Stay of Execution

The Augusta Greenjackets, paced by 20 point outings from Robbie Cano, Bobby Abreu, and Carl Crawford, held on over the weekend and defeated Davison 176-142. The win brings the Greenjackets back to within a game of the .500 mark, 1 game behind Davison in fourth place. Things get no easier for Augusta as they face Johnny's Cabs this week, co-leader of the league with a 9-4 record. Augusta could potentially get some help, as Davison faces the Bronx Bash, the league's other co-leader.

Housekeeping: Carlos Pena is off the disabled list, so Matt Stairs is being released today by Augusta. Michael Cuddyer was placed on the 15-day DL yesterday, so Augusta is going to nab Luke Scott from Baltimore.

Both barrels: It's going to be an 8 start week for the Greenjackets, as James Shields, Zack Greinke, Gavin Floyd, and Roy Halladay take the hill against the Cabs.

(At the time this went to press, Augusta completed a deal with the Misdemeanors, getting Justin Verlander and Roy Halladay in exchange for Augusta's 3rd pick in the 2009 draft.)

Looking for a Spark

With another loss, This time at the hands of Davison, Augusta is sitting at the .500 mark, looking for a spark to get the team going again.

It didn't help that Augusta ran into the player of the week last week in Maggs........ran into 18 out of Quentin, and 55 out of the Davison pitchers........in comparison, Augusta pitching only tallied 22 points.

Sooner or later, everything has got to come together.

Trade Begins Week 7

With Vernon Wells sidelined for 6-8 weeks, the Greenjackets wasted very little time in getting outfield help by trading Justin Morneau to the Bronx Bash for Carlos Pena and Bobby Abreu.

"I hated giving up Morneau, but the outfield needed a pick-me-up" General Manager Gary Cousins stated after the star Greenjacket outfielder broke his left wrist making a diving catch.
"6-8 weeks puts us out to almost the 3/4 point of the season, and we can't lose those points from the outfield."

The question is, does Augusta wind up losing them at first? Morneau is 4th in the league with 71 points, and though Carlos Pena trails Morneau by only 10, he has had weeks with only 3 and 4 points, a fact that Cousins doesn't discount.

"You have to give up something to get something," Cousins conceded. "We weren't about to give up on the pitching staff."

The Greenjackets are in a three way tie for the top spot in the FBL with Davison and Johnny's Cabs with a 4-2 record. Augusta travels to Michigan this week, trying to atone for the dry-cleaning from Week 2.

On a more somber note, I want to ask you readers of my blog to be praying for my father-in-law, Mike DuFresne. The last time he was in the hospital, he had fluid drained from under a lung that looked very suspicious. They did a lung biopsy yesterday, and the doctor who did it said that there is a 95% chance that Dad has lung cancer. He goes back to the doctor on Monday. Please keep him in your prayers.

Analysis of the Blockbuster

The FBL was rocked to the core by the biggest trade in FBL history on Monday, as 13 players changed addresses between the Bronx and Michigan. Goose's Bronx Bash sent Travis Hafner, Manny Ramirez, Bobby Crosby, Jose Vidro, Gary Matthews Jr, and Justin Verlander to Swan's Michigan Misdemeanors, in exchange for Carlos Pena, Vladimir Guerrero, Rich Harden, Derek Jeter, Brian Roberts, Jose Guillen, and BJ Ryan. The analysis follows:

First Base:
Hafner has scored 42 points in 5 weeks. Pena has put up 53. Pena is batting .215, Hafner .209. My guess is that Hafner will pull out of his slump.......this is normal for Pena. Advantage: Swan

Second Base:
Roberts (34,3,13) vs. Vidro (20,2,18). Again, here Vidro is only batting a buck-92, but more than likely going to go up, being a career .300 hitter. Roberts is at .266, career .281. Advantage: Swan.
Shortstop:
Bobby Crosby (34,2,20) vs. Jeter (35,0,16). Jeter's batting .313 against Crosby's .260, but Jeter had sat out a few games with injury. Jeter's Jeter. Advantage: Goose.

Outfield:
Man Ram (39,6,23) and Matthews (28,5,23) vs. Vlad (31,3,14) and Jose Guillen (20,3,15). Will ManRam stay healthy? Can Vlad get his average back up to over .300? Lots of questions with this one. Early advantage: Swan.

Starting Pitching:
Harden for Verlander. I'm not convinced that Verlander is healthy. Harden is back off his yearly stint on the DL. Advantage: Wash.

Relief Pitching:
Goose gets Ryan thrown in for good measure, who is not going to get playing time because Goose has Papelbon. Swan picks up Sherrill, who immediately gets the nod this week for the misdemeanors.

All in all, I think this deal favors Swan, but again, it's just opinion.....I can see Swan pushing the panic button at 1-4, but Goose, tied for the league lead at 3-2, I can't understand why he felt forced to make this move at this time. Only time will tell.

Bless You Boys

Last night, the Tigers pulled off their first three game sweep of the Yankees in New York since 1966. The Tigers are now 14-15, a game and a half behind the White Sox in the AL Central. They are on their way to Minnesota for a three game set with the Twinkies in the Baggy-dome.

Buchholz Joins Greenjacket Staff

In a week where everything about Augusta is sputtering, Clay Buchholz joined the team, following a Philip Hughes trip to the disabled list.

Buchholz will add another strong arm to the staff, and the Greenjackets will get rid of another ERA over 7.

Gary Cousins, Greenjacket GM said that the addition of Buchholz will be a shot in the arm to the rotation, and with this week's earlier addition of Zack Greinke, solidifies the staff headed by Daisuke Matsusaka and Fausto Carmona.

Greinke joins Greenjackets

In an effort to bolster the Greenjacket starting rotation, Augusta traded Hank Blalock to Johnny's Cabs for Zack Greinke and Melvin Mora. After the deal, Gil Meche was given his unconditional release.

Greinke has a 3-0 record, with a 1.25 ERA. He has given up 30 hits in 36 innings of work, averaging 4.7 strikeouts per nine innings of work.

"We're just trying to get a solid set of starters," said GM Gary Cousins following the trade.