It's like discovering plutonium...by accident!

The first three-way deal in league history was executed over the weekend when Las Vegas, D.C., and Philadelphia exchanged commodities. And yes, you read that right, Marietta was NOT involved!

Here's a breakdown of who got what. Las Vegas acquired uber-prospect David Price formerly of Philly, D.C. got pitcher Chris Young, and Philadelphia got 2 2nd round draft picks for this year.

Price, drafted in round 7 of the 2008 draft, made headlines by pitching well in that "other league's" playoffs, but will likely spend the 2009 season in the minors. Young, who started with D.C. back in 2006, returns home after 2 1/2 years in Vegas. Young was probably the only decent pitcher in the '07 Rat Pack rotation and had a solid, unspectacular season in '08.

Meanwhile, the Endzone Animals, who looked like they could almost skip the draft coming into the offseason, get some valuable picks early on in the draft.

Marietta keeps wheeling and dealing...

Yesterday the Mighty Men made their 4th deal of the offseason (on 4 consecutive days, mind you), acquiring Ryan Dempster from Team Buddah for three draft picks, including Las Vegas' first round pick this year. Wait a sec...this just in...make that 5 deals in 5 days... Marietta has just confirmed a deal with Blue Ridge that sends third baseman Edwin Encarnacion to the Bombers for a 3rd round pick in 2010.

Dempster has had a rocky DMBL career so far, fluctuating between starting (2001-2002) and relief (1999,2006-2008) roles. Marietta envisions Dempster as a cornerstone to their rotation, seeing as Dempster's best DMBL season was as a starter back in 2001 with Philadelphia (7-14, 4.91).

Meanwhile, Encarnacion now finds himself with his third team in three years. Encarnacion started as a highly-touted prospect for the Rat Pack - so highly that the Rats dealt away fellow third bagger Ryan Zimmerman. Encarnacion's rookie season was solid, if unspectacular and the Rats traded him away to the Mighty Men for a 7th rounder. While Encarnacion showed a bit better improvement in his power in his second DMBL season, his other numbers fell a bit. Nevertheless, his stock seemingly improved as he now was cashed in for a 3rd round pick.

Marietta insists that they will go "into hibernation for a while" now, so a 6th consecutive trade is unlikely, but one can never count out a Landsman when it comes to making deals.

D.C. announces "Change"

The D.C. Bushslappers have officially announced that their team will now me known as the "O-Bombers". With the end of the 2008 Election, and President Bush's subsequent departure looming, it was time for a change, or errr Change. Never ones to hide their political affiliation, D.C. also did a house cleaning, firing their entire staff, including manager Kevin Elster after learning that Elster had voted for McCain in the Election. "We just can't have that kind of disobedience in our clubhouse" said team owner Jamie Landsman. Also gone was reserve infielder Ramon Vazquez, who was seen planting a Republican election sign on his front lawn. Vazquez was traded along with a draft pick to Newark for Hideki Matsui. "Now there's a nice blue-blooded guy" said Landsman referring to Matsui. D.C. was well known for holding several pro-Obama rallies in their stadium, as well as donating large portions of their ticket revenues to his campaign. Democratic senator John Kerry said he endorsed the change, but was sad that he would not be featured in the team's logo anymore. President Bush was unavailable for comment.

Another day, another Mighty deal

The Mighty Men have kept the trade wires steaming with another pair of deals. Last night the Mighty Men acquired first baseman Adrian Gonzalez from the Amityville Ant Slayers in exchange for pitcher Jon Lester. Lester was taken in the second round of last year's draft by the Mighty Men and was probably the ace of the staff in 2008, for whatever that means. Nevertheless, scouts liked what they saw in Lester and think that 2009 could be a breakout year for the youngster. Meanwhile Gonzalez was seen as expendable, considering the Ant Slayers already had James Loney on the roster. Gonzalez had a very good rookie year for the Honolulu Sharks in 2007, but regressed slightly with Tampa Bay. With the acquisition of Gonzalez, recently-acquired Kevin Youkilis will likely be shifted over to third base. This looks like bad news for incumbent third baseman Edwin Encarnacion though.

The Mighty Men followed that up with a morning deal sending farmhand Todd Wellemeyer to the D.C. Bushslappers for a 7th round draft pick. Wellemeyer was disastrous in a relief role for the Mighty Men, but he still has some upside. The Bushslappers seem to think that he would do well in the starting rotation, so he will get every chance to make the staff.

Wheeling and dealing...

The third trade of the offseason has been completed. This may be the most trades committed in such a short period since the season ended. This time it was Marietta trading with Sardine City. The Mighty Men acquired Kevin Youkilis from the Sardines for Conor Jackson and Brandon Morrow. Jackson was acquired in an offseason deal with Vancouver prior to last season and once again finds himself shipped off during the break. Morrow, taken in round 12 of last year's draft, pitched an incredible 131 games in relief. The 24-year old may have a future in the rotation, but will likely spend the upcoming season in the bullpen. Youkilis had a subpar season with the Straphangers in '08, but is a potential star. Known familiarly as the "Greek God of Walks", Youkilis is an OBP monster who hopes to improve on his (so far) lackluster DMBL career. The trade seems to indicate that the Mighty Men, who lucked into a first overall pick with this year's draft lottery, see themselves as playoff contenders. As for Sardine City, the jury is still out. The team has a solid core of players that could be competitive, but it'll be up to the team's management if they want to go for it this year or play it conservatively and try to build up one more year. This trade certainly can play both ways.

Last call for votes and Lottery update

Draft Lottery results will be revealed before the end of the day today, so stay tuned. There were some interesting shifts in the order...

