[Jestor]

Secrets Engineer First Three-Way Trade In Octopus League History

Racine Secrets GM/Manager Tim Moungey was at it again last night, working the phone lines until he'd made a trade with not one, but two teams. That's right OL fans, the league's fastest trigger-man has spearheaded the first three-team-trade. Here's the details:

Going to Racine:
MR Pierre Mercurio

Going to Minneapolis:
DH Steven Hooper

Going to Miami:
SP Cristian Chapa

In essence, what the trade diagram boils down to is this: Racine ships Chapa to Miami for Hooper, then turns around and sends Hooper to Minneapolis to bring back former Secret and goat Mercurio.

Squidly Sam's Trade Analysis:

Boy, howdy! Is this one ever gonna be fun to break down! Here we go, team by team!

Racine Secrets:

In essence, what the Secrets did here is trade Chapa for Mercurio, as they're content with their own DH Carmelo Velez for the moment, who fits better with their lineup than Hooper would have. I'll call this one a good trade for Racine, as Chapa was underperforming grossly and clearly needed a change of scenery. Mercurio gets a chance to be the third starter and reward Moungey for his renewed faith in him.

Miami Vices:

Bad move here by Miami, as they give up one of their powerhouse hitters for a guy with a lot of question marks. Carl Zimmerman is a poor replacement for Hooper and I gotta question the Vices making Chapa their #2 starter and dropping Yun out of the rotation. With both Cristian and former #2 Ronald Sheeley underachieving out their barnacles, it would have made more sense to put Chapa in the #2 slot and keep Yun in the #3 starter position, rather than dropping him to a reliever. This could very well be the trade that proves the Vices' undoing in the East. On the other hand, if Chapa starts showing his potential, he could create a formidable one-two punch with some guy named Davidson. All in all, way too much risk for far too little reward.

Minneapolis Lumberjacks:

With the addition of Hooper, their already vaunted powerhouse lineup gets even more scary, with Steven batting fifth and providing needed protection for underachieving former Secret George Capra. A shrewd move by the Lumberjacks, who already know it's going to be their offense that wins them games, so why not make a strength even greater?

Final Analysis:

Minneapolis and Racine significantly improve their clubs here, while Miami deals themselves a serious blow in their bid to gain the East Division title.

Winners: Minneapolis, Racine
Losers: Miami