ESPN

The experts have been stirred! This period of free-agent acquisition saw more moves than any week so far in the expert leagues, so let's no waste time with silly intros...

Joakim Soria $17: Nando Di Fino
Rafael Soriano $14: Nando Di Fino

Look At the Idiot Who Overbi -- Oh Wait: Yes, I paid $31 when I could have gotten both for $2. Hindsight is 20/20. Moving on ...

Tim Lincecum $8: Eric Karabell

Nobody Else Bid?: It's a shallow league (ESPN Standard), and each staff is allowed only six pitchers. So if Karabell is taking him in this format, and was fearful that other teams would bid up to $7 on him (or that they would bid $8, but he is supremely confident in his luck with coin flips), consider him a must-own.

James Shields $6: Ron Shandler (losing bid: $1)

Complete This Sentence: "In all of Major League Baseball, only Jake Peavy Has More ____________ than James Shields":

A. Swiffer dusters
B. Episodes of "Semi-Homemade"(starring Food Network hottie Sandra Lee) saved on his DVR.
C. Strikeouts
D. M.U.S.C.L.E. Men

The answer is C. Shields has 45 strikeouts, Peavy has 46. And Peavy gets to throw to pitchers every nine batters.

Another Interesting Note?

Held up against Johan Santana, Shields is tied with strikeouts (45/45), has a better record (3-0 vs. Santana's 3-2), has a slightly higher ERA (3.74 to Santana's 3.60), and has issued two less walks, resulting in an WHIP that is .05 points lower than the Cy Young winner (1.07 to 1.02). If you didn't get Lincecum off the waiver wire, Shields can serve as a lovely consolation prize.

John Maine $5: Chris Harris (LB: $3)
Josh Willingham $3: Eric Karabell
Nick Markakis $1: Eric Karabell

Two Outfielders For Karabell? In a League This Shallow?:

It seems that Eric's outfield finally pushed him over the edge. His solution? Pick two players on completely opposite paths, and hope that one is a trend and the other can right himself. Willingham has been on an absolute tear the past 10 games, while Markakis has been on an epic slide, losing almost .050 points from his batting average.

Bengie Molina $1: Pete Becker

Bengie Molina, Really?

Really. Guess who recently owned Mike Piazza?

TRADE

Nando Di Fino trades Manny Ramirez to Alex Cushing
Cushing trades Alex Gordon and Brian Fuentes to Di Fino

So How DO Trades Happen in Tout Wars?:

Here's a funny story ... Alex Cushing and I were sitting at a bar in New York on Thursday evening having a couple drinks. To the right of us were four girls giggling and talking about clothes; to the left, a group of six more girls, sharing a pizza and doing shots. In the middle? Two fantasy nerds looking at each others' rosters. By the time our heads popped up, I had Alex Gordon and Brian Fuentes, Cushing had Manny, and the girls had cleared out (but left us their empty pizza tray). The moral of the story?

You can always go to another bar after the trade, where there will be more girls.

FAAB

Rafael Soriano $31: Todd Zola (losing bid: $2)
Billy Butler $25: Alex Cushing (LB: $24, $17, $12)
Hunter Pence $16: Alex Cushing (LB: $15)
Elijah Dukes $7: Todd Zola (LB: $6)

Zola Believes!:

After coming out of the gate in a flash of fireworks, Dukes cooled off considerably, but now seems to have gotten back into a groove, raising his average to .249, and stealing a couple bases over the past week.

Alex Gonzalez $1: John Hoyos
Jeremy Accardo $4: Alex Cushing (LB: $3)
Josh Barfield $2: Larry Schechter (LB:$1)

Can You Say Something Good About a Guy Batting .198?

He was batting .117 a week ago.

Wandy Rodriguez $1: Mike Salfino
Troy Tulowitzki $2: David Adler (LB: $1)
Ross Gload $1: Craig Leshen

The Ross Gload?

Expect to see him a lot at first base with Ryan Shealy on the disabled list. This buy could be a tremendous steal for Leshen.

Erick Aybar $1: Craig Leshen
Jason Bergmann $1: Craig Leshen
Jason Bartlett $1: Larry Schechter
Ryan Doumit $1: Alex Cushing
Brian Schneider $0: Alex Cushing
Jorge De La Rosa $0: Alex Cushing

Cushing Seems to Be Everywhere This Week:

We should take closer look at his team and find out why...

MLB.COM

Hurting in: average (2 points), strikeouts (3 points), wins (1 point)
Can spare: saves (12 points), steals (10 points)

Mike Piazza, Gregg Zaun and Bob Wickman all go on the DL. Shin-Soo Choo is optioned. Alex Gordon, Kevin Kouzamanoff, and Adam LaRoche -- who all seem to be the same person this season -- happen to occupy spots on his roster. With a team bogged down by injuries and ineffective youngsters, Cushing addressed his needs by dealing one of his many closers and one of his average-killing rookies for a proven veteran with historically high average and power numbers. He then added Pence and Butler -- two more rookies with great minor league numbers who, if they fail, would certainly cause Alex to draft a team full of 38-year-olds next year -- to his rebuilt outfield, brought in Schneider and Doumit to fill in for Piazza and last week's casualty, Zaun, and took a gamble on Jorge De La Rosa continuing to rack up the strikeouts.

In the end, by making a semi-blockbuster trade and spending half of his FAAB budget, Alex made over his team and did so in a way that addressed needs and dealt from strength. And with the rash of injuries and demotions hitting a chunk of his team, it was a makeover that had to be done.

