Weekly Matchups - Week 5

Week 5's installment of the DDWPIPOTCFFBE (Diamond Dynasty Weekly Preview In Pursuit Of The Chalice For Fantasy Baseball Excellence)

Last week – TJ remains unbeaten in 2013 and Jarrett's big win catapults him up the standings.

Sleepy's® "Snoozer of the Week" – Jarrett (3^rd) vs Richie (10^th)

Richie was able to steal a tie last week, 4-4 against Ben thanks to Doug Fisters' outing on Sunday night. Despite Mike Napoli staying hot (3/1/7/0/.320), Richie was 0-4-1 on offense and is an abysmal 2-16-2 on offense for the season. Travers was able to squeak out the pitching categories as he's done all year and now owns a respectable 11-7-2 record on “defense,” if you will. Mariano Rivera had 4 saves but Felix Hernandez was the star this week, winning 2 games, striking out 16, and posting a 0.64 ERA and 0.86 WHIP. He'll face off against third place again this week, which is now occupied by Jarrett. Despite only posting a 1-2-1 weekly record, Jarrett is the top dog in a very congested middle of the pack thanks to a 9-0, no-closer shutout over then-second place Colin. Jarrett kicked ass last week, winning pretty much every category going away. Big weeks from Alcides Escobar (4/1/3/2/.381) and Nelson Cruz (4/2/9/0/.360) helped Jarrett take all 5 offensive categories. Jarrett's Staaf, highlighted by 4 guys with 14+ punch outs, struck out 101 batters this week, won 8 games, and had very good ERA and WHIP numbers. This could be another tough week for Richie as he searches for his first win of the year.

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Dell's® "Dull Duel" – Drew (9^th) vs Colin (6^th)

Drew lost 5-3 to James last week, and has now lost 3 in a row. Alex Gordon was his best offensive threat last week with a 5/2/7/1/.317 stat line and he got double digit K's from 4 starters, but he needed a lot more to get past James. He is missing Michael Bourn but his return won't be enough to improve this offense – he has to hope that someone starts to step up. He now ranks in the bottom three in half of the categories this season and he has another tough match-up this week against Colin, who for some reason still has Trout and Cabrera. The panic trade talks are back in full swing following a 9-0, no-closer shutout loss to Jarrett. Colin only mustered 20 runs and a .239 average despite Cabrera's 5/1/8/0/.450 and Howie Kendrick's 4/2/6/0/.375. And it's almost unfair that Colin gets demolished in K's despite putting up 83! I don't think he played poorly enough to be shut out, but Jarrett was hot as a fox in a forest fire last week. I actually expected Colin to go on a little run (see last week) so it's good to know my jinxing powers are at full force. But much like Alex, one bad loss has skewed his record. He's better than a .500 ball club and he'll show it this week (Colin, sorry in advance).

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The Average Match of the Week presented by Not Your Average Joe's – Kurt (8^th) vs Alex (4th)

The frustrations continue for Kurt this year as he was edged out in a number of categories again last week and ultimately fell to TJ, 7-3. He lost by 2 runs, 3 RBI, 1 win, and lost WHIP by percentage points. Kurt had 5 multi-homer guys this week, netting him 13 home runs. He now has 42 on the season which is good for second place. His pitchers were dealing, winning 7 games and striking out 101, but TJ stayed right with him and ended up taking 4 of the 5 pitching categories. He'll look to right the ship this week against Alex, who macked Adrian last week 7-2-1. Last week's win gives Gentilli a 3-1 record on the year, and that 10-0 shutout loss to Ben in week 2 is looking like a complete fluke. Alex mashed this week, scoring 40 runs, hitting 12 homers, and driving in 38. Giancarlo Stanton had hit best week of the season, putting up 6/3/8/0/.364 and it looks like he's finally starting to get his stroke going. David Ortiz was a big contributor too, going 7/2/9/0/.478. Matt Moore killed it on the bump, winning 2 games, striking out 18 and posting 1.29/0.64 ratios. We could see some big numbers in this one.

