Ichiro for sale

Ichiro for sale. In good condition; only looking to sell because the pinstripes clash with my ideology. Batting average is lower than when new, but still provides good speed, and a change of scenery should be salutary. 90 cents on the dollar obo.

Is Bill out of contention?

I thought I was coming...

but I appear to have missed the boat.

Oh, I'm comin'....

Salary Cap Question

I think we've come across a rules issue that we haven't explicitly dealt with before.  I drafted Pineda for $9, cut him, re-added him, and traded him to Kate.  Can I now subtract $9 from my salary, and add $9 to Kate's?  Either way, we're both within the salary limits, so the trade is legal, but I would like to have the extra $9 flexibility for any future trades that might happen.

The way I see it, we have 2 rules that contradict each other here:

1) If you trade a player you drafted, you transfer his salary.

2) If you trade a player you claimed on waivers, your salary is unaffected.

I don't think there's anything explicit in our rules which forces us to choose one way or the other, so we may need a commish ruling or a vote.  My preference would be to lean towards the side of allowing us more salary flexibility, but I'm fine either way.  Thoughts?

Also, did we ever settle on when we would have our trade deadline?

Worst...Day...Ever

I'm sure a lot of people think their team has had the worst day ever, but I think I might actually have it. My batting line: 2/29 (.069 average, dropped season average by .0017), 2 runs, no RBI, no home runs, no stolen bases. My pitching line 4.1 IP 14 hits, 8 walks, 7 earned runs (dodged a bullet there- Tillman had SIX unearned runs in two thirds of an inning), 4Ks. ERA of 16.62 (season average up by 0.086) and a WHIP of 4.85 (season average up by 0.0247). So, I'm afraid that kills my chances of finishing with a respectable point total. At this point, I'm open for business on dump trades. Edit: I've added a "Worst Day Ever" tag to the post. I figure when someone else has a terrible day they can make a post with the same tag and we can see how things look over time.

¡Alcides!

In his major league career, spanning parts of five seasons, 433 games, and 1488 at bats, Alcides Escobar hit 11 home runs, or one home run every 135 at bats.  Tonight, he went 2/4 with two home runs.  Of course, he'll probably go the rest of the season without one now, since he's hit his allotted four to match his total from 2010 and 2011.

Anybody need strikeouts?

After Liriano's 15 K performance tonight, I have a pretty solid lead in strikeouts and I'm looking to see if I can capitalize on it to help me out in other categories.  I'd be happy to trade Lester, Phelps, or Liriano for a pitcher with a lower walk rate to help me out in WHIP, or maybe for a run-scoring, high average hitter.  Let me know if you're interested.

Another wishlist

Everyone seems to be moving in that direction, so here are my trade deadline thoughts. I don't plan on being super active, mostly because I don't have a lot of high value keepers to deal (and will need a few to stick around since all of my contracts expire this season), but also because I'm pretty comfortable with my team going forward. I do think I would like to acquire a solid 2b and SP, possibly a closer, plus maybe filling any holes that open up with departing keepers.  I have a ton of salary space to work with so I can be pretty flexible.

Some of my keeper options include:
Weeks ($5)
Rios ($14)
Revere (FA - $10)
Cain ($4)
Middlebrooks (FA - $10)
Milone ($3)
Harrison ($1)
Aceves ($1)
Morrow ($18)

My best keeper is obviously Mark Trumbo ($4). I'm open to trading him but would be looking for a stud 2b, solid SP, and either a fringe keeper or a closer in exchange.

I'd also be interested in trading one of my two catchers, Mauer ($17) or Salty (FA, keepable for $10), though not necessarily as part of a dump trade.

Starting to think about a dump trade

So if folks are interested in Felix, Teixiera, A-Rod, any of my players that are actually good, let me know!

MLB and replay- it just gets stupider

This just might be the stupidest thing I've seen in awhile. I know the MLB is hopelessly behind the times when it comes to replay, but the fact that they do it "for fear that it might incite the crowd"? Do they think the fans will get out torches and pitch forks and chase the umpires off? The fact that they claim this is insulting to fans for two reasons. First, to think that a blown call would actually have this effect on MLB fans shows a pretty dismal view of their behavior. Second, it's a completely insulting explanation because it is such obvious bullshit. In the end, it all comes down to MLB not wanting people to know just how bad their umpires are, at least until after the fact, which is amazing because it's not like this is a very hard problem to fix. MLB is making money hand over fist right now (just look at the recent TV deals if you have any doubt), and could easily afford a dedicated review umpire for every game. It would be easy to rig up some sort of buzzer system, where the crew chief could send a signal to the review umpire to take a look at a play. Can anyone think of a legitimate reason to not wanting replay, at least in a limited fashion? I understand that the effects of an overturned play won't be ideal, and won't necessarily be able to match what would have happened had the call been made correctly the first time, but isn't it better to have something closer to the truth?

Looking to deal

I'm thinking about making a run, but given the ground I need to make up on Caleb, I'd need to make a deal sooner, rather than later.  Any deal I'd make to give it a go this year, I want to complete it before the games pick up again after the All Star Break.  I'm in the middle of the pack in almost every category, so I'm looking to add just about anything.  Right now, my outfield is my number one priority.  Here are the potential keepers I'm willing to deal:
Santana - $11 (already under contract)
Kipnis - $9
Dunn - $9
Moustakas - $8
Joyce - $6
Escobar - $2
Hughes - $7
Robertson - $2
Colon - $2
B. Anderson - $1

It's July! Ready to punt?

Since I'm in contention but am quite a long ways behind Caleb, I'm looking to try and get an edge by getting an early start on keeper trading, if possible. So, if anybody's ready to pack it in, let me know. I think my main attractions will be Doubront ($1), V-Mart ($1), and De Aza ($5). I think those 3 are pretty tough to beat in terms of value, and I might even be willing to send all 3 in one deal for the right package. Grab them before someone else does!

I also have Hamilton ($23), Price ($25), and Cano ($29) at decent prices in my opinion. I'm willing to part with any of them but obviously would need more 2012 production in return.

Really, anybody I own is on the table, except Mike Trout. Don't worry though, you'll be able to draft him in 2016 :D