Shea Hillenbrand

[Chicago]

I don't know what to make of this guy. My first gut instinct as much as a week ago was that he was just on a hot streak. Looking at his brief batting history, he didn't hit for power or average, but he's been tearing things up consistently. Someone recently offered me a trade of Delgado and Hillenbrand for Helton and Beltre, but I turned down the trade on the basis that Helton is a bit better than Delgado, and the improvement of Hillenbrand over Beltre (if there was any) wouldn't be enough to justify the trade. Beltre has been hot lately, but doesn't have the rbi's and hr's of Hillenbrand.

What are your takes on Hillenbrand? If I had him, I'd consider trying trading him while he's hot, but that's an iffy opinion, I admit,

[Arlo]

Shea has talent - he could well do what John Valentin was for the Sox in his prime. He looks a lot more patient at the plate than he did a year ago, and seems more confident. Keep in mind, though, that he set the world on fire early once before, and then cooled down considerably.

Good job turning down that trade!

[petben]

Beltre will outperform the faux-nom. you made the right decision. If I had Shea I would be looking to land a consistent 3b as his value ain't going to get much higher.

[T-bird8]

Don't you dare trade Helton. I rate him very high on my cheat sheet. There is only 4 players I would trade Helton for, (Sosa, Bonds, Big-unit, & a healthy Pedro), and I didn't see any of their names. Good job not accepting. Sometimes the best deals we do, are the ones we didn't do!

[Arlo]

At this point, I'm not even sure I'd trade Helton straight up for Bonds, at least until we know more about his health status. Probably A-Rod, though.

And if you were to compile a list of keys to fantasy success, T-bird8's last sentence would be very high on that list...