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The Post-It® "Noteworthy Match-up" – TJ (1^st) vs James (7^th)

TJ continues to string together wins, going 3-0-1 in the month of April. Justin Upton is continuing to hit the cover off the ball, leading the league in home runs and on top of the fantasy ranks. Last week TJ outlasted Kurt 7-3 behind big weeks from Ryan Howard (5/2/10/0/.308), Jose Bautista (6/3/3/1/.148) and the aforementioned Upton (6/3/5/0/.333). But TJ did most of his damage on the pitching side, winning four categories and spot-starting 7 guys (I think) to do so. He's now an incredible 16-3-1 on defense this year with a perfect 4-0 mark in saves, ERA, and WHIP and he's at least .500 in all 10 categories. Great start. He'll put his perfect mark on the line this week against James, who held on to beat Drew 5-3 last week. The offense was pretty mediocre, hitting only 6 homers and driving in 27. No real standouts on the whole squad except for Hisashi Iwakuma's 19 K's (but no wins). It looks like he's been hit with the injury bug as hard as anyone, with Jose Reyes, Mark Teixeira, Jered Weaver, and Brandon Beachy all on the shelf for now. If Mams can tread water as he's doing right now, he should see a jump in the standings when the reinforcements arrive.

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Diamond Strike Anywhere Matches® "Match-Up of the Week" – Ben (2^nd) vs Adrian (5^th)

And we've made it to the match-up of the week! This is Adrian's second time in the spotlight. The first time around he battled then-and-current first place TJ to a tie, the only team that hasn't lost to TJ thus far. He did slip up last week though, and it was a rough one. Alex shellacked him, 7-2-1, and clearly the exaustion of being in the big game the week before got to his guys. There wasn't anyone on either side of the ball to give props to, so let's do the opposite. 6 guys his .214 or worse, highlighted by Everth Cabrera's .080 average. But he's been pretty good offensively on the season with a 12-6-2 mark, so it could have just been a down week. He'll take on Ben this week in Ben's first appearance under the bright lights. O'Connor had a big lead basically all of last week until the weekend, where Richie was able to close the gap and eventually tie the match-up 4-4. He was able to go 4-0-1 on offense thanks to Edwin Encarnacion's HUGE week – 8 runs scored, 5 homers, 8 ribbies, and a .306 average. His pitching, on the other hand, was pretty dismal. He only had one double digit strikeout guy and his team ERA was a heavy 4.09. Ben hasn't lost since week 1 and hopes to keep the train rolling.

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Weekly Matchups - Week 4

Week 4's installment of the DDWPIPOTCFFBE (Diamond Dynasty Weekly Preview In Pursuit Of The Chalice For Fantasy Baseball Excellence)

Last week – The slow starters continue to take their lumps as the early leaders start to stretch their legs

Sleepy's® "Snoozer of the Week" – Drew (9^th) vs James (6^th)

Drew enters week 4 still searching for his first win. It would have been tough to hang with Kurt's offensive last week anyway, but yikes, Drew. In what had to have been an historically bad week offensively, Drew hit just .206 with 4 homers, 13 RBI, and 2 stolen bases. He had 6 players hit .200 or worse, and a handful of others in the low-.200's. On the season, he is last in SB and RBI, and tied for last in runs. Luckily the pitching stepped up, posting 77 K's and a sub-1 WHIP. His season ERA stands at 4.06; we knew the team would again be built on pitching, but he really needs to dominate to have a shot at the playoffs. He goes up against last weeks Biggest Loser, Mr. Maimonis, who is also looking for his first win on the young season. Mams actually suffered his first and only loss thus far last week, 7-3 against Colin who now sits in second place. James was able to take two offensive categories, thanks in part to Troy Tulowitzki's 5/3/6/0/.222 line. His pitching was ugly, showing only 3 wins and a bloated 5.77/1.43 ERA and WHIP. Shout out to Bud Norris and his 81.00 ERA. I'm expecting James to take most if not all of the offensive categories, but Drew to do the same on the pitching end. We could be looking at yet another win-less week for both of these guys.