FAAB

Willie Harris $14: Phil Hertz (losing bids: $13, $12, $6, $5)

The Guy From the White Sox a Few Years Ago?:

Reach way back in your memories and conjure up images of the speedy Willie Harris from 2004, who hit .262, stole 19 bases, and was quickly sent to Charlotte the next season to make room for Tadahito Iguchi. With the departure of Ryan Langerhans, speculation is that Harris will platoon with Matt Diaz in left field for the Braves. He had seven stolen bases in 17 games for Triple-A Richmond, and five experts were vying for his services. He is worth a look in deeper leagues.

Ryan Madson $13: Jason Collette (LB: $12, $5)
Jarrod Saltalamacchia $4: Peter Becker (LB: $3, $2, $0)
Chin-Hui Tsao $4: Cory Schwartz (LB: $3, $2 )

Redemption: It's Retro Sunday! First Willie Harris, now Chin-hui Tsao, who has been absolutely brilliant as part of the Dodgers bullpen. Although Saito and Broxton are ahead of him for saves, Tsao is an excellent middle relief option who can help lower your ERA and WHIP.

Jorge Sosa $1: Trace Wood

That Voodoo That You Do: Omar Minaya will keep calling pitchers up from Bourbon Street until one of them sticks. Sosa has been electric in Triple-A New Orleans, compiling a 4-0 record with a 1.13 ERA and a 29:4 BB:K ratio. The Chan Ho Park Experiment blew up in everyone's faces, but Sosa would have likely gotten the call had his arm seen enough rest.

Oscar Villarreal $1: Scott Pianowski
Royce Ring $0: Brian Walton
Doug Brocail $0: Trace Wood

TRADE

Jason Grey trades Josh Phelps and Jeff Cirillo to Dean Peterson
Dean Peterson trades Ramon Ortiz to Jason Grey

Let's Have Jason and Dean Explain it Themselves:

Mr. Grey:

"One might think I am 'buying high' on Ortiz, and thus doing the opposite of what we should do, but having seen Ortiz pitch multiple times, I am impressed with how well he's throwing compared to last year, so I'll take the chance. It cost me two bench bats that haven't seen an at-bat for me, and if they needed to be used in the future, my team has bigger problems than rostering Ramon Ortiz, so it was trading a couple of parts more useful to a corner IF-starved team for a pitcher I can actually use in my lineup."

And Mr. Peterson, with your rebuttal:

"The lack of players in the free-agent pool was the reason for this. I, for instance, have had Chris Shelton and Joey Gathright on my active roster because there isn't much to replace them with. In the case of Shelton, there hasn't been a corner infielder available to even bid on so far this year. Then I lost Ryan Shealy, forcing me to trade with Jason Grey just to cover those two spots"

FAAB

Chris Snelling $37: Sam Walker (losing bids: Sheehan $36, Grey $17, Wolf/Colton $8, Michaels $8, Shandler $6, Siano $4, Peterson $3)

Chris Snelling Fun Fact Time!:

• Snelling is Australian
• Snelling signs his autograph with "Yoda" underneath his first name.
• Snelling is a "Star Wars" junkie.
• Snelling carries a three-foot tall Yoda doll with him everywhere he goes.
• --Snelling proudly dubbed himself "The Ejection King" in a diary he kept during his 2001 minor league season.

... and you wonder why eight of the twelve teams on the league bid on him. Before injuries derailed his promising young career, Snelling was compared to a young Lenny Dykstra. If he can stay healthy, he can be a valuable asset for a fantasy team in several formats.

Jack Cust $8: Jason Grey (LB: $7, $6, $3)

Jack Cust Fun Fact Time!:

• Jack Cust has exactly eight letters in his entire name.

Scott Downs $4: Mike Siano
Luis Terrero $3: Ronald Shandler (LB: $2, $1)

Did He Kiss Home Plate First, or Nail the Lady in the Stands With the Ball?:

Lovers of baseball players behaving badly will be fans of Terrero. In a 2004 PCL game, Terrero took part in a bench-clearing brawl, then fired a ball into the stands, hitting a woman in the chest. Three days after his return from a 36-game suspension, he hit a home run, ran around the bases, stopped at home plate, leaned down, an kissed it. He was immediately benched, in fears of a fastball striking his head the next time up.

He homered in his first at-bat with the White Sox, and will see a decent amount of playing time with Brian Anderson in the minor leagues.

Shane Costa $2: Mike Siano (Peterson $2 -- Siano wins coin flip)
Victor Diaz $3: Rick Wolf/Glenn Colton $3 (LB: $2, $1)

Where Does Diaz Fit In?:

Who knows how Sammy Sosa will react to the beaning after a few games, but Frank Catalanotto is injured, and Diaz should see some playing time in the Cruz-Brad Wilkerson-Matt Kata-Jerry Hairston Jr., rotation.

Casey Janssen $1: Lawr Michaels 1 (LB: $0)
Brian Burres $1: Dean Peterson 1 (LB: $0, $0)

Brian Burres of Baltimore ... gives up a lot of walks. I know there is a "BB" joke in there somewhere, but I'm not taking the bait.

Sean Henn $0: Ron Shandler
Sidney Ponson $0: Dean Peterson

Of All the Reasons Not to Want Him:

Ponson's ERA is 6.66666666666 ...

Nando Di Fino is a fantasy analyst for TalentedMrRoto.com and ESPN.com. You can e-mail him at Nando@TalentedMrRoto.com