubs for Paul Maholm

COMMENT  This was an interesting quantity/quality,  veteran/youth trade.  Don was seeking SP innings while we calculated that we needed someone with 45 or more IP to share Halladay's pitching slot.  Don got the bonus of  bringing another Cubbie on board.

11/8/05  Whiz Kids trade Kirk Saarloos to Mitts for Dmitri Young.

COMMENT  Jordan was deep in starting pitchers and was willing to move one of his lesser ones.  We were deep in 1b-men all of whom were less than sterling.

2/19/05 Comets trade Comets #7 to Mitts for Ramon Martinez.

 COMMENT Eric and I have shuttled this guy between our clubs a few times.  He's no great whoop, obviously, and went for a low price.

11/28/04  Irish trades  Matt Holliday, Placido Polanco, Danny Baez and Dmitri Young to Mitts for Sammy Sosa,  Scott Hatteberg and Jim Brower

COMMENT With Bonds gone we were in full dismantle mode.  Rich had significant interest in Sosa so we did this. The key guy was Holliday who I hoped would be a LF-3.  I'm still waiting for that even though he has been everything we could ask for offensively.  Polanco was brought on to be the RH'd platoon partner for D'Angelo Jimenez.  A year later Polanco is the fulltime 2b-man with an impressive BA well over .300 vs lefties and righties.  Baez was brought in to be another set-up guy for closer Urbina and has graduated to being the Mitts' closer.  The Young<-->Hatteberg part was pretty much a wash at the time.

11/14/04    Mitts trade Jose Valentin to Bombers for Scott Hatteberg

COMMENT  This was a draft day trade made after Bobby Crosby was drafted.  Valentin's work as a SS were no longer required so we made the swap for Hatty thinking he'd be part of the DH/1B mix.  As you'll see moving up the page, Hatteberg was only a Mitt for a fortnight  (I've always wanted to use that term and there was the perfect opportunity).

11/14/04  Mitts trade Orlando Cabrera to Mavs for Mav #3

COMMENT  This was another draft day trade of a SS.  At that point the team held Felipe Lopez, and the newly drafted Bobby Crosby so we moved Cabrera for a pick.  I believe we ended up drafting Scott Hairston with that extra #3 so that would did not pan out well except for a one year platoon DH vs LHP.

9/28/04  Comets trade Dan Miceli to Mitts for David Weathers
COMMENT  This was a swap of mediocre RH'd relievers.  The only difference was that Miceli dominated RHB and got murdered by lefties while Weathers swung the other way,

9/7/04 Lumberjacks trade Orlando Cabrera and Carlos Pena to the Mitts for Jimmy Rollins
COMMENT The Mitts did not expect to be contenders in CBL '05 so the attraction of this deal was to bring aboard  Carlos Pena.  We're still waiting for his talent to flower but he occasionally shows flashes of being a very sound power hitter who can play a reasonable 1B.  

date=?  Mitts trade Barry Bonds, Tony Clark + Mitts #5 to Baseball for Shawnees #1, Bombers #1, someone’s #3, + Karim Garcia.
COMMENT  This is the granddaddy of Mitts trades when we made the decision that the odometer on Barry and Sammy was getting up there and that we had to start retooling the club.  My only regret in the deal is that I got suckered by his fast start into thinking that Karim Garcia was a good ballplayer who could take over the job in one of the OF corners. At the time of the deal Jason Bay was on Pittsburg's DL.  I was tempted to ask for him instead of Garcia but was scared off by his injury.  Shortly after the trade Bay returned to action and has been hitting like crazy every since.   The Bombers #1 pick was traded later to get the Mitts Paul Lo Duca.  The Shawnees #1 was used to select Bobby Crosby for whom we retain high hopes.