Full Disclosure: Funny what one trade will do

Something about making a trade makes the whole week seem brighter.

You feel good. I don't care if you ripped a hole in your favorite jeans, had nothing to eat but bologna sandwiches and lost every game in every one of your Fantasy leagues. You made a trade, boy, and your whole season's looking up as a result.

And you should feel good about it. Trades don't happen easily. To make one, you have to figure out a way to improve someone else's team while still improving your own -- a mostly fruitless process of trial and error that requires persistence and outside-the-box thinking. So naturally, when you do finally strike gold, you feel rewarded in a way that goes beyond the actual players you acquired and needs you addressed.

Unless, of course, you didn't offer the trade, meaning you didn't put the time and effort into it. It just fell right into your lap. In that case, your only worry is whether or not you can click "accept" before the other guy changes his mind.

I had such an experience this past week, and believe me, it doesn't happen often. In my time playing Fantasy Baseball, maybe as many as 19 of the 20 trades I've made I've proposed myself.

So the fact I accepted this trade, my first of the season in any league, tells you it had to be a doozie -- the kind that made my jaw drop to the floor and my eyes open wide as saucers.

And I just so happened to make it in the one league I needed it the most -- my NL-only Rotisserie league.

12-team mixed Rotisserie (3rd; 5x5 Score: 82.0)

But before we get into all the wheeling and dealing, I first need to touch on my mixed-league teams. For the third straight week in this league, I rank third, which might give us reason to wonder if I've topped out.

I don't think so. I foresee improvement in some categories, particularly home runs. Pat Burrell and Dan Uggla have combined for only five so far when each should probably have more than that by now. They'll get hot soon. They always do.

Also, for the first time this season, my pitching staff will soon have its drafted ace in John Lackey. By now, I don't expect him to surpass Chad Billingsley as my actual ace, but my pitching staff can only improve with Lackey on it. Of course, I'll have to spend some time this week deciding which pitcher to drop to make room for him. I'll probably let go of one of my four closers, most likely Scott Downs, but if he solidifies his role with the Blue Jays, I might cut John Maine instead. A poor outing from Maine would only make that decision easier, so I'm almost hoping for one.

I noticed I had dropped a few places in batting average, which most likely resulted from my decision to release Todd Helton a couple weeks ago. The guy's hitting .340 and not sitting nearly as much as you might expect for someone coming off back surgery. I wanted him back, so I decided to end the Jeff Francoeur experiment for now. Helton has killed Francoeur in batting average so far and equaled him everywhere else, so I don't stand to lose much. True, Francoeur probably has the higher ceiling power-wise, but I try not to fall in love with potential. The fact is he has exactly one 20-homer season in his career.

Someone else decided to drop Jorge Posada, who I doubt will need much longer than the minimum 15 days on the DL. Apparently, that owner didn't have a free DL slot for the Yankees catcher, but I had no problem dumping Troy Glaus from one of mine. I have no idea whether I'll replace Jesus Flores or John Baker with Posada when he comes off the DL, but I'll definitely replace one. Few catchers have the RBI opportunities Posada has.

10-team mixed Head-to-Head (4th; Record: 3-2)

My team played well enough to win last week but happened to go against the wrong team. It happens. I don't like my record or my standing right now, but I rank second in points even though Lance Berkman, B.J. Upton and Jon Lester have vastly underperformed so far. I don't think I have any real reason to worry.

I do worry about the potential of falling to 3-3, though, just because of bad timing. I wouldn't dare chance starting Berkman and his sprained wrist in a league this shallow, not when I have someone like Todd Helton on my bench. I hadn't started Helton in this league until this week, but he has scored plenty of points over the last three weeks -- more than the slumping Berkman, even.

Still, anytime you lose one of your must-start options, you're at a disadvantage, and mine is compounded by the injury to Kevin Youkilis, who missed most of last week with a strained side. I went ahead and started him, but I didn't feel good about it, even picking up Mark Teahen in case I changed my mind at the last minute.

It took five weeks, but I think I've finally settled on my two designated hitters. Every time I sit Nick Swisher, he makes me regret it, and when I sat Adam Lind last week, he ended up outperforming all of my hitters not named Hanley Ramirez. When at their best, those two simply play too well for me to chance sitting them. Lind has a longer leash than Swisher at this point, but I rank both well ahead of Denard Span and Jason Kubel right now. Now, what to do when Upton heats up?

Wandy Rodriguez gave me everything I could have possibly wanted from him last week, but I have to sit him for two-start Kevin Slowey now. Rodriguez has to pitch at Coors Field this week, making my decision that much easier.

As I hinted last week, I finally gave up on Carlos Marmol and Milton Bradley -- Marmol for the soon-to-return Chien-Ming Wang and Bradley for Teahen. I'll still keep an eye on Bradley, though. He had just begun to swing the bat better.

When Youkilis returns and I no longer have need for Teahen, I plan to give Brett Cecil a look. He has enough potential that somebody has already claimed him in both of my other mixed leagues.

12-team AL-only Rotisserie (11th; 5x5 Score: 48.5)

Another week, another long list of unanswered trade offers. Either nobody pays attention to this league or nobody pays attention to me. I'm not sure which would bother me more.

In all seriousness, I have no doubt the other 11 owners actively participate in this league, so I can only interpret each absent response as an indirect "no, thank you." After so many passive rejections -- geez, reminds me of real life -- I've decided to lower my standards a bit, offering 52-percent owned Koji Uehara for 21-percent owned Ben Zobrist. Public perception says the deal should fly, but I haven't gotten an answer yet. Eh, maybe it's for the best. Zobrist isn't assured regular at-bats, and I have enough speculative hitters on this team already.

