Playoff preview: (4) Andy vs. (5) Joe

Records: Andy 13-9, Joe 11-10-1
Line: Andy -1.5
Season series: Tied 1-1 (Week 2: Andy 10-8, Week 12: Joe 13-4)
Career playoff records: Andy 0-2, Joe 4-1
All-time head-to-head: Joe 5-3
Playoffs head-to-head: Joe 1-0
Last playoff appearance: Andy 2009, Joe 2009


Hitting
Andy's offense is very streaky - much like Ryan Howard. There's weeks where he will hit for .330 and others he will barely eclipse .200. Joe's, lately, has been very hot, led by Mark Teixeira. Joe has slightly more power, but Andy has slightly more contact.
Advantage: Even

Pitching
This should be an interesting matchup because both managers have a whole bunch of two-start pitchers. So by the weekend, a lot of innings will have been logged. Joe's pitching has been bad all year, but he does have Tommy Hanson going twice. And, of course, Andy and Joe made that big trade that sent Carlos Gonzalez and Casey McGehee to the Punch and Hanson and Alex Gonzalez to the Peddlers.
Advantage: Andy

Managing
Already some interesting managing going on, with Joe benching A.J. Burnett on the first day. Joe's playoff record speaks for itself and he knows how to bring it when the stakes get higher. Andy is feeling the monkey on his back of just trying to make it out of the first round of the playoffs.
Advantage: Joe

Prediction
A back-and-forth matchup all week that won't be decided until Sunday. Joe pulls out the win, 12-8.
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Breaking down the trade: Andy's side

After two months of no trades, we get two in two weeks. In this one, Joe sends Carlos Gonzalez and Casey McGehee to Andy for Tommy Hanson and Alex Gonzalez.

Now, we look at this from Andy's side.

After an 8-2 start with virtually zero injuries all season, it has started to crumble for Andy.

He's on a three-game losing streak - soon to be four - and missing a boatload of talent that is on the disabled list. Chase Utley, Jason Heyward, Yovani Gallardo, Carlos Beltran, Dallas Braden (who was cut), and Kevin Youkilis (who just got injured but is not on the DL).


This might have forced Andy's hand to make a move. He needed a second baseman, which he got in McGehee. But more importantly, he acquired Gonzalez.

"I've been trying to get him for about two months now," Andy said. "I made a major mistake not taking him in the draft."

Andy gave up his second-round draft pick in Hanson, who I'm sure he expected to be a keeper by year's end when he drafted him so high. But with how well Matt Cain and Jered Weaver have pitched, Andy had some flexibility.

Hanson was the odd-man out.

"At this point, I probably wasn't going to keep him so I wanted to improve my hitting," Andy said. "That's not to say he won't turn into a star, but for this year, I needed to improve my hitting. I'll worry about next year during the offseason."

After the trade was announced, Gonzalez homered in his next at-bat and McGehee singled. Could it be a sign?

Gonzalez instantly upgrades his outfield, and with the return of Beltran and Heyward after the All-Star break, Andy gets some much-needed depth that he hasn't had the past month.

He does, however, take a hit at shortstop by trading Gonzalez. Now he's left with playing Miguel Tejada every day.

"I just hope Tejada gets traded these next two weeks," Andy said. "I'm not happy about being stuck with him, but I had to give up something to get something."

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Breaking down the trade: Joe's side

After two months of no trades, we get two in two weeks. In this one, Joe sends Carlos Gonzalez and Casey McGehee to Andy for Tommy Hanson and Alex Gonzalez.

First, we look at this from Joe's side.

He is dead last in the league in ERA and WHIP, with several underperforming pitchers in A.J. Burnett, Matt Garza and Dan Haren. Could Hanson be thrown in there by season's end? Possibly.

But, as always, we also have to look at this from a long-term thought process. And Hanson gives Joe a viable keeper option if Haren continues to struggle or if he wants to keep two pitchers.


Joe called his reasoning "simple."

"I need pitching and after long debates and serious talks with several teams in the league, this transaction was the best and most beneficial for the Peddlers," he said. "Hanson is a young pitcher with keeper-like stuff, and pitching has been the weakest point of The Peddlers."

Joe gave up a couple nice young players, especially Carlos Gonzalez, who is hitting .300 with 15 homers. But he did manage to improve the shortstop position with Alex Gonzalez, certainly an upgrade over Christian Guzman.

"Cole Miners was the catalyst and has forced other managers to make moves in order to compete," Joe said. "It was tough giving up both solid hitters. Especially Gonzalez, but I feel that Hanson is worth it."

Just last week, Joe voiced his concern over the rest of the league's inability to make a move with him.

At least one manager complained after the fact that his offer for one of Joe's outfielders was better than what Andy offered.

After seeing Joe make this trade instead of another one, was it a result of frustration with other managers not being good-enough trading partners?

"Part of it was," Joe said. "I wanted to start something. Motion creates emotion in my business. It was the only way to force hands and to light a fire under some managers' asses. As we can see here, even though Andy and I went back and forth for several weeks regarding trades, they came to an agreement that benefited both teams. It was the best deal the teams could make."

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Playoff preview: (1) Bob vs. (5) Ricky

No. 1 Bob (15-7) vs. No. 5 Ricky (12-8-3).
Line: Bob -2
A breakdown after the jump


Season series: Tied 1-1 (Week 5: Ricky 9-7; Week 15: Bob 12-5)
Career playoff records: Bob 0-2, Ricky 4-1
All-time head-to-head: Bob 3-2-1
Playoffs head-to-head: Never met
Last playoff appearance: Bob 2008, Ricky 2008

Hitting
Two weeks ago, this would have been Bob in a landslide, but Ricky's team is SCORCHING hot. It has been on an absolute tear and Bob desperately needs heavy production from his Brewers.
Advantage: Ricky

Pitching
Bob is already going into the free-agent pool, picking up Freddy Garcia (really?), seemingly for two starts this week. He also gets Tommy Hanson twice, a big plus. Ricky, however, gets two starts from Scott Feldman and maybe Roy Halladay.
Advantage: Even

Managing
Both managers have made 39 of the 45 allowed moves, so this will be very interesting to see how they handle this week. Bob has admittedly given up a Saturday night in the past to stay in and stiff, so we have to take that into consideration. But, he's a playoff choker as a favorite and we have to take that into account as well. Ricky has pulled a lot of the right strings lately, but it'll be tough to keep up this week.
Advantage: Bob

Prediction (2-0 record): Ricky 11-9 (the true underdog story continues!)
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