Would you do this trade?

[Trader Mac]

I would trade Lyles (3 year contract) for A Crow (3 yrs) and Carter Capps (4 yrs)? Is it time to give up on Lyles? I hate to trade a starter for 2 middle relievers but maybe its time to cut bait on Lyles. What do you think? I like Crow and think he can bounce back this year. Not sure what to think about Capps.

[Trader Mac]

Looking through previous threads that mention Capps, I see that some said he was the closer-in-waiting. Is Capps still in-line to be a closer down the road? Maybe it wouldn't hurt to take a chance on him.

[Hornsby]

Looking through previous threads that mention Capps, I see that some said he was the closer-in-waiting. Is Capps still in-line to be a closer down the road? Maybe it wouldn't hurt to take a chance on him.

Hard to see him unseating Farquar at this point...but closers are notoriously fickle, so he might not be a bad ticket to hold on to...

[Trader Mac]

Hard to see him unseating Farquar at this point...but closers are notoriously fickle, so he might not be a bad ticket to hold on to...

But, would you trade for him? I am the one who has Lyles and I know he is nothing great. However, I wonder if Crow and Capps would be worth it.

[joncarlos]

Farqhuar and Wilhelmsen might both be ahead of Capps, but I still think he might have the best chance to have value out of any of these 3 guys. How deep is this league? Lyles might be a league average starter. Crow and Capps might be 2 good relievers. I'm not sure any of them really matter.

[Moonlight J]

Yes, I do that deal.

[rhd]

At first I was going to say that I also would do that deal. But after looking at the stats, I say why bother? Lyles is a back of the rotation starter on a bad team, much worse than league-average. He never profiled as having a ceiling better than a #3 so not much upside either. He's been little better than a blank spot on the roster so far. Both Capps and Crow could become closers at some point, but probably not for either one. Crow is established as a quality set-up man but he's likely 3rd in line at best on the closer depth chart in KC now. Capps is potentially a quality set up guy too, but hasnt been very good in MLB so far. He's perhaps no better than 3rd-in-line for closer either. Either one may be better than Lyles rt now, but neither figures to have much impact. I'd try to find a starter that is better than Lyles. All this was assuming a roto league; may be a little different in dynasty, which I dont play.

[Trader Mac]

Thanks for all the advice. I am having a hard time pulling the trigger but I'll probably do it. Looking over Lyles stats again, I just don't see why I am hanging on him other than the fact that he is a starter.

[mjl]

I guess it depends on how big your rosters are and how deep your league goes. In any kind of normal league, I can't imagine intentionally keeping a roster spot for a reliever with no chance of closing and a strikeout per inning, which is what Crow has done so far, and Capps could get better but they could also get tired of him. Sure, I'd draft him, but I gotta think he's replaceable.

That said, giving up Lyles is not much of a cost unless Houston retools really quickly. I think if you're in some league with a 20-man bench and you have fewer keepers than you're allowed, you could do worse than to make the trade.

[Trader Mac]

I guess it depends on how big your rosters are and how deep your league goes. In any kind of normal league, I can't imagine intentionally keeping a roster spot for a reliever with no chance of closing and a strikeout per inning, which is what Crow has done so far, and Capps could get better but they could also get tired of him. Sure, I'd draft him, but I gotta think he's replaceable.

That said, giving up Lyles is not much of a cost unless Houston retools really quickly. I think if you're in some league with a 20-man bench and you have fewer keepers than you're allowed, you could do worse than to make the trade.

Yeah, this trade doesn't excite me and I usually don't make trades like that. But, I look at Lyles and I see little hope for him. I am also able to dump Cervelli in this deal who is just eating up a roster space right now. This is not for roto, but for Stratomatic so perhaps its a little different. It is a deep league of 24 teams with 40-man rosters. I guess all the players are easily replaceable. For me, it comes down to any potential upside. Capps showed it in the minors and Crow wasn't bad his first 2 years in the bigs. So far, Lyles hasn't shown anything IMO.

[mjl]

Oh, you can't just cut Cervelli? If there's a number of keepers that you absolutely have to have, those guys probably aren't bad filler.

[Trader Mac]

Oh, you can't just cut Cervelli? If there's a number of keepers that you absolutely have to have, those guys probably aren't bad filler.

I could cut Cervelli, but I would still be responsible for his contract which isn't much (500k for 2 years) The other three (Lyles, Crow and Capps) are all under rookie contracts so they can be cut anytime without be responsible for the rest of their contract. As for keepers, you have to keep who is under guaranteed contracts with the number varying among teams. You can cut guaranteed contracts but you still need to pay for their salaries for the remainder of their contract.

[Trader Mac]

I went ahead and did the deal. Cervelli and Lyles for Crow and Capps. Crap for crap IMO.

[Don Quixote]

I went ahead and did the deal. Cervelli and Lyles for Crow and Capps. Crap for crap IMO.

That's exactly what I though. If this were Roto, I would have said, "Why bother? Drop Cervelli and Lyles, and pick up someone you like."

Kind of reminds me of an in-season deal I made about 5 years ago, Carlos Villanueva for Austin Kearns (might have been with ironmanatee). Within a month, both were gone from our rosters and we were laughing about it--"Did we REALLY think this was going to make a difference?"

[Trader Mac]

Well, Cervelli was signed to a contract so I couldn't just drop him. So, I was able to rid my roster of his contract and get a player with a little upside.