trading for Aaron Hill?

[mjl]

10-team NL 5x5. I'm in second and I had three closers - Grilli ($5/expiring), Cishek ($5/expiring), Rondon ($10/yr 1) and was lagging pretty severely in strikeouts and doing well in saves even with Grilli's injury, so I decided to trade one and said that I'd take pretty much anything - I could use hitters of almost any type or a starting pitcher with Lee injured. The offers I got were Simon ($11/yr 1) for Rondon, Lincecum ($13/yr 2) for Grilli, or Tyson Ross ($1/yr 2) for Grilli. The Ross offer seemed a lot better than the alternatives so I took that one.

I then got an offer from the first-place team of Aaron Hill ($22/expiring) for Ross. I don't particularly like this deal on its face, but if Hill started being non-mediocre, it'd be worth it. Hill would be replacing either Hechevarria or Ruggiano; if I traded Ross I'd have to start Stauffer or Black or Ottavino. Should I even be considering this? I don't think so, but hitters are pretty hard to find in this league and I doubt my reserves (Zach Walters and Alex Guerrero) are likely to help anytime soon.

[overkill94]

I've found the same problem to be true in my 11-team NL-only - quality pitchers don't hold the same value as hitters. Ross being at $1 adds a little wrinkle, seems like a dumping team would give up a better hitter than Hill for him. It'd be a risky move for sure since Hill is both streaky and injury-prone, but your pitching alternatives are pretty dang good and Hill could go on a power surge at any minute.

[ThatRogue]

If there is a breakout month for Hill, this should be it. Arizona hitters have a nice schedule this month, with 14 of their next 22 games at home, and 3 of the 8 road games at Coors. Rockies hitters have it even better with 16 of their next 23 games at home.

[mjl]

We have a very deep bench which exacerbates the problem. The hitters currently available who had the most at bats in the last week are Drew Butera, Cesar Hernandez, Barmes, Rene Rivera, Brignac, Inciarte, Pennington, and it goes down from there. The only unowned home run last week was a pinch hit HR by Scott Hairston in his only at bat. On the other hand, the only starting pitchers available are Eric Stults and David Buchanan, but there are a bunch of decent MRs that wouldn't hurt you any - Schlitter, Casilla, Alex Torres, Stammen, etc.

[joncarlos]

Unfortunately Ross probably won't generate a ton of interest from dumpers. I don't think this is a bad offer given the scarcity of usable hitters

[revo]

Hill is a pretty big upgrade for you, so I'd do it.

[Don Quixote]

Always ask yourself these questions--

"What does this do to me next year?"

"Who does the incoming guy replace?"

"Who do I have to replace the departing guy?"

The first isn't relevant when you're going for the gold. You're replacing Hechevarria (who plays, but isn't much good) or Ruggiano (who doesn't play much when healthy, and who is mediocre). Ottavino should continue to put up good numbers; he's Grilli without the saves.

Consider the net of the two trades. IMO the upgrade with Hill is bigger than the downgrade from Grilli to Ottavino. Take the deal.