WOP-FC Trade Breakdown

A little breakdown of the trade between the Wings of Pastrami and the Fighting Cocks*, who swapped some heavy fantasy hitters on Thursday.

*Before I breakdown this trade, let me make an appeal to Pate to change his team name. Now, I'm all for loyalty, and if my memory serves me correctly, Pate has been the Fighting Cocks since day one. As someone who reluctantly changed his team name last year (long live the Ragin' Rubergs), I get that tradition is worth something. But my reasons are twofold: First, can't we all admit this team name is a little junior highish. It's like that guy on your softball team that always wears the number 69. Okay, it's a reference to naughty anatomy; we get it. On a more practical level, a name change might make it easier to shorten his team name in posts like this, rather than being forced to choose between Cocks and FC.

In this trade, Pate got Brenda Warner's husband, Donald Driver, and Steeler TE Heath Miller.* WOP received Reggie Wayne and Darren Sproles in return. I think Reggie Wayne is the biggest name of this group, certainly if you use the place they went in the draft as a judge**, but there were some valuable pieces moved around here.

*The trade resulted in Pate being over the roster limit, forcing one-time fantasy stud Alge Crumpler into homelessness.
**This is a terrible way to judge a trade, by the way. I hate it when owners put too much weight on where a particular player was drafted, as if there’s some matrix of draft picks that must be used to make a trade equal, like a player taken in the first round equals a second-rounder and a third-rounder. I shouldn’t need a conversion chart to make my trades. Players’ values change the minute games start being played. (See: Moss, Randy)

Even if WOP garnered the biggest name, I applaud Pate for making a move to improve his team. The Cocks are currently last in the league in scoring and are one of two teams to have multiple double-digit scoring weeks. Quarterback has been a particular dark spot for the Cocks, as Derek Anderson looks more like the backup to Charlie Frye that he was at the beginning of last year than the Pro Bowler he was at his apex. Warner gives him a guy who is capable of single-handedly winning matchups, as it’s rare to find a player who can turn the ball over 6 times and still score nearly 50 fantasy points. If Warner remains the starter in Arizona, he’s got all the weapons he needs to be successful: two legitimate #1s at WR (assuming Boldin is healthy), a questionable ground game (assuming James is still using a walker to plod through the running lanes that may or may not be there), and a porous defense that has them often playing catch-up. But will he remain the starter? That’s the concern that makes this such a high-risk, high-reward deal. Warner put up great numbers last week against the Jets, but his TOs affected the outcome of the game, a loss for the Cards.* I think this puts his status as starter in question, and with Leinart breathing over his shoulder as the presumable future of the organization, I’d be worried about Warner holding a clipboard before too long. If he remains a starter, then this was a good trade for Pate.

*It didn’t hurt that the mid-90s version of Brett Favre showed up at the game and threw for half a dozen TDs. These are just the kind of days that kill Favre owners. He puts up numbers like this just often enough to make a case for himself as a fantasy starter all year, and then in the playoffs, when the weather gets cold or the stakes get high, he dooms someone’s fantasy teams. What? I’m not bitter.

Speaking of QBs, this does leave WOP dangerously thin at the position. I’m of the mindset that any trade that forces you to pick up and start Gus Frerotte should be heavily scrutinized. With Big Ben laying in a heap at midfield a good portion of the games and David Garrard throwing more INTs through 4 games than all of last year, it was, in many ways, a bold more for WOP, too. What it gives him, though, is one of the game’s premier fantasy WRs. If Randy Moss returns to pre-Tom-Brady-injury form, and Jerricho Cotchery continues to emerge, this could be a formidable WR crew come playoff time.

It should be pointed out, though, that Donald Driver is no slouch, and while he is a downgrade from Wayne, he’ll produce enough to be a reliable 2/3 WR, so this reduces the loss a little.

Darren Sproles was the throw-in of this trade to equal things out a little. There’s not much value here if he’s not starting, as it’s difficult to pencil a player in based strictly on his return skills. But if Tomlinson were to go down with an injury, a notion that is not completely implausible at this point, it would be a huge bonus for WOP.

In the end, I think WOP got the best player in the deal, but Pate maybe “wins” the trade in that it addresses some of the team’s serious concerns. As a division opponent, I hope Warner finds himself bagging groceries again shortly, and I’m happy to see half of my Manning-to-Wayne connection go outside the division.