Last week, I asked opinions on what I should do with Oakland A's outfielders Carlos Gonzalez and Travis Buck.  Both had been recalled from AAA on the same day, and I was without a clear path towards getting them on my active roster.  The rational actions were to wait for spots to open or to pursue a trade.  I did both.

The first opening on my roster resulted from the wrist injury to DH David Ortiz.  I guess that is a lesson in being careful what you wish for because you might get it.  Losing Ortiz' bat was a big hit for my team as I have been riding it since the beginning of May.  So I had a place to activate Buck, but the drop-off in expected performance meant I was worse off than if no opening had occurred.

This forced me into the trade market to bolster my Ortiz-less offense.  1st, I dealt Buck for Garrett Anderson.  This is a marginal improvement, but I figured Anderson to be a lock to play everyday while Buck has not erased his horrid start to the season and there is a roster/OF crunch coming in Oakland.  With 3B/DH Eric Chavez back, there are not as many ABs available for DHs Frank Thomas and Mike Sweeney and DLed OFs Ryan Sweeney and Chris Denorfia.

Then I acquired White Sox 1B/OF Nick Swisher and Tigers uber-position-qualifier Carlos Guillen in exchange for Twins 2B/SS Alexi Casilla, Jays OF Shannon Stewart and Gonzalez.  This trade had significant keeper implication for my trading partner as all three of the players he acquired can be kept next season for $5 while Guillen is out-of-time and Swisher is a full-rpiced $31.

I believe I significantly upgraded my power with the deal, and, with the hope of having bought low on both players, look for the AVGs to be better than their season-to-date efforts.  I also hope I successfully sold high on Gonzalez and Casilla.  What do you think?

NOTE:  This is a 12-team AL-Only 4x4 keeper league.