48 HOURS OF CENTRAL SWAPS

A total of 14 trades exploded through Commissioner Andrew Haynes's Office in the last 48 hours, and, as the saying goes, the hits keep on coming! With so many to choose from, we can't cover them all in one post, but attention should be paid to the sheer number of deals between teams in the suddenly-competitive Central Division.

With the division-winning Rattlesnakes and the wild-card winning Friars both apparently setting their sights on 2013, the path to a 2012 title became much clearer for the other teams in the division: Casselton (which won the division in 2010), Pottsylvania (which made the Series in 2009) and the Los Angeles Isotopes, which have yet to earn a post-season berth but which were recently declared to have the loop's deepest farm system. With that in mind, all five Central clubs made at least one swap with one of their rivals, and overall 10 of the 14 extended weekend trades involved Central clubs.

Arizona GM Ronald Melkonian took a curious approach to rebuilding, jettisoning his first four picks in this year's draft, RHP Alexei Ogando, OF Adam Jones and RHP Edward Mujica along with the big contract of OF Andre Ethier in four separate deals.

The Snakes sent their 1st and 4th-round picks to division rival Casselton, and their 2nd and 3rd-round picks to sibling Chris Melkonian (Yuma), engineered a straight-up swap of Ethier (and his $9 million contract) for Sin City CF Colby Rasmus, and picked up .45's RF Jason Heyward for Jones and Mujica.

When the dust settled, the Rattlesnakes GM had lowered his club's payroll by roughly $12 million and had more cap room than any other club, along with OF Colby Rasmus and Jason Heyward, and a pair of blue-chip prospects (Casselton 3B Mike Moustakas and Yuma RHP Jarrod Parker). But at what price? With virtually no "pull" in the Draft, the Rattlesnakes will have to rely on free agency and trades to meet league roster requirements and they will be hard-pressed to add more blue-chippers. But, as you might imagine, it's all sunshine and roses from their GM's perspective.

Casselton GM Landon Bolt cashed in part of the depth of his major-league roster, trading OF Curtis Granderson, SS J.J. Hardy and RHP Mike Adams along with three unestablished players to pick up both picks (three in all) and fill specific needs in four (!) separate deals:

#1 Granderson was considered a luxury with a young OF trio of Jay Bruce, Carlos Gonzalez and Justin Upton, and was swapped a division rival (the Los Angeles Isotopes) for a bonafide #1 starter in RHP Danny Haren. " Pitching was a major concern of ours this offseason," said GM Bolt, "and looking at our outfield, Curtis just didn't fit in. This really is a good trade for both reams involved." As for the Isotopes, new GM Anthony King was blunt: "Our outfield needed upgrading, and I considered Haren as a player I could trade because I don't need pitching." Not mentioned by either GM: the more than $3 M in salary that had to be assumed by the Horned Toads.

#2 As a further example of depth, the more affordable (and younger) Asdrubal Cabrera had shown GM Bolt enough with the bat to allow him to move J.J Hardy to New England, which sent back an insurance player (SS Jed Lowrie) and their 4th-round pick in this year's draft. This represented a net salary drop that mostly offset the acquisition of Haren.

#3 In yet another trade with a divisional rival, the Horned Toads sent two young players who had failed to win roles with their club (1B Matt LaPorta and SS Reid Brignac) along with veteran reliever Mike Adams to the St. Francis Friars. In return, GM Landon Bolt garnished a legitimate closer in the person of RHP Heath Bell. "We shored up the hole in the back end of our bullpen," proclaimed Bolt with obvious satisfaction. "We look forward to him (Bell) sprinting into the 9th often this year for Casselton."

#4 Finally, with veteran Scott Rolen on hand and Casey McGeehee around as an insurance policy, GM Bolt traded the crown jewel of his limited farm system, 3B Mike Moustakas. Widely viewed as a future batting champion, Moustakas was sent out for a pair of draft picks, in yet a third trade with a divisional rival: the Arizona Rattlesnakes sent their first overall pick, along with their 4th, in order to obtain the prized prospect. It was not done lightly, however. As GM Bolt remarked, "We've had 'Moose' since he was in A-ball, and while we know he is a great talent, we feel there are many options to be had in this year's draft, and it was simply too good an offer to pass up."

St. Francis Friars owner Scott Hatfield, also in rebuilding mode, pursued a decidedly-different strategy from Arizona, swapping out veterans (1B Paul Konerko, 3B Kevin Youkilis and RHP Heath Bell) for a pair of lower-salaried pitchers (Aaron Harang and Mike Adams) and seven prospects, while keeping his draft picture intact. Critics pointed out that some of the prospects received were of the "now-suspect" variety, and that salary was clearly an area of deep concern, as the net effect of the dealing lowered the club's payroll by $23 M. The Friars, in addition to the previously-detailed deal above with the Horned Toads, also made "challenge trades" with other teams in the division (Pottsylvania and Los Angeles). The detailed thoughts of his acting GM, soon-to-retire baseball lifer Jack McKeon, can be read here.

Believe it or not, that's not ALL for the Central teams. At press time, Pottsylvania GM Jeff Moore had also been busy. In addition to acquiring 1B Paul Konerko, they had come to agreements with Sin City and Yuma on separate deals. And, of course, there are other deals that don't involve any Central clbus at all! The Cowboys, Firebirds and the Brooklyn Moabs had also been busy, with pending deals that will no doubt be described in the very near future.