I could use another middle infielder, though, now that the Twins have sent Alexi Casilla to minors. I have no one to start in his place, so in my lineup he'll remain.

Daisuke Matsuzaka and Rich J. Hill will return from the DL in the next couple weeks, which only underscores my need to trade a starting pitcher. Plus, I just so happen to need hitting. Lou Montanez looks like the regular left fielder in Baltimore now, which helps, but I wouldn't mind adding a Jack Cust or Jose Guillen type to replace Gabe Kapler. If nobody bites on my middling pitchers like Uehara and Tim Wakefield soon, I might have to shop my high-end options -- though I'd aim for better hitters, obviously.

Now that Alex Rodriguez has returned, my need for offense isn't quite as dire, and I expect to slowly creep up the rankings over the next few weeks. The same thing happened for me last year in this league when A-Rod returned from a quadriceps injury. I don't expect to contend for first place or anything -- at least not without making a trade or two -- but I shouldn't be the laughingstock of the league anymore. At least, I hope not.

Just a few roster changes to report: Someone dropped David Purcey after the Blue Jays sent him to the minors. He was one of my favorite deep sleepers, mostly because of his strikeout potential, so I didn't mind cutting Russ Springer for the opportunity to stash him. Just like the Yankees, I replaced Jose Molina with Francisco Cervelli. Pretty straightforward there. Jeff Larish moves back into my lineup after I made the mistake of starting Mike Carp over him last week. Both began the week in the minors, but the Tigers called up Larish, who ended up hitting a homer. I need all of those I can get, so ... oops.

12-team NL-only Rotisserie (9th; 5x5 Score: 59.0)

Here it is: the trade that could salvage my season.

From the very first week, I knew I needed more hitting. The problem was I didn't have any sort of excess to trade for it. I tried to shop some of my low-end starting pitchers -- guys like Jorge De La Rosa and Braden Looper -- for low-end hitters like Austin Kearns and Scott Hairston, but I didn't get any comments, counterproposals or other reasons to think anyone might be remotely interested. I didn't know where else to turn. I knew I wasn't ready to rip apart the very foundation of my team, but I didn't see how I could possibly get hitting without giving it in return.

And that's when one of my opponents blessed me with a proposal I never would have had the courage to make myself:

He offered me Jayson Werth and Emilio Bonifacio for Ryan Franklin.

I literally jumped out of my chair. I figured I must have missed some crucial piece of news that significantly altered one of the two hitter's value, so I asked Eric Mack if I had any reason not to make this deal. When he confirmed I didn't, I ran back to my computer, made sure I didn't misread anybody's name and clicked "accept" -- no second-guessing necessary.

I can't imagine a more perfect scenario. Granted, Franklin was my only real source of saves until Jose Valverde comes off the DL, but saves is just one category. Werth will help me in at least four -- maybe five -- and I probably would have made the deal just for him. But then by throwing in Bonifacio -- who plays a position where I had no other options but Blake DeWitt and Eugenio Velez and could single-handedly pull me out of last place in steals -- my opponent made it almost too easy for me. I actually felt guilty accepting this trade.

I don't mean to make the guy feel bad. This is an "expert" league, so he could have some brilliant plan that goes well beyond anything I can envision. And if he does, he'll sure make me look like a sucker. But I don't understand what motivated him to make me such an offer. He was in first place, for crying out loud. Was the addition of a few saves really worth the risk of collapsing his offense? As a guy who traded himself out of first place in a Rotisserie league last year, I wouldn't have recommended this deal -- not his end of it, anyway.

Of course, I do have to recognize that Franklin also contributed something in the way of ERA and WHIP, but nothing I couldn't get off the waiver wire from a carefully chosen middle reliever. For now, I'll go with Kip Wells. He's at least in the mix for saves in Washington, as few and far between as that team might get them.

Also, as euphorically as I speak of this trade, I didn't really net much with it given Aramis Ramirez's dislocated shoulder and Chad Tracy's removal from the starting lineup. I tell you, it's like I'm running in place here.

At least Jerry Hairston has started to come around, and I'll also get Stephen Drew back from the DL this week. Neither of them helps me at third base, where I have no choice but to start pinch-hitter extraordinaire Greg Dobbs. Ew.

Looks like I'll need to make another trade. Maybe De La Rosa's 12-strikeout gem improves his value enough to get some nibblers. Nah, he'll probably need another one.

20-team mixed Head-to-Head (4th; Record: 3-2)
(10 teams NL-only, 10 teams AL-only)

A win in this league this week meant the difference between seventh and fourth place, so my middle infield of Jose B. Reyes and Brandon Phillips picked the right time to step up, combining for 67.5 points. Even my pitching staff lived up to the hype and managed not to negate itself, with only Randy Johnson, who pitched at Coors Field, scoring negative points (called that one).

You want to know how much Lance Berkman's injury scares me? Enough that I benched him in this league too. Then again, I didn't exactly start Josh Whitesell over him. Nick Johnson knows how to swing the bat a bit and would probably start for several other teams on an every-week basis.

Anibal Sanchez went on the DL, allowing me to pick up a free agent. I chose to go with Jonathon Niese for now. I originally added SP-eligible reliever J.A. Happ, seeing as avoiding earned runs matters more than piling up wins and innings in this scoring format, but I figured I'd give Niese a chance to legitimize his first start with an equally impressive second one. I don't expect anyone to add Happ in the meantime.

Randy Winn heated up toward the end of last week, giving me reason to continue starting him over Elijah Dukes. Both of these players probably deserve to start for somebody, so I've begun shopping Dukes for a sixth starting pitcher. One of Chris R. Young and Randy Johnson will get hurt eventually, and I don't want to have to resort to Braden Looper when that day comes. I'll keep you informed.

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