Top 1: Chase d’Arnaud struck out swinging against Wandy Rodriguez

Top 3: d’Arnaud called out on strikes against W. Rodriguez

Top 4: d’Arnaud struck out swinging against W. Rodriguez

Top 6: d’Arnaud struck out swinging against Fernando Rodriguez

Top 9: d’Arnaud grounded out to shortstop against Mark Melancon

Top 11: d’Arnaud grounded out to third base against Aneury Rodriguez

Final Line: 0-for-6, 4 K

Notes: It was a tough night for the Pirates’ rookie infielder on Sunday night, as d’Arnaud went hitless in six at-bats and wore the sombrero.  Typically a sombrero is a made possible by extra innings.  In this game, however, d’Arnaud had already completed the feat by the sixth inning, and somehow managed to avoid wearing the platinum sombrero from there on out.

Total 2011 Sombreros: 70

*How is it that there wasn’t some sort of sombrero in Sunday night’s marathon between the Red Sox and Rays??

Top 3: James Shields struck out swinging against Wandy Rodriguez

Top 5: Shields struck out swinging against Wandy Rodriguez

Top 7: Shields struck out swinging against Fernando Rodriguez

Top 9: Shields called out on strikes against Aneury Rodriguez

Final Line: 0-for-4, 4 K

Notes: Shields’ sombrero was the second by a pitcher this season, and both were due to the face they fired a complete game.  For Shields it was his third-consecutive CG, as he allowed one run on three hits, walked one and struck out nine on Friday against Houston.

Total 2011 Sombreros: 49

Top 1: Freddie Freeman struck out swinging against Brett Myers

Top 3: Freeman stuck out swinging against Myers

Top 6: Freeman struck out on a foul tip against Myers

Top 9: Freeman struck out swinging against Fernando Rodriguez

Final Line: 0-4, 4 K

Notes: There’s no better way to bring a hot streak to a screeching halt than with a sombrero, which is exactly what happened to Freeman on Sunday against the Astros.  He had hit safely in seven of his last nine games—four of which were multi-hit efforts—prior to his sombrero.

Total 2011 Sombreros: 41

With the draft quickly approaching and in light of the incident with Buster Posey at the plate a week ago, I think it makes sense to look at the catcher position and the future of it within the draft.  Granted I probably would not even have considered this if the two best catchers in baseball weren’t currently on the disabled list, but that hardly makes anything about the inherent risks of the position less true.  No reader of this site requires an explanation of these risks and the dangers of the catcher position, but I am skeptical many would disagree that it’s about time the offensive catcher disappears from baseball, and it starts with the draft.

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Each season I always manage to make at least one deal where I move a large amount of players, vastly altering the look of my team.  As I have mentioned before, trading players, and acting like a GM, is one of my favorite parts of fantasy baseball.  Thus, it is logical to see that I derive immense amounts of pleasure from trading big name stars.  To get a deal of this magnitude done, it requires extensive negotiations, a willing partner, and usually some adult suds to push the deal through.  (Sounds vaguely familiar to late-night exploits during my freshman year at U of A.)  Fellow writer and Denslow Cup league member, Dee, and I finally swung a deal through last night and if weight is the term I am using to describe it, this deal is heavy.  Let’s take a look and break down the trade.

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