Trade for Bonds offered to me ->

[Arlo]

Drop what you're doing and go get Giles. Ok, maybe that's not a good idea if you happen to work in flight control, but if it's anything else, put in that free agent or waiver claim right now.

Of Lawton or Hidalgo, I'd lose Lawton. Blalock is a judgment call - he has stud potential, but it might take him a while to reach it. Still, it sounds as if you have enough of's even without Lawton.

Cabrera is off to a slow start, but he should give you decent numbers. Valentin has power, but his average will hurt you. Having both would allow you to toggle them depending on your needs in the standings.

[Bender]

That's what I was thinking with having both, I could switch them around as it's not easy to get a good shortstop.

If I get Giles, and maybe Klesko, who someone also dropped, I may be able to get by without Bonds.

My outfield after the trade and waiver claim could be:

Preston Wilson
Ichiro Suzuki
Brian Giles
Richard Hidalgo

Not too shabby.

I could then have Kent, Klesko, Giles etc. for homers, while Suzuki will help with avg and rbi's, I think I will do it!

Thanks a lot for your advice Arlo and others, you guys rock!

[Dan]

I would say go for it...Giles first, then the trade. This OF really rocks, even without Barry!

[Arlo]

Whoever dropped Giles and Klesko made huge mistakes. In 12-team mixed, both these guys are very valuable.

I agree with Dan - go for it! And don't hesitate to drop Blalock and his high potential for Klesko. Potential is nice, but if you have a chance to win now, you've gotta go for it.

Hope it works out for you!

[Bender]

Oh, and I would have Jermaine Dye coming back soon too, so he would help.

Well, I have decide to do it, I just have to decide what to get from him.

I really want Oswalt, but he also has:

Pitchers:

Bob Wickman
Russ Ortiz
Kevin Appier
Tim Hudson (I'd be pushing it here)
Scott Strickland

Batters:

C Javy Lopez (I have Hall and Fick here)
1B Eric Karros and Mientkiewicz (sp?)
2B Frank Menechino
3B Jeff Cirillo
SS Cabrera and Gutierrez
OF Suzuki, Carlos Lee, Magglio Ordonez, Jim Edmonds, Bernie Williams and Steve Finley.

Not a bad team, is it?

[Dan]

Wow, not bad...but the question is, will he give up a SP like Oswalt or Hudson for Barry....you can try it, but I am not sure he does (hope he doesnt ask, but in his view, I am not sure it really helps.)

But that doesnt matter for you...you have to try to get it!

[Arlo]

Definitely not a bad team... Sure, there's no guarantee the other guy bites, but it can't hurt to try. You could, for instance, offer him the choice between Oswalt aqnd Hudson.

Cabrera might also be a problem - he'd be stuck with Gutierrez as his only ss. You might still need to be flexible in your trade talks, but I like your chances of improving your team.

Besides, even if this deal falls through, you can still make a killing with the guys dropped by others!

[Bender]

Well I'm going to try this:

Bonds, El Duque, Lawton

for:

Suzuki, Oswalt, Cabrera

See what happens I guess.

[EugeneStyles]

About Klesko... my little brother almost dropped him in his league until I told him he was stupid. Then he was gonna try and trade Klesko and Griffey (I told him no one would trade for Griffey, but like I said, he's an idiot and thinks it would be funny if he was able to rip off someone who's had his head in a hole for the last week - not that it'd work).

I think the concern is that perhaps his slow start is the lingering effects of injury (he was slightly injured right? I thought I remembered hearing that his suspension wasn't a big deal because he would have time to rest his <insert injured body part here>). But personally, he'd have to go a lot worse than 0-for-11 before I dropped him. Maybe once he hit 0-for-50.

[Bender]

He accepted that trade, so it will be:

Bonds, Hidalgo, El Duque

For:

Ichiro, Cabrera, Oswalt

I guess I should be happy, and Barry didn't hid a homer today