Deadline deals

As I was too depressed at the time, I was unable to comment on some trades I made during the season.
On June 12, I trade Derek Lowe for Lasting Milledge. Lowe was having a decent year, but he wasn't helping me much and I could use a good young outfielder. Milledge was good down the stretch and hopefully carries that through to next year as he has a 2 year deal.
Earlier, I trade Tony Pena and Matt Stairs for Melvin Mora, Franklin Gutierrez, Phil Dumatrait, and Braden Looper. More was great and provided a big offensive lift. Dumatrait only pitched a couple times before getting hurt while Looper was decent. Not a blockbuster by any stretch but I unloaded two stiffs for some help.

End of Season Review

My long, sad 2008 season has mercifully come to a close. I somehow managed to climb out of the cellar and finish 7th in the Western Division ahead of the Redbirds. League-wide, I finished 13th but that didn't qualify me for the consolation bracket.
There is some hope for next year. I finished up 3-0-3 and if I didn't start the season with 6 straight losses, I would have been in the hunt for the postseason.
What went wrong? Almost everything.
First off, my draft stunk. My first 2 picks, Ordonez and Carmona had decent years when they weren't on the DL; you need more from those very important picks. Brett Myers was the epitome of awful until he was finally demoted to the minors; he did come back very strong after his recall so hopefully he won't be dead weight heading into next year. As bad as Myers was, he was an All-Star compared to my next couple picks: Khalil Greene and Manny Corpas; enough said, its too painful. Garko and Lowe were decent, not great, but decent. Out of my remaining picks, only Randy Johnson and Adam Jones got meaningful playing time. The rest stunk. My strategy of getting all the Rockies second baseman backfired as they all stunk; although Clint Barmes came around late in the year but wasn't starting full time. My other strategy of getting young speedsters also backfired as all those guys stunk even worse.
Injuries also killed me. Almost every started I had spent some time on the DL. Only late in the season was my team healthy and playing well.
All this adds up to a dismal 111-134-19 record. There is always next year.