Rejuvenated Ken piecing together a good season

In our four-plus seasons, we've only had one manager resign, but could we have been close to a second one?

"I'll have to admit, the roller coaster ride I went on last season took a lot out of me and made me very unsure of what to do regarding the future," Ken said.

"But this year I feel so much better about my team and feel I have plenty of talent to compete and also some young talent that I'm excited about the future for."


Those words are a bit ambiguous and tough to interpret, so take them for what they're worth. But one thing we know for sure: Ken is back, and possibly better than ever. With a 4-2 record, he sits alone atop a weak Twitter Division with a team built from the draft.

His keepers - Cliff Lee, Carl Crawford, and Bronson Arroyo - have been arguably the worst trio of keepers among all teams. But he's managed to win, regardless, and often he's won handily.

"I believe that the beginning of my draft wasn't anything too special, but I excelled in the later rounds with picks like (Neil) Walker, (Carlos) Beltran, (Ricky) Nolasco and Jaime Jesus Garcia. My latter part of the draft definitely is directly linked to our success thus far."

But let's get back to the keepers for a second. We really ripped Ken's decision to go with Arroyo, and he finally admitted it was a mistake, along with a trade he made - Clayton Kershaw for Corey Hart and Derek Lowe - last year during a mediocre season.

That's left him thinking - hoping - that at the very least Lee and Crawford will come around as the season progresses.

And now that Ken is back and enjoying life as a fantasy manager again, he's not afraid to throw some verbal barbs. No surprise, as our sources tell us he has posters of Rex Ryan hanging in his room.

• When questioned about not having any real huge wins: "I felt beating Jack, who is ranked above me, was a good win and beating the scrubly team we played last week (Andy) for the division lead was a big win as well."
• When questioned about this week against his rival, Mike, who is also the #1-ranked team: "I got this week for sure."

It's fun to have a rejuvenated Ken. And most importantly, for Ken, it's fun to win again in this league.
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Breaking down the trade: Ken's side

Corey Hart's injury might have been the best thing to happen to his fantasy owners.

Likely to be traded, Hart would have been taken out of Milwaukee's powerful top of the lineup and Milwaukee's hitters' park.

But now, with a wrist injury, Hart is less likely to be dealt, and his fantasy value remains the same in Milwaukee. Ken is hoping for that, as he traded Clayton Kershaw for Hart and Derek Lowe.


"First of all very excited about the deal," Ken said. "The team has been struggling lately and needs a wake-up call that we can not afford losing streaks after our initial one."

This much is true. Ken is fighting dearly for a wild-card spot after an 0-5 start. Subbing Lowe for Kershaw is obviously a downgrade, but he should be able to survive with Cliff Lee, Johan Santana and C.J. Wilson on the roster.

"I was not planning on keeping Kershaw and was attracted to Hart, who will give me some extra pop that I need," Ken said.

Very true. The one thing we've said about Ken's team all year is that it's missing power. Adding Hart, assuming he gets healthy, is a huge get.

A nice job by both teams in this trade to address some issues while not trading away too much.

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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!"

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Shea Kershaw???

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