Andy, Chris at it again with another trade

We're used to seeing trades featuring Andy pop up, but Chris? Hardly.

To my knowledge, he had made a total of two coming into this year. Now he's made two in two-plus months. This one has Chris sending Jair Jurrjens and Coco Crisp to Andy for Hunter Pence and Brandon Morrow.


Frankly, there isn't a whole lot to say here about this deal. It's pretty obvious what went on here - Andy improves his pitching bigtime, Chris improves his hitting bigtime.

"After comparing my team to the majority of the other currently seeded playoff teams, I realized that my pitching was not on the same level as those teams and would require multiple arms to get there," Chris said as part of a long-winded response that left me with a hurting hand from scribbling so fast on my notepad.

"However, I also realized that my hitting was very comparable and, in my opinion, superior to a number of those teams. So it was my thinking that in order to compete come playoff time, if I were to make it, I should do what I could to try and construct the best offense in the league. I saw an opportunity to trade a pitcher who currently is at his highest in trade value to a team looking to move a bat that would fit in perfectly with my scheme."

Andy also traded away a player who arguably is at his highest value in Pence (.310 average, eight homers, 44 RBIs). And, as Chris mentioned, Andy gets back a player who may have reached his high point in Jurrjens (7-2, 1.45 ERA, 1.01 WHIP).

Andy declined comment when approached for an interview.

We don't expect Pence or Jurrjens to tail off much, so it seems like both managers will improve what they were looking to. Whether it helps either one this season, we'll find out.

What we do know now, though, is that Chris' offense is really, really good: Teixeira, Gonzalez, Cano, Reyes, Joyce, Pence among others. And we know that Andy's pitching is really, really good: Cain, Wilson, Jurrjens, Buchholz, Kuroda among others. Let's see if the strategy pays off for either manager.
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Weekend storylines to watch

This short week is causing havoc on some teams.

Let's take a look at some of the storylines to keep an eye on.


1) Will Bob's vacation cost him a crucial win? The Rebel is without internet access until the end of the weekend and who knows if he will be able to find access by the time his vacation ends. It cost him an easy Jair Jurrjens win vs. the Mets on Friday night. Will it cost him on Sunday? This is a huge matchup against Ricky. Both teams are fighting for a wild-card spot.

2) Will Ken luck out once again? Last week, Shea doesn't set his lineup, this week it's Richie benching Roy Oswalt's CG SO. What the heck is going on with Ken's opponents?

3) Will the slide continue for Joe? The Smutts face the hottest team in the league right now, and Chris' squad hasn't slowed down. The two teams have combined for 41 hits. Too bad Ben Zobrist won't be helping out Joe this weekend.

4) Will the limited amount of days matter? Earlier this week, I singled out Adam, Chris and Ken as having an advantage. As of now, Ken is the only one who looks on his way to a W. Chris and Adam are in tough matchups, so we'll see if they can pull it out.
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