Kingdom

For those who do not know, Bizarro is a supervillain or a misunderstood comic book character in the Superman Universe. He is essentially the complete opposite to Superman, mostly in personality. He is evil, he is typically portrayed as not a very bright person, and his abilities are that of Superman but often mixed up. For the Boston Red Sox, I was thinking what it would be like if they tried to be sellers. And suddenly I am looking at them right along side Tampa and New York. Initially, I wanted to say, okay Red Sox hook up with either Texas, Cincinnati, or San Francisco for a God-Fatheresque trade that would immediately shake up two divisions. But it's not going to be the case.



Boston trades: OF Josh Reddick, prospect 1B Lars Anderson, prospect A, prospect B and 3B Mike Lowell
Chicago trades: OF Alfonso Soriano and SP Carlos Zambrano

For the cubs, it's time to realize it just ain't happening. Tyler Colvin needs to be every day. Marlon Byrd is good. You need to dump Fukudome as well and call up another young buck. The team is as much a mess as Lou Pinella's hockey beard. Trading two guys who have lost their luster the last couple of years to a new scenery could make a difference to both players. I do not buy that they're old and over the hill. They can produce, they have shown signs of doing so. But with the constant flux in the outfield around Byrd, it's no wonder anyone can be consistent when they don't know if they're playing each day or not. So let's solve some immediate problems. Zambrano is insurance when Wakefield's knuckler isn't knuckling, Josh Beckett can't throw, and Daisuke is going only 1-2 innings. Boston's best outfielder is JD Drew. Who just got hurt again the other day. Hermida, Ellsbury, McDonald, Cameron, crap on a popsicle stick, this is essentially the shit platter being served. It's not happening. No room for error when the Empire and the Rays are having good seasons. Soriano still has power and had been hitting over .290 till a recent slump. Chicago can flip Mike Lowell to the twins, rangers, or whichever team was in need of depth for an additional prospect.


Bizarro Trade Alert
New York A trades: MR Joba Chamberlain
Boston trades: SP Josh Beckett

Whaaaat? Yes, let's go with another Joba trade idea. Let's pretend for a quick moment Boston decides to give up on Beckett once he is cleared as healthy. What better to play with the minds of all the baseball analysts than to make this happen? What does it do for each team? NY gets a big game pitcher that has had several big games against them, so pressure is not an issue. Beckett at 85-90% is still better than Javy Vazquez in NY or Sergio Mitre. What Boston gets is a shiny new toy to play with. This is a team that at one time, wanted Papelbon to be a starting pitcher. But he's been a closer since 2006. Good place for Joba to go, Terry Francona is considered a players' coach. He might be the ideal guy to figure out what Joba needs to be and stick with it. Or not.



Washington trades: SP John Lannan, SP Shairon Martis, Prospect A, and Prospect B (neither of which are Strasburg or Storen)
Seattle trades: SP Cliff Lee and MR Brandon League

I'm going to tell you why this isn't Bartolo Colon II. If a magical deal like this took place, which let's face it, it'll never happen while Washington is under .500 but if it happened. They end up resigning Cliff Lee because he'll arrive in Washington and see a supercharged environment and prospect of leading something special. Strasburg would continue to be the hype, but Lee would be the ace. They're not hiding the fact that they're future is now, and now is Storen, Strasburg, Bernadina, and likely others over the course of this season and the next. So why not, gear it up, it's time to take down the Phillies and Braves behind Lee and Strasburg, with Dunn, Willingham, Zimmerman, Bernadina, and Desmond on offense. This has potential to ignite a hot spot in D.C. for baseball. For Seattle, you're getting a pair of 25 or under Major League starting pitchers and some more prospects to bite down on. Just not Storen or Strasburg.



San Diego trades: Prospect A, Prospect B, Prospect C and Prospect D
Pittsburgh trades: SP Paul Maholm, MR DJ Carrasco, and OF Garret Jones

So San Diego doesn't have much of a pay roll, yet they're winning. They have a fantastic bullpen and have quality work from the rotation, well most of it anyways. The padres can improve their team without adding much pay roll. The pirates can do their usual sell off, continue to stop the farm, and call up more young guys to fill the roster. They found lightning in the bottle with Jones, so there's not much invested in him. Carrasco was a cheap off season signing. Maholm would be a step up from San Diego's 5th starter, Kevin Correia. Carrasco provides another arm in a pretty good pen, more insurance in case the young starters wear out in August, and Jones gives them an outfielder with power and speed. Can you name anyone in their lineup outside of Adrian Gonzalez or David Eckstein? I think they have the Hairston brothers. I think they have a Hundley on the team, but it's neither Hot Rod or Todd. It's not a game breaking trade by any means, but you improve the rotation, pen, and lineup without adding 20-30 million.