Paul Mahlan Award

[MGrage]

Good evening y'all,

I was wondering if I could give my share of the award back because I don't think I deserve it. I was reviewing all the moves I made during the year and I would have been far, far better off if I had went on a sabbatical to Antartica after the Draft for about 6 months without Internet access.

Here's what I gave up:

Jose Reyes (NL leader in SB)
Armando Benitez (cheap closer)
Mike Gonzalez (cheap setup guy, now likely cheap closer)
Derek Lowe (good pitcher in excellent pitcher's park)
Cliff Floyd (above average OF at below average price)
Omar Vizquel (good source of SB & OBA, kinda old though)
Shawn Green (above average OF, expensive though)
Brian Schneider (above average C, cheap too)

All of them but Green and Floyd were 12 cents and below so they would have been excellent keepers for the 2006 season. The Copperfields and the Splinters were the biggest recipients of my hospitality (re. stupidity).

So what did I get back for all of that talent? Not much. I got 3 of the Copper's draft picks, a couple of decent starters in Steve Trachsel and Kyle Davies who may or may not make it to my 2006 roster and Wily Mo Pena who has been injury prone his entire career. Come to think of it, he'll be perfect for my team since I've been hammered by injuries the last two years.

And if that wasn't bad enough, I waived a couple of pretty good players too. Noah Lowry was by far my biggest mistake. He put up great numbers for Teddy's team down the stretch. Ryan Shealy pounded the ball whenever he got playing team. Brad Hennessey could be a really good #5 guy for the Giants next year. Al Reyes gave up 2 ER in his first appearance of the year so I waived him to make room for the immortal Cliff Bartosh. *gag* Al didn't give up 2 earned runs in a single outing next until July 24th. He had a sub 2 ERA and .9 WHIP the rest of the way. DOH!! Finally, I got cute and thought I could slip Freddy Guzman through waivers after undergoing Tommy John surgery. I'm sure there are more but I'm depressed enough already ....

5/25
Trade w/Splinters : Reyes, Benitez, & my 4th round pick for Green, Floyd, Koplove

GRADE : F

6/16
Trade w/Kenndoza : Gonzalez and my 5th rounder for Terrmell Sledge, Davies & his 10th rounder

GRADE : D- (F if I waive Davies)

6/26
Trade w/Rebels : Green, JT Snow, Raj Davis and my 13th round pick for Lance Niekro, Ryan Langerhaans, Quentin McCracken and his 7th rounder *ugh*

GRADE : F

7/15
Trade w/Coppers : Floyd, Vizquel, Lowe for Pena, Wilson Betemit and Dave's 4th and 8th round picks

GRADE : D (The grade could have been higher if the Braves had just given Betemit their SS job, but no, they had to go trade their best prospect for a washed up Renteria)

And finally, thank God there's a trade deadline or I wouldn't have stopped ...

7/31
Trade w/Coppers : Schneider, McCracken, Sean Burroughs & my 15th round pick for Trachsel, Wes Helms, Einar Diaz and his 3rd round pick

GRADE : C



I haven't seen grades that bad since my last semester at U of I. My God, not only did I ruin my 2005 season, I probably eliminated any chance of contending the next couple of years too. *sigh*

Ho Ho Ho Merry Christmas everyone *BAH HUMBUG* Mahalo

Matt

[Copperfields]

Well, what's that they say about the best trades being the ones you don't make?

If you're serious about this Matt, I'd be happy to discuss a deal in which you can rid yourself of the injury-prone Pena and re-aquire the underpriced Floyd. You could even get Vizquel back. Once the trading ban is lifted, of course...

Finally, while you may feel your track record doesn't warrant consideration for the GM of the year award, the Paul Mahlan Award has nothing to do with results, successful or not. It's more about the spirit in which you play. I'd say you still qualify.

David

[Demreb]

Matt -

I agree with David that it's the spirit in which you ran your team, not the effectiveness (that's why each year I have a shot at the vaunted PMA - place in standings is not important).

I do have to say the highlight of my season this side of D. Lee is getting an *ugh* in retrospective response of our trade. High praise indeed.

I haven't looked too closely to analyze all this, but based on the time of the year and the trades you made, it looked like you shifted gears. Early on (in May) you traded prospects for veterans with the Splinters and then you flipped (seeing how the season was going) and traded vets for prospects. Sound theory (like buying low, selling high) just a matter of selling and buying the right things.

Chin up, Matt. Soon it's Winter Waivers and we can destroy our teams via trades and waivers.

Merry Christmas to all!

[MGrage]

Good afternoon dudes,

Thanks for the kind words guys. I guess you're right. It was just dismaying to see how much talent that I let get away. Naturally some are more grating than others. I'm going to miss Reyes and Gonzalez alot more than Floyd or Green naturally. I could have had two closers for less than .20 next year, but now I'll have to go overpay for some in the Draft. Same thing goes for steals. *sigh*

It was a couple of things coming together that made me put on the pity party. I made it to the playoffs of that football league I'm in with Bruce, Kelly & Harry. I was up against probably the best team and I was all nervous about the matchup. But now that I actually beat him as all my guys scored at least one touchdown and I had my best point total of the season, I'm in the Finals and guaranteed of winning at least $500. First place will be about $400 more. It's my first year of making the playoffs after 3 years in the league so this was all uncharted territory for me.

Anyways, take it easy guys. I think I learned that I need to drive a harder bargain in the next deal I make. Talk to you all later. Mahalo

Matt

Happy Chrismukkah everyone