Breaking down the trade: Shea's side

Is there any doubt as to why Shea made a trade for Clayton Kershaw? Clearly, he wanted his twin on the team, right?

Ken, the other manager in this trade, even said Kershaw was a guy that "Shea only wanted because he's in love with himself anyway."

Aside from the striking resemblance, Shea got a pretty good arm when he traded Derek Lowe and Corey Hart for the Dodgers' young pitcher.



Kershaw is 10-5 with a 2.96 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 138 strikeouts. Lowe is 10-8 with a 4.48 ERA, 1.44 WHIP and 81 strikeouts. Clearly, it's a huge pitching upgrade.

"With (Andy) Pettitte going down and some of my guys being inconsistent it was important for me to find a strikeout guy in a pitcher-friendly park," Shea said.
With names like Rodriguez, Cabrera, Morneau and Ortiz, Shea clearly could afford to part ways with Hart, who was a midseason pickup.

Hart, currently battling an injured wrist, might be traded from the Brewers by the end of the week. If he goes to a team like San Diego, his power numbers most definitely will decrease.

On the surface, it looks like a nice trade for Shea, who is just a half-game out of first place in his division.

"I'll miss Hart especially if his thumb is OK," Shea said. "But overall this is a great move for the crew!"