Correction

The contender in my A.L.-only league wrote me to set the record straight on last week's post.

...had chance to check your site for first time in weeks and saw post viz my overstocked squad and necessity of waiving or giving away some studs. one minor correction and comment. I also got Rafael Perez in trade of Justin Verlander and Jermaine Dye. At time, Perez looked like he might get some saves and has contributed a little, while Verlander confirmed my fears and has been pretty awful. so on balance i think the pitcher part of the trade made sense and has worked out so far, while David Ortiz/Coco Crisp in place of Jermaine Dye/Matt Joyce has not. as to stockpiling guys lie Ortiz and Konerko, part of my strategy was defensive. I knew I couldn't keep them all but kept them away from competitors, at least for a time.

One confusing thing about the trades in my A.L. is that you can make lopsided trades like this so long as they're corrected by the deadline. So, yes, I did forget about Rafael Perez.

And this owner didn't even point out the fact that he:

1) owned Masahide Kobayashi, then-Indians closer, and was trying to corner the saves in the Indians bullpen because...
2) Todd Jones, then-Tigers closer, had already lost his job to Fernando Rodney and didn't look like he was going to get it back any time soon.

I'll give him that. Therefore, the trade in question was Coco Crisp, Rafael Perez, and Andy Sonnanstine for Jermaine Dye and Justin Verlander.

It still wasn't a good trade at the time for my opponent.

He needed to shed salary, but Dye wouldn't have been the guy on the top of my list to move. Sonnanstine for Verlander has worked out, but if I were a tout that's not a trade I'd advertise at my web site. Perez was an OK move as a hedge for Kobayashi, but even in mid-July Perez was no sure thing.

I do agree with my opponent's assessment about playing keep away. Making dump deals to stash guys on reserve and keep them off of your opponent's squad is one of the best moves you can make if you have the luxury to do so. If he had waived Dye, someone would have grabbed him quickly, and it wouldn't have been one of the contenders. Sometimes using your dump power just to keep a player away from your competitor is all it takes.