TRADE DEADLINE ANALYSIS (6/16/00) Hello RML Managers!
A few Friday afternoon musings on the things that amuse, bemuse and confuse a man in the wonderful world of RML....The NL West Division may have been won on deadline night by Atlanta Braves GM Joe Bourgeois' deadline acquisitions. Sure the Braves gave up a lot of good young talent in two seperate deals with Chicago and Anaheim, but anytime you get Pedro Martinez and Troy Percival respectively, you come out smelling like roses. Pedro may have lost a little zip due to injuries the last couple of seasons, but he can still dominate on any given night and combines with Maddux to form perhaps the deadliest 1-2 combo in baseball. Percival on the other hand gives the Braves an overpowering reliever, something that comes in handy come playoff time......Despite being out of the race, San Diego made two nice deals that could pay dividends next season. They got Jacque Jones from Minnesota and Jon Lieber from the ChiSox for cheap, upgrading their offence and defence respectively. Lieber is the most underrated pitcher in RML.....Meanwhile the the only two teams ever to make the RML playoffs from the AL have collapsed from within. The Yanks are simply too old and will have to be rebuilt, meanwhile Jeff Bauer inherited an expensive mess in Chicago and now that he has dealt Pedro Martinez and Jon Lieber to cut costs, that team looks very weak........The Blue Jays, who rapped up the AL East long ago, have declared themselves as players in the poker game that is emerging between Philly, Atlanta, Houston and Montreal. By picking up Garciapparra from Milwaukee, the Jays have cemented their status as the team to beat going into the playoffs.....In the NL East, Philly remained curiously quiet at the deadline, but it may not matter. They are starting to take control of that division and despite a valiant effort by Montreal GM Andrew Maloney in getting Jeter and Ivan Rodriguez, it appears the Expos are fighting an uphill battle from here on in......It appears that Anaheim may have conceeded the AL West Division to Seattle by dealing some vets, but that team has been a huge surprise this season and has a bright future ahead of it......If you want my opinion (even if you don't want it, I'm still going to dish it out) whoever wins that division is going to be a sacrificial lamb come playoff time......Congratulations go out to Colorado's "Ace of the Staff" Michael Serrano who has finally lowered his God forsaken e.r.a below 7.00. I thought it would never happen. Somebody please take over that team, its too damn painful to watch......HEROES: Atlanta GM Joe Bourgeois- Welcome to the poker table, Joe......ZEROES: Chicago White Sox Craig Biggio- One word Craig, r-e-t-i-r-e......If I have offended you and you feel like crying about it, send your tears to rmlbleachercreature@hotmail.com |
