JL, I'm looking at Blalock more from JG's POV than from yours.

You must have thought that your total score at the end of the season will be greater by replacing "Whoever" with Carpenter and replacing A Rod with Blalock, Blake, or Nomar, or you never would have made the trade, right?

You have no control over what anyone else scores, so the only thing that should matter to you is improving your score.

I agree with you:

You will have a higher total at the end of the season by replacing "whoever" with Carpenter and replacing A Rod with Blalock, Blake, or Nomar, than you would have had if you didn't make the deal.

And since I think that the difference between what JG gains by replacing Blalock with A Rod will be more than offset by what JG loses by replacing Carpenter with "Whoever", I think that the trade will result in a lower score for JG at the end of the season than he would have had if he didn't make the deal.

So clearly you got the best of it, the way I see it.