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Orcin · 09-05-2012, 02:36 PM

Extreme Makeover: Demolition Phase

From July 5-29, Jeff Luhnow made a series of trades that sent 7 players from the major league roster to other teams. In return, he obtained 17 players, most of whom were minor league prospects (none were in the BNN Top 100 in the game). I duplicated all of these trades in my game, but it wasn’t easy. Injuries were a complicating factor, so a couple of injuries were “healed” a little early. I made one trade early in order to facilitate other roster moves. Two of the actual acquired prospects had already been traded to other teams in the game, so I creatively “retrieved” them by providing replacements for the innocent team. Finally, it goes without saying that all of these trades were forced.

July 5: Astros traded 36-year-old 1B Carlos Lee and $5 million in cash to the Miami Marlins for 22-year-old 3B Matt Dominguez and 23-year-old SP Rob Rasmussen. Lee waived his 10/5 rights to allow the deal. Brett Wallace was recalled from AAA Oklahoma City to replace Lee in the lineup. Surprisingly, fan interest in Houston fell by 6 points.

July 11: Astros traded 27-year-old 3B Chris Johnson to the Arizona Diamondbacks for 21-year-old 3B/LF Bobby Borchering and 24-year-old LF Marc Krauss. Tyler Greene, recently claimed off waivers from the Cardinals, will replace Johnson on the roster. Jed Lowrie will move to third base for the near term with Greene and Marwin Gonzalez sharing time at shortstop. (This was done early to coincide with the Cardinals waiving Greene, who the Astros actually acquired in a trade for cash a few weeks later.)

July 20: Astros made a mega-deal with Toronto, sending SP J.A. Happ, MR Brandon Lyon and MR David Carpenter to the Blue Jays for seven players. The Astros received major-leaguers CL Francisco Cordero and RF Ben Francisco along with minor-leaguers SP Abner Wojciechowski, SP David Rollins, C Carlos Perez, SP Joseph Musgrove, and SP Kevin Comer. Two pitchers, SP Aneury Rodriguez and MR Jorge De Leon, were added to the Astros active roster. RF Justin Maxwell was demoted to AAA to make room for Francisco. Fans are upset about the loss of J.A. Happ.

July 21: Astros traded CL Brett Myers to the Chicago White Sox in return for three minor league pitchers: MR Matthew Heidenreich, SP Blair Walters and SP Chris Devenski. This clears the path for Francisco Cordero to be the closer for the rest of the season. MR Wesley Wright was promoted to the active roster to replace Myers.

July 25: Astros traded SP Wandy Rodriguez to the Pittsburgh Pirates in return for three prospects: RF Robbie Grossman, SP Rudy Owens and SP Colten Cain. Veteran SP Brandon Webb (effectively Armando Galarraga’s replacement) was signed and placed on the active roster to soak up Wandy’s innings until the September 1 roster expansion.

These trades eliminate all of the team’s future contract commitments. Incredibly, the Astros finish this series of transactions with an estimated $25 million payroll for next season. Five of the acquired prospects (more detail to come) are now among my Top 20. Fan interest has totally collapsed (45) because all five of their “favorite players” are now gone. This was expected and follows the real-life scenario closely.

09-05-2012, 02:36 PM	#10
Orcin Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Indiana Posts: 9,879	Extreme Makeover: Demolition Phase From July 5-29, Jeff Luhnow made a series of trades that sent 7 players from the major league roster to other teams. In return, he obtained 17 players, most of whom were minor league prospects (none were in the BNN Top 100 in the game). I duplicated all of these trades in my game, but it wasn’t easy. Injuries were a complicating factor, so a couple of injuries were “healed” a little early. I made one trade early in order to facilitate other roster moves. Two of the actual acquired prospects had already been traded to other teams in the game, so I creatively “retrieved” them by providing replacements for the innocent team. Finally, it goes without saying that all of these trades were forced. July 5: Astros traded 36-year-old 1B Carlos Lee and $5 million in cash to the Miami Marlins for 22-year-old 3B Matt Dominguez and 23-year-old SP Rob Rasmussen. Lee waived his 10/5 rights to allow the deal. Brett Wallace was recalled from AAA Oklahoma City to replace Lee in the lineup. Surprisingly, fan interest in Houston fell by 6 points. July 11: Astros traded 27-year-old 3B Chris Johnson to the Arizona Diamondbacks for 21-year-old 3B/LF Bobby Borchering and 24-year-old LF Marc Krauss. Tyler Greene, recently claimed off waivers from the Cardinals, will replace Johnson on the roster. Jed Lowrie will move to third base for the near term with Greene and Marwin Gonzalez sharing time at shortstop. (This was done early to coincide with the Cardinals waiving Greene, who the Astros actually acquired in a trade for cash a few weeks later.) July 20: Astros made a mega-deal with Toronto, sending SP J.A. Happ, MR Brandon Lyon and MR David Carpenter to the Blue Jays for seven players. The Astros received major-leaguers CL Francisco Cordero and RF Ben Francisco along with minor-leaguers SP Abner Wojciechowski, SP David Rollins, C Carlos Perez, SP Joseph Musgrove, and SP Kevin Comer. Two pitchers, SP Aneury Rodriguez and MR Jorge De Leon, were added to the Astros active roster. RF Justin Maxwell was demoted to AAA to make room for Francisco. Fans are upset about the loss of J.A. Happ. July 21: Astros traded CL Brett Myers to the Chicago White Sox in return for three minor league pitchers: MR Matthew Heidenreich, SP Blair Walters and SP Chris Devenski. This clears the path for Francisco Cordero to be the closer for the rest of the season. MR Wesley Wright was promoted to the active roster to replace Myers. July 25: Astros traded SP Wandy Rodriguez to the Pittsburgh Pirates in return for three prospects: RF Robbie Grossman, SP Rudy Owens and SP Colten Cain. Veteran SP Brandon Webb (effectively Armando Galarraga’s replacement) was signed and placed on the active roster to soak up Wandy’s innings until the September 1 roster expansion. These trades eliminate all of the team’s future contract commitments. Incredibly, the Astros finish this series of transactions with an estimated $25 million payroll for next season. Five of the acquired prospects (more detail to come) are now among my Top 20. Fan interest has totally collapsed (45) because all five of their “favorite players” are now gone. This was expected and follows the real-life scenario closely.