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Dell's® "Dull Duel” - Richie (10^th) vs Ben (3^rd)

Richie struggled again at the plate, putting up single digit home runs for the fourth consecutive week and falling to Alex 6-3. He lost all 5 offensive categories, and on the season is now last or second to last in 4 of 5 offensive categories. Adam Dunn was especially putrid, hitting .048 (but he did go deep). Mike Napoli was one of the few bright spots, hitting .345 and driving in 10 RBI and his staff was excellent, posting a 1.78 ERA and 0.95 WHIP. It doesn't get any easier this week as he takes on Ben, who disposed of Jarrett 6-3 last week. A resurgent Jacoby Ellsbury delivered 8 runs, 3 SB's, and a .355 BA to help take 3 offensive categories. On the bump, Max Scherzer and the Holland brothers (Derek and Greg) (kind of sounds like a band name...Max and the Hollands? Something like that) combined for 2 wins, 3 saves, 26 K's, and ERA's and WHIP's of under 1. Ben is off to a hot start offensively, second place in HR's and SB's, tied for first in RBI's. Richie remains confident that his bats will wake up, but Ben has to be considered the heavy favorite here.

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The Average Match of the Week presented by Not Your Average Joe's – Colin (2^nd) vs Jarrett (8^th)

Colin is coming off of the most dominant performance last week, beating James 7-3 and jumping up to second in the process. He's now 14-4 over the last fortnight and could be starting a nice little run. Mike Trout is starting to mash again, posting a 4/1/9/2/.391 line last week. His pitching stats were ugly, getting just 4 wins and throwing up 4.25/1.26 ratios but it was enough to beat James who had an even worse week in those areas. Colin's offense has not been good this year - he's last in homers and RBI - but he leads the league in Wins and K's thanks to Yu Darvish and Paul Maholm who are two of the top four pitchers thus far, ranked 8th and 12th respectively. Let's shift the focus to Jarrett, who is yet another team searching for the first win of the year. Jarrett is 0-2-1 but has not given up more than 6 categories in any week. He suffered his worst loss of the year last week, a 6-3 edging at the hands of young Benjamin. Jarrett was able to hang on to homers 9-8, but could only manage 25 runs, 3 stolen bases, and a .242 team average. His Staaf was average to below average, posting a 1-3-1 record in the pitching categories (1-2-1 discounting saves with his no-closer strategy). He'll have his hands full this week.

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The Post-It® "Noteworthy Match-up" – Alex (7^th) vs Adrian (4^th)

Alex was the only one who currently sits in the bottom half of the league that managed a win last week, beating Richie 6-3 behind a solid offensive week from his peeps (he won all 5 categories). It was a nice bounce back week from his 10-0 shutout loss last week to Ben. Anthony Rizzo had a very nice 4/3/5/0/.316 to pace the squad. He was able to hold off the opposition and take tightly contested categories in runs and RBI's. On the mound, he posted 81 K's which I think was the high number for the week. A late save on Sunday game him the tie in saves and expanded his margin of victory. He's looking for his first winning streak of the season but he'll have to beat the current fourth-place man to do so. Adrian has yet to lose a week this year, winning or tying tight match ups each week thus far. Last week he went up against TJ and battled the first place team to a tie, 5-5. The speed was on display as he had 4 guys with 3+ SB's which (I would assume) netted him a few extra runs (he ended up winning that category by 4). He pitched decently well but was no match for TJ's dominant week, dropping 4 of the 5 categories. I expect this to be a tightly contested battle as Adrian is playing well and Alex is better than his record (he can thank Ben for that!)

