I would absolutely do this deal. Phillips is a viable starter and even it takes 3 more weeks for Webb and Hamels to get back on track, they are and will be studs.
I am in the move Phillips for one pitcher group. Hamels concerns me and I think you keep Utley. Also, check the waiver wire for pitching. You mentioned you had Halladay and Big Z; but who else do you have and who is available on the waiver wire/fa list?
-The WW is pretty thin. Ubaldo, Washburn, Sonnanstine, and guys like that are out there, but nobody better than anyone on my bench.
-Someone dropped Phillips so that's how I ended up with him and Utley, but nobody is really looking for Phillips because he's started so slow. I've tried to move him 1 for 1 for a starting pitcher but haven't had any luck.
-What types of pitchers should I be going for? Clearly my standards are too high at the moment, but Phillips is a legitimate 25-25 guy at a hard to fill position, I don't want to give him away for nothing. That's why I'm leaning towards trading Utley.
It depends on how your roster looks like, but value-wise, it's not a great deal for you especially with the health of Webb/Hamels being iffy. I wouldn't mind starting two top 5 2B if need be anyway. You should be able to get a better return out of Utley, at the least you should be looking into a Halladay + A-Gonz package, something like that.
Iannetta, Chris C COL Cabrera, Miguel 1B DET Utley, Chase 2B PHI Youkilis, Kevin 1B BOS Drew, Stephen SS ARI Lee, Carlos N. LF HOU Pence, Hunter RF HOU Suzuki, Ichiro RF SEA Hafner, Travis DH CLE
Bedard, Erik SP SEA Nolasco, Ricky SP FLA Pettitte, Andy SP NYY Wolf, Randy SP LA Zambrano, Carlos SP CHC Broxton, Jonathan RP LAD Valverde, Jose RP HOU
BENCH
Phillips, Brandon 2B CIN Furcal, Rafael SS LAD Upton, B.J. CF TB Carpenter, Chris SP STL Lackey, John SP ANA
So as you can see, I'm pretty weak pitching wise, at least without Lackey and Carpenter and I have some pretty good offense on the bench. If I start both Phillips and Utley that means I would have to bench Pence (when Upton gets back he'd replace Pronk). One of the guys in my league has both Halladay and Beckett who I'd like to try and work a package for both invovling Utley. I'm unsure on what else I should add though. Keep the help coming, thanks a lot.
You definitely have the right idea, and I like the potential reward of getting both ACES, but I think the risk is too high. Your offense can stand the loss of Utley since Phillips is a very solid player (very surprising he was dropped--sample size, people!), and of course, you could really use the pitching. Perhaps you can aim for getting one ACE with lesser concerns for Utley. I'd trade him straight up for Johan or for Halladay plus something useful... new Yankee Stadium scares me, but Sabathia is a good, reliable target as well.
As for trading Phillips, I worry that his value may be too dimminished, not only becuase of the slow start (which is dumb), but more importantly because of the psychological effects of his being dropped. Other owners might say, why give up X player, when I could have had him for nothing. Hopefully this won't occur, but keep it in mind. I think an excellent target for you would be Javier Vazquez. He's reliable, has pitched very well of late, and seems perpetually undervalued.
Well, it seems like you have a ton of trading chips. So, shopping Furcal, Pence, and Ichiro would be more of a priority than dealing Utley for two top arms. I think if you can deal any two of those three for like a Beckett, Shields, Billingsley, Greinke, or Felix, you'll be in good shape.
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by murphysxm » Wed Apr 22, 2009 1:00 pm 
