By Bob in Cleveland

League 4

Greetings, fellow Mafia members. We’re right on top of the MLB trade deadline, so let’s jump into some trade analysis. These two come from the Paul C. Smith (MLB Fantasy 411) Listener League … a 13-team, 5 x 5, vanilla, non-keeper league. Let’s dig in!

Team One, in 5th place at the time of this writing, trades Russell Martin to Team Two, fighting yours truly for the league lead, for Conor Jackson and JJ Hardy. But first, less than a week earlier, Team Two had traded Ricky Nolasco to Team Three in return for Conor Jackson. Let’s take a look at this trade first.

You all know my thoughts on making several trades in succession. Regardless of the fact that these two trades were pulled off by a close competitor, I’m still impressed.

Looking at the players, there’s a lot to like here. Or, is there?

Conor Jackson is ‘coming of age’. A fabulous BB rate (11%), a stellar contact rate (90%), a mind-blowing BB/K rate (1.31), and a .392 OBP scream that Jackson is ready to bust out. His power output could use a boost, but give him time. It will come. How about that speed? Were you counting on double-digit SB potential? Add all of this to position flexibility, with his eligibility at 1B and OF, and you have quite a valuable player.

With a ‘slightly’ sub-4.00 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP, you have to be pleased with what you’re getting from Ricky Nolasco. After all, isn’t this ten Wins that you picked up off the free agent wire? For free? Is he real, however? While his K/9 and K/BB rates are satisfactory at 6.7 and 2.8, respectively, I’d like to see even a little bit more out of this DL-plagued youngster. He pitched just over 160 innings in 2006 and 2007, combined. This year, he’s already at almost 130 innings. Will he ‘hit the wall’? Yes. When? I fear it will be soon.

Winner of the trade? Team Two … hands down.

So, Team Two keeps fanning the flames and flips Conor Jackson and JJ Hardy to Team One for Russell Martin.

Speaking of flames. Is anyone more on fire than JJ Hardy? I’m ashamed to admit that I belong to that exclusive club of fantasy owners that gave up on JJ a little bit too soon. A .310 BA in June and a .405 BA, so far, in July. 12 HRs and 30 RBIs in the last seven weeks. I don’t know what more to say. His BB and power rates are up over 2007. His OBP is .365. I’m afraid he’s for real, folks.

Russell Martin entered the year as one of the, if not the, best catchers in Major League Baseball. For the year, the numbers look good. Where else are you going to snag a .297 BA, 10 HRs, and 10 SBs, through this point of the season, from a catcher? His BB rate (13%) and contact rate (87%) are up over last year, but his power, surprisingly, is a bit off. However, here’s a hidden set of stats … Martin batted .267 in June. He’s hit .260, so far, in July. Hmmm.

Quantity trumps ‘catcher quality’ in this deal. I’ll take the two up and coming sluggers any day. Give me Jackson and Hardy. I’ll find a catcher somewhere else. In my opinion, Team One wins this one … running away.