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Diamond Strike Anywhere Matches® "Match-Up of the Week" – TJ (1^st) vs Kurt (5^th)

TJ kept his 2013 unbeaten streak alive last week, tying Adrian 5-5. It was the only tie from last week. Pretty crappy overall team output offensively, putting up just 24 RBI, 2 SB, and a .241 team average. On the other side of the ball, it was another good week for his staff, posting a 1.88 ERA and 0.96 WHIP, though he only got 2 wins to show for it. TJ got a nice week from Homer Bailey who went for 0/18/1.29/0.86. He'll try to keep the train rolling this week against the Commish, who got back to his winning ways last week. He rode a 4 HR week from Longoria and a .321 team average to a 6-3 victory over Drew, taking all 5 offensive categories in the process and narrowly missing some pitching categories as well. At this point, Kurt boasts the most productive outfield in the league with Carlos Gonzalez (2nd), Bryce Harper (6th), and Shin-Soo Choo Choo Train (14th) all crushing it. This should be a great match-up as both these teams are playing great.

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Week 2 Power Rankings

A lot of moving around this week, as to be expected this early. Here's how everyone stands after two weeks:

1. TJ - 76.  (+3)
2. Ben - 64.5   (+22.5)
3. Jarrett - 63.5 (-1.5)
4. Alex - 59. (-18.5)
5. Colin - 56.  (+16.5)
6. Adrian - 55.  (+1.5)
7.  Kurt - 51.  (+3)
8.  James - 46.   (-7)
9.  Drew - 39.5.  (-11)
10. Richie - 39.5. (-8.5)

Notes:
-Ben needed just one week to go from (second to) last to (second to) first.
-Drew hilariously has the worst ERA and WHIP in the league. That probably won't last but it can't be pointed out enough.
-Justin Upton, errr.. I mean, TJ's team is looking very strong offensively. His all closer strategy looks good so far, but the inevitable mass spot-starts should level out the pitching numbers. That said, looks like the all around best team going forward.
-Colin's team gets out of last place, but the panic trade of Trout and Cabrera should catapult him to the top spot. He is currently fielding offers for the two packaged in exchange for a good-but-not-great MI.

Weekly Matchups - Week 3

Hey boys, I was gonna get this up yesterday but got distracted...hope everyone, and everyone you know, is alright.

Week 3's installment of the DDWPIPOTCFFBE (Diamond Dynasty Weekly Preview In Pursuit Of The Chalice For Fantasy Baseball Excellence)

Last week – Blowouts abound with the league's first shutout of the year and two other teams putting up only one win.

Sleepy's® "Snoozer of the Week" – Alex (10^th) vs Richie (9^th)

Yikes, what a start. These two schmucks accounted for the two biggest blowouts last week and are bringing up the rear to start the season. Richie fell last week to TJ, 1-8-1 behind another poor offensive week. He only managed 6 homeruns, 1 stolen base, and a .231 average despite Prince Fielders big week (2 HR, 11 RBI, .632 Avg). His pitching was equally inept, posting 4 wins, a 4.73 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP. Richie was able to throw up 10 saves but still lost the category to TJ's 12! (record check?) He's suffering from slow starts from everyone but Fielder, who is the only drafted offensive player on his roster to crack the top 122. And now we shift to the ever humble Alex Gentilli, who posted this smack talk in his match up with Ben:

April 8, 10:18pm: Before this matchup is over, my teams dick will penetrate your teams ass

Nailed it.

Ben turned the tables on Nostradamus in a big way, posting the first shutout win of the season. Alex only had one .300 hitter (Wilin Rosario) and no multi-HR guys. He posted a .213 team average. His pitching was even worse, with 2 wins, 3 saves, and a whopping 5.91/1.53 ERA and WHIP. A 10-0 loss, especially this early in the season, will obviously skew the numbers wildly (He was ranked #1 in the Power Rankings following week 1, so these numbers early on have to be taken with a grain of salt.) I don't expect Alex to spend too much time in the basement.

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Dell's® "Dull Duel" – Kurt (8^th) vs Drew (7^th)

Drew was a hard luck loser last week, getting edged out in a number of categories en route to a 2-6 loss. He came up short by 4 runs, 3 RBI's and 2 SB's. But Drew's team is built on pitching and those arms did not show up last week. He was able to win K's but put up only 2 wins, 4 saves, and very pedestrian ERA/WHIP numbers. He looks to rebound this week against Kurt, who was another victim of the head-to-head scoring process. I counted 6 categories that could have gone either way, and Kurt went 1-4-1 in those areas. But, horseshoes and hand grenades my friends. He got good production across the board but it wasn't enough to prevent a 7-1 loss against Colin. Interesting that neither of these guys tried to pick up a cheap closer to steal the saves category as they both settled for the 0-0 tie.

