Daunting Two Month Trade Deadline Sparks Another One

August 22, 2018, 10:55:14 PM

By Bul Mathewson

The Trade Deadline is a two month wait fellas.

Don't tell that to the Scurvy Dogs and the Lakeview Rougarou who hook up with premier pitching and high round draft picks exchanging hands. The Scurvy Dogs pick up Robbie Ray, 2020/250K and Yu Darvish (2019/10M) for Nick Ahmed (2018/600K), Edinson Volquez (2019/660K), Zach Britton (2019/6M) and 2019 1st and 3rd round picks.

On face value, this is your typical trade deadline deal moving tomorrow for today. The Rougarou, having proclaimed their need to build for the future, do just that by picking up two high round draft picks and dumping some salary in their second trade in as many weeks. Their trade partners, with a contentious battle for supremacy of the highly competitive Western Division serving as a bold backdrop, the Scurvy Dogs shored up their rotation, something General Manager Rod Heetland, called the “biggest challenge for the Dogs down the stretch.”

The Scurvy Dogs, league leaders in runs scored, strike big in their escalating arms race with Asterisks who happen to allow the second fewest runs in the league. Looking to catch the Dogs charmed offense, the Asterisks upgraded their offense in a recent blockbuster. Now the Dogs counter by adding what likely will shape up to be their second and third best starting pitchers and they hope it will be enough to even them up with their rivals pitching dominance. A rotation of Kershaw, Ray, Darvish, Bauer and Walker should be “fairly formidable” which may prove to be one of the GM Heetland’s loudest understatements of the season.

“This isn’t your typical trade deadline deal,” Heetland states, “afterall, I get Ray for a while.” Ray has struggled in 2018, but holds immense potential on a low-cost contract that will keep him in Scurvy for years to come. This nod to the future in a trade that traditionally is all about boosting the current teams playoff position, is what makes for that non-traditional deadline trade we’ve been seeing more and more in Mutiny. And don’t forget moving out Zach Britton lessons the financial burden in the deal.

It’s a lot more traditional for the Rougarou. For Team President Brian Barnes injuries made it a moot point. “As soon as I learned Darvish was shut down for the rest of the year, I felt like I had to shed that deal.” Once thought of as a bargain in a league that has seen free agent pitching costs soar through the roof over the last few years, the Darvish shut down made his 10M salary a debilitating weight on the Rougarous 2019 plans.

Dumping salary is obviously important in a capped league like Mutiny, but it isn’t sexy. Draft Picks on the other hand are the real currency in this league as seen by the sure volume of trades involving draft picks heading into and during the recent draft. There is a lot of talent out there and while looking back at recent drafts, the freewheeling GM Barnes asked himself, “If I got Peter Alonso and Lazaro Armenteros (drafted in similar spots this year) for Robbie Ray, would I do a deal?” The answer was a resounding “Yes.” And so, another deal was struck.