Kemp/Latos for Shields/Ellsbury

[BrettCB]

So I declined the original deal and a counter-offer was made...

Matt Kemp/Mat Latos for James Shields/Jacoby Ellsbury

This one looks more appealing to me. Any insight?

12-Team ROTO Re-Draft League
----

C: Carlos Santana
1B: Albert Pujols
2B: Ben Zobrist
3B: Jed Lowrie
SS: Starlin Castro
OF: Matt Holliday
OF: Hunter Pence
OF: Jacoby Ellsbury
Util: Jay Bruce
Util: Dominic Brown
BN: Eric Hosmer
BN: Chipper Jones
DL: Ryan Zimmerman

SP: Justin Verlander
SP: Max Scherzer
SP: Daniel Hudson
SP: James Shields
SP: Michael Pineda
SP: Bud Norris
SP: Homer Bailey
RP: Chris Perez
RP: Ryan Madson
RP: Sergio Santos
RP: Mark Melancon
RP: Grant Balfour
DL: Brandon Beachy
DL: Jonathan Broxton

[whitheadsuxs]

for sure bro nice move bat yourself on the back

[BrettCB]

Anyone else have some insight?

[jruffus1]

Even though you may lack steals now (if your in a H2H league), I don't think I would have been able to say no to this offer either. Good Job!

[VitiumCloud]

It depends on what you think of the situation in Tampa.... They have ridiculous pitching starts every year now, but something always happens. Personally, I wouldn't do it because I just can't bring myself to really trade offense for pitching, and vice-versa. Even if it's a trade where I'm giving power for speed, I feel like I can do the mental calculations... But pitching for offense is too hard to compute, and as someone who is also in first place, I have an aversion to doing any major changes to my team.

[TrippySG]

Yeah theres no way I would do this, not how its set up. I think a Kemp for Shields is fair right now, considering they are both top ten players and showing better results than last yr, which was an off yr for both of them. In my leagues, James Shields the the #1 rated pitcher overall, and that alone justifies the trade. I do NOT think Ellsbury is different enough to consider this anyways. It would be nice to have Kemp and Ellsbury, but I wouldnt give up any of your current pitching for them. I could see 3 of your current pitchers(which BTW does not list James Shields) coming down from their currently good numbers. Pineda is great,as is Norris, but theyre both first yr pitchers with an expected decline at times. Bailey is never going to consistently be the player we all thought he would be and my guess is youll drop him at some point this season, probably soon. Keep Shields unless you can do a 1 for 1 and get a top ten player.

[BrettCB]

Jacoby Ellsbury
.290 / 15 HR / 100 R / 70 RBI/ 45 SB
Matt Kemp
.290 / 30 HR / 92 R / 95 RBI / 30 SB

I might be giving Ellsbury a little more credit with his early power than I should, but hitting at the top of the Boston order is going to give him a lot of R and SB chances. They have the potential to be pretty similar players. Kemp is obviously the better player and I'd rather have him but that isn't the question....

Is the difference between Ellsbury and Kemp worth Shields?

[VitiumCloud]

Like you said, Kemp is certainly a lower-risk player... But that doesn't make it worth giving up Shields... also, it's possible that the Sox order could keep Ellsbury's numbers artificially high all season... Seems like you have more doubts than anything else anyways, so it might be a good opportunity to make a counter-offer and haggle; since you seemingly have nothing to lose at this point.

[BrettCB]

After turning down the previous offer I was countered with this...

Matt Kemp/Mat Latos for James Shields/Jacoby Ellsbury

I'm leaning towards yes. Thoughts?

[SpecialFNK]

I think Kemp is better to have over Ellsbury. I'm not really a fan of Latos this season but still might have more confidence in him than Shields.