I am a huge Braves fan and I host an internet sports radio show(plug) and I use that show to let every one know how big a Braves fan I am. So I had this brilliant idea I’d get Jason Heyward and finish out my outfield trio. I had already acquired Bryce Harper and Mike Trout in previous trades(click link for trade details.) so Heyward would solidify that. It was a deal I had just done in my last Royals dynasty but I could not remember what I traded. This deal in my head though would see me send Alex Gordon to the Braves as the main part of the deal. Frank Wren was having no talks of this deal getting done. They were asking for more than I was willing to give up. But something fun came out of the conversations. I got fixated on the idea of getting Julio Tehran. That was a deal the Braves were willing to do but looking back I paid a steep price.

Royals send:
Jose Mijares RP(L), 27, .5*/.5*
Jake Odorizzi SP(R), 22, 1*/3.5*
Aaron Crow MR(R), 22, 3*/3.5*
Wil Myers RF, 21, 1*/4*

Braves send:
Julio Teheren SP(R), 21, 5*/5*(I think my scout will adjust soon)

It’s always tough for me to give up Odorizzi but it inevitably happens every play-thru I do.  I almost always get a pitcher in the deal also. I think he’s got a really bright future just not on this ball club. Crow on the other hand is a guy I always trade away without much second thought. He was in my minor leagues as a starter but it looks like the Braves have designs on him being a reliever. I’ll be interested to see how he develops. I rarely see him become a dazzler but when he does I always feel the bite a bit. Especially since in last years OOTP baseball he did have a really sound career for me eventually I even traded him there but he was good.

Myers almost meant this deal didn’t happen. He’s rated well and while I haven’t actually started my season here yet he has hit 36 home runs in the minors in real life. I trade Myers a lot but never check back up on him. I really wanted to give him a shot. In the end the prospect of having a young front-line pitcher won out though.

The number on Teheren here are a bit skeptical in my opinion. Still I like Teheren a lot and I feel he can start this year. If growing pains get to be too much I’ll send him back down for a bit. He seems like he could be a good starter from day one however which would be nice in this rotation. Makes me a bit anxious to see him get a good shot in real life.

The next deal I made by shopping starter Luke Hochevar around. Colorado offered me Chatwood and I adjusted the deal a bit till we got something I liked.

Royals send:
Brett Eibner CF, 23, .5*/.5*
Adalberto Mondesi SS, 16, .5*/1*
Derrick Robinson CF, 24, 1*/1*
Clint Robinson 1B, 27, 1*/1*
Luke Hochevar SP(R), 28, 2*/2

Rockies send:
Nolan Arenado, 3B, 20, 1.5*/4.5*
Tyler Chatwood SP(R), 22, 2.5*/4.5*

My side of the trade isn’t interesting at all. Mostly scrubs and a pitcher I had no want or desire of who at 28 has probably reached his peak Getting Chatwood as a replacement for him is nice. My scouting report sees him as a future one or two starter. I see him as more of a solid three.  Which is fine by me. He has a fragile injury history which has me a bit concerned but we’ll have to see.

Arenado is who I’m really excited to get. A solid third base prospect with some good defense already in tow. If Moustakas struggles I may give him a look in the majors this year. If Moustakas does well however it might make for a tough choice one day.

The next deal that happened started when I decided to shop Jeff Francouer. Honestly he strikes out way to much for my taste. I want a higher average and my outfield  was beginning to get a bit crowed. Texas bit and offered me an offer. Here’s how it turned out.

Royals send:
Jack Lopez SS, 19, .5*/1*
Rey Navarro SS, 22, 1*/1*
Yuniesky Betancourt , SS, 30, 1*/1*
Jeff Francouer, RF, 28, 3*/3*

Rangers Send:
Neftali Feliz SP(R), 23, 2*/3.5*
Martin Perez SP(L), .5*/4*

When the Feliz trade got offered there were two reasons I wanted more. 1) He is  injury prone and I have really bad luck with injury prone guys. 2) I’m not sure whether he should be a closer or a starter. (I ended up having him as my opening day starter.) 