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The Average Match of the Week presented by Not Your Average Joe's – Ben (2^nd) vs Jarrett (6^th)

What a difference a week makes. Ben faltered in week 1, losing 7-2-1 to TJ and had the dubious honor of the first team to be in last place. But now, after a dominating 10-0 victory over Alex he finds himself launched into second place! Robbie Cano blasted 3 taters and delivered as many hits as outs (.500 avg) during the week. On the pitching side, Ben got double digit strikeouts from 5 starters, and posted a team 2.23 ERA and microscopic 0.97 WHIP. He'll look to keep it rolling this week against Jarrett, who finds himself in the middle of the pack thus far. Last week Jarrett tied James 5-5. Jarrett was able to hold on to some tight offensive categories thanks to level contributions from his entire roster, but lost three categories due to some tricky managing from James. About that....

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The Post-It® "Noteworthy Match-up" – James (5^th) vs Colin (3^rd)

As I was looking at last week's results, I finally get to James-Jarrett and see that James puts up a 0.68 ERA and 0.98 WHIP. Um...what? Then it starts to sink in...2 wins, 10 k's, 1 save...Mams is a tricky bitch. With Jarrett's all-starter pitching staff, Mams got his one save with Tom Wilhelmsen, hit the innings limit with Alexi Ogando and Clay Buchholz, and then benched all his guys for the rest of the week. With his ERA, WHIP, and saves locked up, he let K's and W's go (he didn't have a shot anyway) and tried to grab as many offensive categories as he could. He ended up only winning 2 offensive categories so it didn't totally work, but I'm kind of interested in what the league thinks about this move – I think I remember my brother's fantasy football league running into this and there was some grumbling. For the record, I have no issues with this and think it's actually pretty smart – if you think it gives you the best chance to win, why wouldn't you do it? Anyway, James tied Jarrett 5-5 and now has to face Colin, who had a great week last week against Kurt and won 7-1. The win jumps him up to the top 3 in the early season. Paul Konerko, Miguel Cabrera, and Hunter Pence all had good weeks offensively and Paul Maholm posted two good starts to pace the staff.

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Diamond Strike Anywhere Matches® "Match-Up of the Week" – TJ (1^st) vs Adrian (4^th)

Adrian put up a very average effort last week but still managed to beat Drew 6-2. He rode big weeks from Brandon Phillips (4/3/9/.318), Austin Jackson (10/1/5/.394), and Torii Hunter (7/1/6/.423). He's one of two teams to go 2-0 on the year thus far. The other? That would be his opponent and leader of the pack, Mr. TJ Geers. I fear I have unleashed a monster on the league with my last-place prediction a couple weeks ago. Two big wins have him comfortably pacing the DD thus far. Richie was the latest victim, falling 8-1-1. Justin Upton hits a homer every time I turn on Sportscenter and is 2^nd ranked in Yahoo! TJ also has the number one ranked player in Matt Harvey, who's now 3-0 with a sub-1 ERA. He's carrying 4 closers and spot starting to make up for the K's and W's. He's getting great production right now and there doesn't seem to be any reason why it won't continue.

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Week 1 Power Rankings

1. Alex (77.5)
2. TJ (73)
3. Jarrett (65)
4. Adrian (53.5)
5. James (53)
6. Drew (50.5)
7. Kurt (48)
7. Richie (48)
9. Ben (42)
10. Colin (39.5)

Weekly Matchups - Week 2

Week 2's installment of the DDWPIPOTCFFBE (Diamond Dynasty Weekly Preview In Pursuit Of The Chalice For Fantasy Baseball Excellence)

Last week – After a long, snowy winter the first week is in the books.  Tightly contested battles all around (only one team with 7 wins!) as no one wanted to start off on the wrong foot.

