It happened just after I finally traded myself to what seemed like the perfect lineup. It took 18 weeks of the season, but after about 14 trades, my masterpiece was complete. I was just going to lay back and see if I could make up the ground I needed to. It was going to be an uphill battle — one that legends are made of. But, no, it is not meant to be.
I made some daring trades. I really shook things up. One of the most interesting moves was trading Albert Pujols. It seems almost impossible to get fair value for a player of his caliber — rarely do you come out on top when making a move like that. But I thought getting Alfonso Soriano and Juan Pierre was a good-enough haul. Especially when you consider how badly I needed runs scored and stolen bases. I made the deal with very little remorse. It was one piece of the puzzle that fit perfectly.
For a trading junkie like me, my lineup is like an empty hole that can never be filled. (No dirty thoughts, please.) No matter how many moves I make, nothing is ever good enough — I can always make it better. The euphoria of a good deal only lasts so long and then it's time to pawn off something of minimal value to get my next fix.
This time though, I really felt like I was going to kick this disease to the curb. The hole was finally filled. My outfield was stacked — Soriano, Grady Sizemore, Vlad Guerrero, Ichiro and Jason Bay. I had Pierre and the soon-to-surge Andruw Jones lined up at the utility position. Miguel Cabrera at third and Brian Roberts at second. Ivan Rodriguez doing the catching. So, I was a little weak at first and short stop with Nick Swisher and Jhonny Peralta — but with that lineup picking up for them, I could live with a couple of small blemishes.
There are plenty of fantasy owners who can say: Alfonso Soriano killed my season. I'm sure I'm not the only guy out there who feels this way. Only now it's official. Soriano was a high first round pick in most drafts and underperformed all the way to the disabled list.
Soriano is out at least a month. There is nothing like kicking a junkie when he's down. Is it back to square one for me? I don't know. What I do know is the guy in first place now has Albert Pujols. He's probably laughing at me right now. He might have even known that Soriano was going to get hurt. They say paranoia will destroy ya'.
Maybe I can make a deal and put that comeback dream back together. If not, at least now I have a scapegoat. And as usual, he wears a Cubs uniform.
