by GREGKOESTER » Sun Jul 16, 2006 8:45 am
I better check in here and say it ain't me before PBTR slams me (just a joke. The PBTR thing that is. That hatchet is long buried.) Thank you King Olav or Bruce or whatever your next moniker will be, for taking the heat off the rest of us. I don't do a lot of trading but there are some guys I'll usually ask, ie Bobby. In a recent league I traded hitting for pitching with him that turned things around. The key players given up were Dean, and Selkirk, and maybe Staley, for Pfeister, Garber and Snodgrass. This trade was after one about 2 weeks earlier with another manager where I gave up Yaz and Snoddy and ended up with Reggie Jackson and Doby. Bobby even ended up trading with the other manager giving up Eddie Collins as one of the guys. The point here is we were all sucking. The other manager and I won our div and Bobby came in second. The trades actually happened weeks apart. The trades really looked bad with the players involved since the most desirable players seemed to be going for mediocrity. Yet they enabled all 3 teams to climb out of the cellar. To continue, in another league in which my team might be doing poorly and a trade is in order, I'll be sure to look for the same managers names in the HOPES of making a deal. With the thought that our successful dealings in the other league will help somewhat in this other league. Nothing is said or implied but I know having been on the recieving end that I am hedged more toward making the deal. Collusion? I don't think so. More human nature. I've also made deals down the stretch when I was doing poorly and another team was contending. I could clearly see the deal wasn't going to necessarily hurt me but it could turn out as an improvement for the other manager. By making the deal I have a CHANCE that when fortunes are reversed at a later date the other manager MIGHT do the same. Collusion or good business?
The difference here is that nothing was ever said or implied, thus not making a feeling of a debt OWED. BUT, if I choose to accept a deal offered OR offer a deal that is accepted, reciprocation, while not being mandatory is expected or at least highly probable. If it is not followed through at the later date you can be sure that the manager to whom it has occured with will not be party to another. Again I ask collusion? I think not.
The only problem I see with the subject of this thread is that the other manager didn't TRUST King Olav to reciprocate voluntarily thus wanting an assurance. He should have just tabled both offers and took his chances. He could have tabled the one that helped King then rescinded it as a teaser to see what happens. If King turned down one and accepted the other, he would know not to ever deal with King again. Collusion, well, yes. But face it guys, everybody has made trades that maybe another manager thinks will help him yet your team is struggling and the trade is probably going to do nothing for you. Then when situations are reversed you remember that and TRY to get a deal of the same type.