Also I'm taking a last call for voting - I have not received a lot of ballots so the rest of you slackers email me your selections for Top Hitter, Top Pitcher, and Rookie of the Year!

DMBL Mirror League

Almost forgot to take one last look at the ol' DMBL Mirror League. Last year, Hillsborough's owner Brent Campbell let no opportunity slide to remind everyone that he won the Mirror League in '07. This year he'll have to settle for a tie atop the standings with the infamous Newark Sugar Bears. But how did it all pan out for last year's top Mirror finishers?

Well, #1 ranked Hillsborough finished 6th overall. The solid core of keepers kept the Hitmen in the race all year long. #2 in last year's standings was 2008 DMBL champion Vancouver and #3 was the runner up Sugar Bears. The other playoff teams: D.C. (#4), Las Vegas (#6), and Philadelphia (#7). The fifth place team, South Boston/Tampa Bay was in the playoff hunt all season long and even occupied a playoff spot for much of the season. The last place team in the Mirror League also became the last place team in 2008 - New Jersey Team Buddah. But enough about last year, let's see who this season's top finishers were...

Like I mentioned earlier, Newark and Hillsborough finished tied for the top spot. I guess the Sugar Bears' Reign of Terror isn't quite over just yet. Good news for Campbell though, he will still be able to brag and keep his Mirror League banner flying high over the Toilet Bowl. Finishing in third are the Arkansas Falcons - a team with a great history in the DMBL that has been sidetracked lately. Could a return to the playoffs be in the cards for the Falcons? In #4, the Vancouver Iron Fist. Clearly they will have their hands full defending their own division, let alone the DMBL title. 5th is Las Vegas, who looked like they tossed their entire future for a run at the title this year. Maybe the Rats fortunes aren't spent just yet... The 6th playoff team, according the Mirror League would be the Sardine City Straphangers. The Sardines flirted with contention in 2008, so it should be no surprise that they appear poised at a real playoff chance in 2009. With a very young roster, the Straphangers look ready to finally make a run for it.

At the bottom of the heap, things don't appear to be much better for the Buddahs, who moved from Jersey to Stamford, but also from #14 all the way up to...well...#13. Finishing at the bottom are the Hoboken Cutters.

The Mirror League projected well in 2008, but don't take this as Gospel. Projections were way off for the 2007 season where 4 of the top 6 finishers didn't even make the playoffs.

Team Review: Arkansas Golden Falcons

The Arkansas Falcons finished eighth overall, 12 games out of a playoff spot and 12 games under .500, making it the second straight losing season for the Falcons. 2008 was the worst ever finish for the proud franchise. The Falcons were built to compete on offense, and neglecting the pitching staff. However, the strategy soon sunk the Falcons roster as many of the top teams had both very good offenses and very good pitching staffs.

What went right: With an offensive mindset as a goal early in the season, the team ended up finishing 5th in team OPS and 5th in total runs scored. Most of the runs were scored by slugging away - the Falcons were second in team home runs (3 behind Newark), and 5th in slugging percentage (.457). Alex Rodriguez had a great year hitting .297 with a .993 OPS, 38 homers and 99 RBIs. David Wright put together another MVP-caliber season - .306, 45 homers, 115 runs, 115 RBIs, and 13 SBs.

What went wrong: The lack of attention to the pitching staff hit the Falcons harder than expected. While youngster Jeremy Bonderman was solid, as was veteran Curt Schilling, the rest of the rotation was horrendous. So bad, in fact, that the Falcons resigned Roger Clemens to give them a fighting chance for the playoffs. Brandon Phillips, Lance Berkman, and J.J. Hardy were disappointing. Adam Dunn was mediocre, though he was shipped off to Philadelphia in a mid-season trade.

2009 Outlook: Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens have announced their retirement. The Falcons should have enough offense for next year, but again, the problem will be with the pitching. Curt Schilling will miss next season and may also retire. Pedro Martinez also will most likely not contribute much in '09, leaving the rotation in the hands of Cliff Lee and, well, not much else. Wandy Rodriguez and maybe Andy Sonnanstine will likely occupy spots in the rotation. Unless the Falcons have a stupendous draft, they'll once again face an uphill climb.

Second trade already...

That's right, the DMBL World Series is barely a few weeks over and now the second trade of the offseason is completed. Hoboken traded young lefthander Scott Kazmir to the Philadelphia Endzone Animals in exchange for Adam Dunn, their 9th pick in this year's draft, and a 6th rounder in 2010. Hoboken drafted Kazmir in the 5th round of the 2004 draft (64 overall), but kept him in the minors until the 2006 season when he got his first cup of coffee. Kazmir started 6 games that year, but was bombed to the tune of a 7.99 ERA. Things improved the next season for Kazmir, earning a full-time rotation spot and amassing a 14-13 record with a 4.64 ERA. Kazmir took a big step back in 2008, going 8-19 with a 6.10 ERA, but Philadelphia thought he may have just needed a change of scenery. Meanwhile, Adam Dunn, who had been a mainstay with Hillsborough for many years was part of the Alex Rodriguez deal that sent him and A-Rod to Arkansas. The Falcons, sensing that a playoff appearance was not in the cards, sent Dunn to Philadelphia in July in exchange for Jonathan Sanchez and a draft pick.

Rock the Vote 2008

Seeing as tomorrow is Election Day, let us not forget our own votes.

Voting for the Kevin Mitchell Most Valuable Hitter Award, Ben McDonald Pitcher of the Year Award and the Pat Listach Rookie of the Year Award is still open. For the Mitch and the Ben Mac, it's the top 6 and for the Stash, it's the top 3.

Get voting! Voting results will be announced some time next week.