The Week 10 Mop Up: Trade Impact

 

 

 

by Keith Schweigert

LEAF columnist

Nov. 12, 2003

 

 

Whew! A crazy Week 10 is behind us, and the fantasy season's stretch run has officially begun.

Last week, the league's most significant action took place off the field, as several teams attempted to gear up for the final push by swinging trades.

 

We'll take a look at each trade, analyze their impact through one week of action and take a look at the overall standings in this week's Mop-Up.

 

Let's get right to it:

 

The Meat Makes a Move

 

Steve and Bruce completed their yearly swap, as Grandpa's Meat dealt under-achieving WR Keyshawn Johnson and inconsistent RB Travis Henry to The Pez

for stud WR Marvin Harrison and soon-to-be-unemployed RB Amos "Zero" Zereoue.

 

It's hard to say what the impact of this deal will be, since Harrison celebrated his change of scenery by going out there and pulling his hamstring. If Harrison

misses any significant playing time, Steve will be subjected to even more message board abuse than he already gets.

 

You have to feel happy for Bruce; for years, he's been perceived as a naïve mark by the rest of the league, happily trading away valuable players for the equivalent of a box of hammers and some used jock straps. It would be nice to see him get over on somebody for a change.

 

Alas, the move didn't make much of a difference for Bruce last week, as he was spanked 105-45 by the Turd Burglars. Johnson and Henry contributed 22 points in the massacre.

 

Steve didn't fare much better. Harrison scored 9 points before his injury; Zereoue settled into his spot on the bench &endash; where he'll likely stay for the rest of the season. What's the matter, Steve? Was Franco Harris unavailable?

 

Still, if Harrison's injury doesn't linger, Steve could be a force down the stretch. He already has a solid QB, and his WRs (assuming Harrison is OK) are tough to beat.

 

For Bruce, the concept of making trades at this point is a lot like re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic. He's 150 points out of 4th place, which is a lot of ground to

make up even though there are seven weeks left.

 

Burglars get a steal?

 

Two other yearly trade-makers, Todd and Troy, struck a deal this week as well. Todd dealt Corey Dillon, Rudi Johnson and prized fantasy QB Marc Bulger to the Raiders in exchange for Peyton Manning, Shaun Alexander and Anthony Becht.

 

The move appeared to pay off for both teams; both won their head-to-head matchups last week. But Todd appears to have reaped the bigger reward &endash; Manning

and Alexander contributed 40 points in his skullfucking of The Pez.

 

Troy's Raiders held off bottom-feeding rookie Brendan 61-45, thanks in large part to Johnson's 31-point effort.

 

In the long-term, Todd's trade could be enough to get him back in the running for the overall prize. His QB, RBs, and one of his two WRs are proven, consistent

scorers. And Reggie Wayne's value will only go up if Harrison is injured for a while. Even without Jeremy Shockey, it looks like the Burglars are back.

 

Donuts dunk the WMDs

 

It pains me to analyze my own trade with Andy, but I'll try my best to be objective.

 

The way I see it, I traded one valuable commodity (Tony Gonzalez) and two bench warmers (Terry Glenn and Ashlie Lelie) for a consistent quarterback (Brad Johnson), a potential upgrade at WR (Rod Smith) and a throw-in tight end (Marcus Pollard) whose value might rise now that Harrison is hobbled in Indy.

 

Johnson came through for me this week, scoring 24 points. He was the high point of an otherwise forgettable week, since every other starting decision I made blew up in my face in a blowout loss to Rick.

 

The only consolation I have is that even if I had started my bench (which outscored my starters 97-73), it still wouldn't have been enough to beat Rick. However, if I

had switched my running backs, it would have been a lot more respectable.

 

Things appear to have worked out for Andy, at least where Gonzo is concerned. He scored 13 points to continue his streak of hot play. And since Daunte Culpepper exploded for 42 points &endash; and he still has Chad Pennington waiting on the bench &endash; I don't think Andy will miss Johnson too much.

 

Andy's 125-point effort got him right back in the hunt for the money. His WRs are still a bit of a concern, but he could have enough to take home some cash.

 

My fortunes have also improved, assuming Stephen Davis' ankle injury is as mild as it's reported to be. My RBs are solid, Torry Holt is still a stud at WR. I'll need either Ike Hilliard or Rod Smith to put up some numbers at the other WR spot to contend for the cash, but it could happen.

 

Here's a final review of the overall standings after Week 10 (Week 9 rankings in parenthesis). Thanks for reading the Mop-Up, and I'll see you in three weeks!

 

1. Cloning Scott Baio (Rick) - 952 points [1]

2. Nic-Rae Mystery Machine (Nick) - 931 points [2]

3. Turd Burglars (Todd) - 913 points [3]

4. Fighting Goobers (Tom) - 902 points [4]

5. Weapons of Mass Destruction (Keith) - 860 points [5]

6. Grandpa's Meat (Steve) - 854 points [6]

7. Glazed Fasnachts (Andy) - 850 points [7]

8. Spring Ave. Rough Housers (Eric) - 760 points [8]

9. The Pez (Bruce) - 750 points [9]

10. Lancaster Raiders (Troy) - 703 points [10]

11. Brickyard Bullies (Dave) - 676 points [12]

12. Gang Green (Brendan) - 671 points [11]

 

*****

Keith Schweigert is the discoverer of Weapons of Mass Destruction. His "Mop Up" column appears every three weeks.

Next week: Steve Seeber provides his analysis of Week 11 in this space.

In two weeks: Rick Reitz chimes in with his thoughts on the league in Week 12.

This column is written on alternating weeks by Keith, Steve and Rick.

 

Loose LEAF Notebook Home

 

LEAF Home