Big Trade, Need Advice

[tonynyy]

I've been offered Lester, Granderson and Rasmus for Gallardo, Cruz and Choo. Right now myteam's doing pretty well offensively but I'm getting wrecked in ERA and WHIP (see my team below). I'm hoping to deal Cruz at his peak while getting Lester on the cheap, and while I wouldn't accept the deal prposed above, I might want to switch Rasmus out for Zobrist. Here are the teams:

My Team:
C Brian McCann, Atl C
1B Albert Pujols, StL 1B
2B Martin Prado, Atl 2B, 1B, 3B
3B Ryan Zimmerman, Was 3B DTD
SS Jason Bartlett, TB SS
2B/SS Everth Cabrera, SD SS
1B/3B Garrett Jones, Pit 1B, OF
OF Nelson Cruz, Tex OF
OF Shin-Soo Choo, Cle OF
OF Carlos Gonzalez, Col OF DTD
OF Rajai Davis, Oak OF
OF Jeff Francoeur, NYM OF
UTIL Adrian Beltre, Bos 3B
P Dan Haren, Ari SP
P Yovani Gallardo, Mil SP PP
P Josh Beckett, Bos SP PP
P Jose Valverde, Det RP
P Trevor Hoffman, Mil RP
P Rich Harden, Tex SP
P Neftali Feliz, Tex RP
P Carl Pavano, Min SP
P Fernando Rodney, LAA RP
Bench Jake Peavy, CWS SP
Bench Ricky Romero, Tor SP
Bench Justin Duchscherer, Oak SP
DL Ian Kinsler*, Tex 2B DL15

His team:
C Ryan Doumit, Pit C
1B Paul Konerko, CWS 1B
2B Kelly Johnson, Ari 2B DTD
3B Pablo Sandoval, SF 3B, 1B
SS Hanley Ramirez, Fla SS
2B/SS Elvis Andrus, Tex SS
1B/3B Gordon Beckham, CWS 3B
OF Justin Upton, Ari OF
OF Jacoby Ellsbury, Bos OF DTD
OF Curtis Granderson, NYY OF
OF Ben Zobrist, TB 2B, OF
OF Colby Rasmus, StL OF
UTIL Jose Guillen, KC OF
P Jon Lester, Bos SP
P Clayton Kershaw, LAD SP
P Chad Billingsley, LAD SP
P Matt Garza, TB SP
P Rafael Soriano, TB RP
P Octavio Dotel, Pit RP
P Barry Zito, SF SP
P Matt Thornton, CWS RP
P Zach Duke, Pit SP PP
Bench Josh Hamilton, Tex OF
Bench James Loney, LAD 1B
Bench Asdrubal Cabrera, Cle 2B, SS
DL Huston Street*, Col RP DL15

WHIR

[tailgate13]

I am always hesitant when a trades go beyond 2 players. Seems like you are giving up a lot of offense. Is it possible to do Choo for Lester straight up?

[thejusman1]

I definitely wouldn't accept the trade as currently proposed, but if Zobrist is switched out for Rasmus I could consider it. I feel by season's end Cruz and Granderson will be more or less a wash in terms of counting stats, but Cruz will probably post the better avg/obp because he hits lefties better than CG. Lester is slightly above Gallardo, imo. Choo for Rasmus is a turn-off, but switch out Rasmus for Zobrist... maybe. It seems like a bunch of lateral moves, though, not sure why you would do this trade unless you're playing on utilizing Zobrist somewhere else but the OF.

[tonynyy]

Thanks, that's pretty much what I'm thinking right now. Do you guys think I'd be able to get Lester off of him with anyone else? This might be the only time in the season that he's available.

[dagactor]

I agree about not doing that trade...Granderson and Cruz are similar and I don't see it as an improvement as is. For Lester...maybe Peavy, or trade up on Francoers big start?

[tonynyy]

The guy isn't stupid, he wants value for Lester. I think I'm gonna give up on this deal, it doesn't seem to be going anywhere.

[zechs]

You probably should just stand pat on this offer. Give your squad about a month then maybe reconsider.

Thanks for your help on mine.