It will be interesting to see if he stays healthy this year(As you can tell he didn’t). More importantly at what point if at all do I try him in the pen. I honestly feel he could be a very effective starter for me if given the chance.

I was really excited to get Perez. I think his pitches alone make im a work while pick up. All three look like they will be good to great pitches but also his stuff movement, and control all project to be good in the future. He started in the minors but as you can see at some point he got called up. I really wanted that development time for him.

Jonathan Broxton was another contract I really wanted to see gone. I am a huge Jonathan Broxton fan. He grew up only three hours from where I lived(side note: I grew up in Broxton, GA). I love the players from my state.(Many of which I’ve seen and some of which I have played with or against). I also thing he is a really fine pitcher. That being said I don’t really see us competing for the play-offs this year. So I was really set on freeing that money up. At the same time I wondered if I could get a good reliever back who was a bit younger and cheaper. The answer is a mixed bag but one I love.

Royals send:
Louis Coleman RP(R), 25, 1*/2*
Jonathan Broxton, 27, 4*/4*
$1,000,000

Braves send:
Jonny Venters, 27, 4.5*/4.5*

Venters is only a little less than a year younger than Broxton but the I did make an improvement and I shed cap space. All in all I like the deal. I originally wanted Craig Kimbrel but the price was too steep. That being said I love the addition of Venters. I think his stuff is virtually un-hittable and if we do find ourselves in a position to compete I honestly believe he can hold down the bullpen even better than Broxton. I will have to deal with arbitration though and I hate paying for relief pitching so I may deal him in the next couple of season just to save cash. Also who knows when he’ll hit the age wall.

The final pitching trade came after I started writing this post. Chris Sale kept coming up when I shopped various players and I began to wonder what the was the least valuable trade I could offer to add him to my team. Coming into the season I knew little about him but his names been all over baseball this year so I thought I might give him a try on OOTP. The deal I ended up with worked out well for me.

Royals send:
Jonathan Sanchez, SP(L), 29, 1.5*/1.5*
Mitch Maier, CF, 29, 1*/1*

White Sox send:
Chris Sale, SP(L), 4*/4.5*

Truth Be told I liked Sanchez’s stuff looking back on it just not his price or age. Sale is only a guy I’ve really heard about. If my scout is to believed his pretty much the pitcher he’s going to be right now. He looks pretty good. We’ll have to see how he deals with the rigors of starting this season.(fun note Sale lost his first game and Sanchez pitched a No-Hitter)

I would have a pic here of my starting rotation but it’d be really confusing now that I have played some more and gotten some new additions. But after this trade it looked good. I immediately put an offer out there for Roy Oswalt too with the intention of trading him but the more I thought about it the I felt I might benefit from keeping him. I will list who I added to recap.

Added:
Julio Teheren SP(R), 21, 5*/5*
Nolan Arenado, 3B, 20, 1.5*/4.5*
Tyler Chatwood SP(R), 22, 2.5*/4.5*
Neftali Feliz SP(R), 23, 2*/3.5*
Martin Perez SP(L), 21, .5*/4*
Jonny Venters, CL(L) 27, 4.5*/4.5*
Chris Sale, SP(L), 23, 4*/4.5*

Lots of young pitching with room to grow and a young third basemen who projects really well. It was a really long blog but thanks for reading. I promise I will do my best to never be this long again. It will help once I get out of these beginning of the season deals.

Alex Ingram is the host of Occupy The Game a sports radio show featured on obr.fm on Monday nights from 7PM EST to 8. He is a former United States Airman, and an avid OOTP baseball player and blogger. Add to that that he is a huge Royals fan and you’ve got a hell of a guy.

For more of his candid thoughts on the royals and updates on blog posts for this dynasty and more follow his show twitter@occupy_thegame for a more personal varied thought stream check his personal twitter@ingrammi6.