Buy Low Sell High August 1st (Andy LaRoche/Andre Ethier)

Buy Low: Andy LaRoche

Key Stats:

Pitcher:	BABIP	K/BB	PTO%	qERA	ERA Dif	P/IP	FIP
Hitter:	BABIP	P/PA	BB/SO	GB/FB	HR/FB
2008	0.182	3.75	1.43	2.071	14.29%
2007	0.235	3.85	0.83	1.500	5.00%
2006	#N/A	#N/A	#N/A	#N/A	#N/A

Andy can flat out hit as he’s doing in the minors this year and the trade to Pitt will finally get him away from an organization that has been screwing him around. He has the hitting pedigree and I fully expect him to turn it around.

LaRoche, Andy 3B PIT for Lowrie, Jed SS BOS

LaRoche, Andy 3B PIT for Taveras, Willy CF COL

LaRoche, Andy 3B PIT for Wigginton, Ty 3B HOU

(These trades were done before the many trade most likely so you may have to trade a little more to get him. These were the most up to date trades I had on hand though.)

Sell High: Andre Ethier

Key Stats: 

Pitcher:	BABIP	K/BB	PTO%	qERA	ERA Dif	P/IP	FIP
Hitter:	BABIP	P/PA	BB/SO	GB/FB	HR/FB
2008	0.261	4.18	0.54	1.220	11.00%
2007	0.272	3.68	0.68	1.553	11.40%
2006	0.295	3.59	0.44	1.294	10.09%

Joe Torre isn’t known for playing his rookies or youngsters and I don’t think it’ll change now. Most likely it’s going to be Manny, Kemp, and Pierre playing most of the time which means that Ethier’s playing time is going to be dramatically reduced. It’s a shame because Ethier took some really good strides this year but it doesn’t matter if you can’t get on the field. I think he’ll have value next year so for those in keeper leagues you may want to get a little more in return.

Ethier, Andre LF LA and Perez, Chris RP STL for Lowe, Derek SP LA

Ethier, Andre LF LA for Abreu, Bobby RF NYY

Ethier, Andre LF LA and Kotchman, Casey 1B ATL for Granderson, Curtis CF DET

Buy Low/Sell High July 29th (Kevin Slowey/Chris Davis)

Buy Low: Kevin Slowey

Key Stats:

Pitcher:	BABIP	K/BB	PTO%	qERA	ERA Dif	P/IP	FIP
Hitter:	BABIP	P/PA	BB/SO	GB/FB	HR/FB
2008	0.275	4.310	29.0%	4.02	-0.018	15.28	4.05
2007	0.297	4.270	25.84%	4.40	0.334	17.06	5.45
2006	#N/A	#N/A	#N/A	#N/A	#N/A	#N/A	#N/A

Slowey has performed fairly well so far this year. His methods of limiting walks and homeruns is working well and giving him elite command. Both his FIP and his qERA are about the same which are also roughly equal to his ERA so I expect the production to continue.

Slowey, Kevin SP MIN for Pettitte, Andy SP NYY

Guzman, Cristian SS WAS and Slowey, Kevin SP MIN for Floyd, Gavin SP CHW

Slowey, Kevin SP MIN for Pierzynski, A.J. C CHW

Sell High: Chris Davis

Key Stats: 

Pitcher:	BABIP	K/BB	PTO%	qERA	ERA Dif	P/IP	FIP
Hitter:	BABIP	P/PA	BB/SO	GB/FB	HR/FB
2008	0.217	3.67	0.24	0.962	38.46%
2007	#N/A	#N/A	#N/A	#N/A	#N/A
2006	#N/A	#N/A	#N/A	#N/A	#N/A

Yes he has tons of power, yes he’ll continue to play but there is no way that he can keep up hitting almost 39% of his FB for HR. Simply can’t. His BABIP may rise giving him a few more hits but his HR/FB will definitely drop. If you are in a keeper league, I would consider keeping him but for non-keeper leagues you might be able to get a decent haul for him.

Davis, Chris 3B TEX and Tejada, Miguel SS HOU and Winn, Randy RF SF for Braun, Ryan J. 3B MIL

Davis, Chris 3B TEX and Lester, Jon SP BOS for Cabrera, Miguel 3B DET and Tulowitzki, Troy SS COL

Davis, Chris 3B TEX and Ludwick, Ryan OF STL for Encarnacion, Edwin 3B CIN and Haren, Dan SP ARI

Buy Low/Sell High July 26th (Ryan Zimmerman/Xavier Nady)

Buy Low: Ryan Zimmerman

Key Stats:

Pitcher:	BABIP	K/BB	PTO%	qERA	ERA Dif	P/IP	FIP
Hitter:	BABIP	P/PA	BB/SO	GB/FB	HR/FB
2008	0.237	3.58	0.24	1.491	15.09%
2007	0.257	3.99	0.49	1.653	16.67%
2006	0.283	3.88	0.51	1.815	16.81%

Power is the one thing that usually suffers when recovering from a labral tear in the non-throwing shoulder. Power was never really a huge part of his game, he was just a good all around hitter. His BABIP is extremely low as is his BB/SO ratio. Most likely his BABIP and BB/SO will begin to return to normal which will allow him to hit his pitches rather than hit pitchers’ pitches.

Zimmerman, Ryan 3B WAS for Martinez, Fernando OF NYM

Zimmerman, Ryan 3B WAS for Pence, Hunter CF HOU

Zimmerman, Ryan 3B WAS for Blake, Casey 3B CLE

Sell High: Xavier Nady

Key Stats: 

Pitcher:	BABIP	K/BB	PTO%	qERA	ERA Dif	P/IP	FIP
Hitter:	BABIP	P/PA	BB/SO	GB/FB	HR/FB
2008	0.316	3.64	0.47	1.423	16.90%
2007	0.261	3.71	0.23	1.320	20.00%
2006	0.271	3.62	0.35	1.618	15.45%

Nady has turned a lucky BABIP at Pittsburgh into a deal to the Yankees that will only disappoint people. He’s going into a much tougher pitching division with Halladay, Beckett, Shields, Kazmir as just the aces. His BABIP is due to fall since his career norms are around .270. He may end up scoring a few more runs and RBIs in NY depending on where he hits in the order. I still think that you could get a good deal that can help you out down the stretch.

Gonzalez, Adrian 1B SD and Nady, Xavier RF PIT and
Wellemeyer, Todd SP STL for Beltran, Carlos CF NYM and
Pujols, Albert 1B STL

Kubel, Jason LF MIN and Nady, Xavier RF PIT for Nathan, Joe RP MIN

Nady, Xavier RF PIT for Ethier, Andre LF LA and Shields, James SP TB