Delighting in the pain of others

I hate to be that guy who wishes ill on a person, but in some cases, I can't help it. Over the past few years, I think I've done a pretty decent job of selling a pitcher just before his value goes off the cliff. I traded Zito before the 2005 season, after his ERA had gone 174, 125, 169, 125, 105 in the previous seasons. Since then he had 2 decent years (both 116 ERA+) before heading to San Fran where he currently has an 88 ERA+. I feel like I got the best year out of him. Nevermind that I essentially ended up getting one (shaky) year of Francisco Cordero for him.

I traded Ervin Santana before this season, essentially for the right to Andrew Miller. I must admit Ervin's home/road splits scared me, and he's been even more splitrific this year, posting an awful 5-10 record at the break.

And then of course there was last season when I traded the former apple of my eye, Rich Harden. He was going to anchor my pitching staff for years to come. Problem is, the dude couldn't stay healthy, and I shipped him out for some young outfield help (Curtis Granderson) and a couple of mid round picks (the first of which I used this season to grab Ramon Hernandez). I went on to win the league, Granderson has improved by leaps and bounds this year, and Harden, well he can't stay on the field.

In a keeper league, sometimes you take a big gamble. One that could come back to haunt you for years to come. (Who can forget the fiasco of a trade that saw me trade Magglio Ordonez AND Joe Borowski this season for Jason Giambi?) As such, it's only natural to wish a certain amount of ill will on the guy you traded away. You don't want them to rectify all the reasons you had for trading them away. In Ervin's case, the home/road splits continue to dog him. In Harden's case, he's begun legal proceedings to change his name to Mark Prior.

I'm not a bad guy, I just hope Rich Harden's arm falls off.