Sleepy's® "Snoozer of the Week" - James (T-4th) vs Jarrett (9th)

It's early in the season and none of these games really count as snoozers but we can't afford to pass up the sponsor funding.  Last week, Mams battled the 2 time defending champ to a tie behind great performances from Michael Morse (5 HR's) and Troy Tulowitzki (.421 avg).  It's doubtful Morse will be able to repeat his big week so he'll need someone else to step up to Jarrett's potent outfield.   Jarrett had a tough offensive week last week, losing all 5 categories to Alex (and none were all that close).  He did however get the all-pitching-category-no-closer-shutout which netted him 4 wins.  Kershaw and Bumgarner were magnificient, posting 3 wins and a 0.00 ERA.  His team ERA was a paltry 1.30 and his WHIP was under 1.  

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Dell's® "Dull Duel" - Drew (T-4th) vs Adrian (3rd)

This is one of two matchups that features two .500-or-better squads.  Adrian took care of business last week against Colin, beating him 5-4 behind Todd Frazier (3/9/.480) and first overall pick Cliff Lee (W, 8 K's, 0.00 ERA).  Fun fact - my girlfriend's mom's coworker is Todd Frazier's aunt!  Drew went up against Richie last week and tied him 5-5 thanks to 7 HR's and 16 RBI's on Sunday.  Leading the charge was Will Middlebrooks (3 bombs on Sunday, 4 on the week) who has quickly become this writers' least-favorite-yet-still-favorite Red Sox prospect.  Surprisingly, Drew's staff got knocked around this week to the tune of a 4.82 ERA and 1.52 WHIP, but the strikeouts were still there (94).

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The Average Match of the Week presented by Not Your Average Joe's - Ben (10th) vs Alex (2nd)

Alex was one of the few teams last week to post a win as he took out Jarrett 6-4 and taking all 5 batting categories.  The unlikely hero was Jed Lowrie, who teed off for 3 dingers and a .500 average.  He got expected production from his staff but Jarrett was too much to handle on the pitching end.  Gentilli will be squaring off again Ben, who could not keep up with TJ's strong offensive week despite Chris Davis's monster week (4/17/.455).  Dexter Fowler also had 4 home runs.  Ben's staff had some issues, with 3 players posting double-digit ERA's.  Ben certainly doesn't want to fall behind in the standings early but he's got a tough matchup this week as Alex is my early pick to hoist the trophy in September.

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The Post-It® "Noteworthy Match-up" - Richie (T-4th) vs TJ (1st)

TJ boasts the number one offense coming out of week one.  Justin Upton lead the way with 5 homers and 7 runs scored, but he got at least one round-tripper out of every one in his lineup except Jay Bruce and Ryan Howard (go figure).  Overall, his pitching wasn't record breaking (3 wins and 49 K's) but his ratio's were excellent (1.66 ERA and 0.85 WHIP).  He draws Richie this week, who is one of the four teams with a 5-5 mark.  Travers's squad struggled at the dish, hitting just .217 with 7 homers.  His pitching was slightly better, posting a mid 3 ERA and a WHIP just over 1.  If TJ puts up another week like last week, this matchup could be over by Friday.

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Diamond Strike Anywhere Matches® "Match-Up of the Week" - Kurt (T-4th) vs Colin (8th)

The back-to-back champion is once again in the spotlight as he takes on Colin's loaded squad.  Kurt squared off against James last week and played him to a 5-5 tie despite 8 home runs from his outfielders and 22 strikeouts from Jeff Samardzija.  Colin struggled against Adrian last week, dropping the matchup 4-5-1.  Mr. Lancey had the worst offensive week in the league, getting up on 5 homers, 18 RBI's, and a .199 team average.  Is it time to panic-trade Trout and Cabrera to Richie for Emilio Bonifacio? Yes, yes it is Colin.  Chris Davis almost did that by himself! 2 wins, 20 K's, and a near-perfect game from Yu Darvish helped to snag some of the pitching categories and even out the score.  Trade me Trout and Cabrera for Emilio Bonifacio.

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