Clay Holmes Trade
6/1/22)
Shepherd Goods Choppers trades Clay Homes (RP, Yankees), Josh Naylor (1B/CO, Guardians), Josh Rojas (INF/CO, Diamondbacks), Alexis Diaz (RP, Reds), Michael King (RP, Yankees) and Last-Round NFL
to
Cooper Troopers for 3rd Round NFL Pick
SG Choppers trade grade: A
Cooper Troopers trade grade: C-
Trade Summary:
Another SG Choppers trade, and a good one for Dye at that! While Dye could have tried to sit patient and get picks for each and every one of his extra players that wouldn’t come close to being kept. Instead, he packages them all together for a really nice little 3rd Round pick, another early draft asset that he can use to rebuild his squad next year.
For Dye, he knows he’s doomed to a near-last-place finish, but he isn’t as scared of the punishment as the Cooper Troopers, for one. Dye stands a stronger chance of finishing last place, but not by much. A lot would have to go against Dye to get the last place penalty, and the Cooper Troopers improving along the margins isn’t likely to change the outcome (though it could and Dye has stones for taking that risk).
For the Cooper Troopers, this trade is about fixing a draft mistake – not knowing which players were relievers. The Cooper Troopers neglected to draft any real relievers until late, thinking that all relievers had to have was ‘RP’ next to their names. As a result, the relievers Coop had weren’t any good, got sent down to the minor leagues and has left him without a real way to get points.
As a result, the Cooper Troopers needed an influx of relievers, but don’t quite have the time to research them every week. Enter the Choppers. The SG Choppers didn’t focus on relievers in the draft either, but they have the luxury of pawning off every good relief pitcher that he found of the scrap heap because he’s entirely in rebuilding mode. Throw in the Guardians’ cleanup batter, Josh Naylor, and the D-Backs’ #2 jack-of-all hitter, Josh Rojas, the Cooper Troopers got plenty of productive players in this deal. The 3rd Round of the NFL is where things start to taper of substantially in terms of talent, and it’s fair to give up a pick of this size to improve at 5 starting positions. The Cooper Troopers are undoubtedly a better team. There are players that could have helped in the 3rd round, but the NFL Draft is mostly about luck anyways. In this particular MLB season, the Cooper Troopers are already 5-2, have a clear angle on the playoffs, and have SIGNIFICANT weaknesses on a team built for the future.
Who knows? Perhaps this move is the way the Cooper Troopers make the playoffs for the first time in League of Leagues history as only one of two teams to have missed the playoffs in the previous two sports.