Trade

Pulled off a medium magnitude trade. I shipped Michael Cuddyer and Carlos Marmol to North Texas for Joel Pineiro and Jake Fox. Cuddyer was having a nice year so far (.276/11/39/42/4) but is always an injury risk. Marmol was getting loads of holds but was very inconsistent. Pineiro (6/3.44/42/1.18) gives some stability to my starting pitching was has been racking by injuries and demotions (3 opening days guys are on the DL). Fox takes the place of Cuddyer and hopefully will continue his hot hitting and might qualify at third soon.

Trade

A couple weeks ago I pulled off a trade to fill a major gap in my lineup. I moved Magglio Ordonez and Khalil Greene for Kurt Suzuki and Andruw Jones. Ordonez was doing poorly and although he still has something left in the tank, my lineup was stacked with outfielders. What I needed was a catcher. Shoppach wasn't getting the at-bats he needed; Suzuki will step in nicely with his over .300 average and everyday play. Greene and Jones were throw-ins but Jones is somewhat more valuable given his much better stats and the fact Greene is on the DL with mental disorders.

Winter Meetings Trade

I made a minor move in the eMLB Winter Meetings by getting SS Edgar Renteria from The NJ Mets for my 8th round pick. I don't have a lot of confidence in my current shortstop, Khalil Greene and Renteria is a good veteran that comes cheap. If Greene bounces back, great, if not, he rides the pine all season.

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.

Trade Announcement

In a shady, back-room deal, I made a trade with the Gaylord Dingers. I will get 1B Richie Sexson and the Dinger's 10th round pick for SP Chris Young and my 9th rounder. With all of the top first basemen off the board, I really needed to do something. Sexson will provide plenty of power and RBI's. Last year, I had an acute power shortage. This year, with A-Rod and Sexson, I could get 100 dingers from the corners.
Young will be missed, but I have drafted some good pitching talent to take his place.