A new observation!

My biggest complaint is not bad trade offers, but that trades during the season are almost non-existent in a 12 team league--24 team leagues seem to be better as far as trades go in general--driven by necessity with all the good players taken.

I see good players being dropped all the time, and only seldom does anyone ask the league if they want a trade for him before he is dropped---there are times when I would trade for a guy that just took a 15 game injury.

I would like to see some kind of in season waiver rule---Though I have no idea how to implement it smoothly.

When a manager wants to drop a player--he could put him on waivers for 24 hours instead of dropping him outright. More than 1 team may claim him, dropping another player to avoid the penalty, but worst team record gets him--If he gets claimed, there will be no drop penalty. That way the team that put him on waivers avoids the drop penalty, and has the opportunity to pick up any player, including the one that was dropped by the claiming team.

I would like this as a choice--because sometimes I would rather take the drop penalty than have the player on another team.

Well, my point about bad trade offers was they are a big part of the reason nobody trades. With so many bad trade offers out there, nobody expects or even anticipates a good one. And when one comes, they often let it go out of errant cynicism. Knowing this, many people don't bother even making an offer.

As to your waivers idea, if done right, it could be an intriguing proposal. However, It would be really messy if players didn't get the players they dropped back, and someone else successfully traded for the player. Also, I'm not sure how this facilitates trades if a player has to drop a player before trading for the player he claimed on waivers. If you could work those kinks out, it could be an interesting modification.

All excellent responses gentlemen. I agree lopsided trades are usually the norm in leagues where they are offered but I do read them and will do a counter and most the time be shot down as the other manager is going for the something for nothing approach but sometimes I can work a deal. Many times though i have seen a player I could really use on my team just getting dropped and then I am left with the decision on whether to take cap hits on my team to pick him up. Trading is of course only a option available to us but it would add realism not to see a Kershaw or Trout getting dropped to FA instead of being dealt to another team,

I like to look for potential trades as the roster freeze deadline nears and inter-division play is for the remainder of the year. All depends on the division makeups.

Some interesting things said here:

1.I agree, most trade offers are ludicrous, usually pre-season. Someone gets stuck with a few high-injury low-production players and offers them for your best players.

2. During the season, players cut and draft a non-performing good player without giving the league a chance to offer a fair trade.

3. Waiver idea has merit, never saw that idea floated before.

JT

Not entirely the same beast, but in a keeper league of mine, one of the managers that took over a struggling team is building for the future, and offered Kershaw to the league...

After a few offers/counters, I landed him for my team, which is just a part or two away from the playoffs...

The deal was Kershaw and a 6th round FA pick the next two seasons
FOR
Sonny Gray and a 1st rounder the next two FA drafts

I hate the fact the lefties get killed online, but I got the premier pitcher in the game, for the rest of this season, and atleast next season (hopefully many more) and Ernie got a young stud with lots of promise, plus the ability to either trade away a first rounder for more pieces, or draft something of value when it comes draft time. Next years first rounder of mine, was looking like it was going to be the 8th or 9th pick overall. So, as long as Kershaw has another outstanding year in MLB next season, looks like a win/win for both of us.

Hopefully.

So if I understand your waiver suggestion if the player waived is not picked up by any team the dropping team still gets hit with the cap penalty just like it is now. But if picked up no penalty. And worst team having first shot would help increase league balance and competitiveness. I may like this idea.

As to trades in general I used to take some pride in being able to get them done. Usually made at least 3 preseason and usually 6 or more overall. But it got to be too much of a hassle. I remember one guy telling me my offer was fair but he did not want to do anything that might help an opponent improve. In other words unless I sent an offer that only helped his team no discussions possible. I think that is the attitude of most these days. They are willing to do a drop/add they think helps their team and prefer to do that because even if an opponent picks up that card they will have to take a cap hit to clear the space thus hurting that opponent. They see that as a win/win for them which is preferable to a win/win for both teams.

I've only played mystery card leagues the past couple of years, but I'm thinking of playing a team or two with the upcoming 2014 season. I hope it's a trend where managers make lots of drops after the season starts. Because for every team like that that makes the playoffs, there are three 100-game losers!

I witnessed an opposing manager make 175 transactions (drop/add) from the beginning to the deadline and his team went from won-loss record of 27-27 after 54 games to 99-63 after 162 games. That is an average of 3.5 transactions per day over a 50-day period, from the day team was drafted to game 141.

Frequent drop/adds is kind of like the hit-and-run strategy. It's not a recommended strategy for most, but, if you are committed to it, do it to the max.

I remember one guy telling me my offer was fair but he did not want to do anything that might help an opponent improve. In other words unless I sent an offer that only helped his team no discussions possible. I think that is the attitude of most these days. They are willing to do a drop/add they think helps their team and prefer to do that because even if an opponent picks up that card they will have to take a cap hit to clear the space thus hurting that opponent. They see that as a win/win for them which is preferable to a win/win for both teams.

I've had trade offers I thought were reasonable rejected, but I've never had someone literally insist on the trade only helping them. I certainly wouldn't extrapolate that one instance into a summary of a current general attitude in SOM. Current players are generally skeptical of trade offers, but that's more of a result of most offers being bad, not ridiculous insistence on complete dominance of the trade.

As to people drop/adding to help their team without helping an opponent, there is nothing wrong with that. It's definitely better to make that productive drop/add than risk a questionable trade that could feasibly give extra benefit to an opponent, particularly a division rival.