The ghost of CarGo

Joe can't seem to get away from it.

You know what I'm talking about. This. Joe traded Carlos Gonzalez to Andy, his first-round playoff opponent, on July 7.

At the time Gonzalez was hitting .303 with 15 homers, 55 RBIs and a .845 OPS (in 72 games). Since the trade, however, "CarGo" is hitting .388 with 17 homers, 45 RBIs and a ridiculous 1.193 OPS (in 54 games).


Joe has heard the talk about how Gonzalez is undeniably a keeper now. He probably wasn't beforehand. But everywhere Joe goes, he can't seem to get away from hearing Gonzalez's name.

Earlier this week, Joe was commuting home from work and listening to the radio, when a sports talk program started discussing National League MVPs.

"And, sure enough, they start talking about Carlos Gonzalez," a bitter Joe said.

If Gonzalez, who is not just an MVP possibility, but a Triple Crown threat, keeps this up the next few years, this will go down as one of the worst trades in league history.

If Andy somehow wins the league this year and has success in the future, it will be featured in the same category as Dave's awful trade of Prince Fielder to Bob for Erik Bedard.

Currently, Gonzalez is one of the players who has helped Andy jump out to a whopping 16-2 lead more than halfway through the playoff matchup. Even a Shinjay might not help Joe this time.

A CarGo sure could have, though...