Jack Clark for Joe Mauer in $200M DH??? You be the judge!

Here is the LINK to league Roster for $200M DH league
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http://onlinegames.strat-o-matic.com/le ... ers/427361
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I posted earlier in the day that I hadn't gotten a single decent offer Mauer and was surprised.

NINE of the 12 stadiums are 12+ HRs for lefty batters!

I got an offer of Jack Clark straight up for Mauer (already have both Larry Walker & Reggie Jackson). I declined with no fan fare......10 mins later I get a message sniping that I couldn't say any longer that I hadn't received a FAIR offer for Mauer now. I replied to say it was hardly fair. He then came back at me with more defense that it was FAIR!......I told him we could let YOU the community render a judgement IF in this case, considering the stadiums, team make ups and $200M cap if you would side for Jack Clark or Joe Mauer.

Please weigh in........the owner told me he didn't care if I posted to the community, so with his quasi approval I defer to you!

In the simplistic style of player evaluation, you simply rank guys by salary and position. Mauer is the 3rd best C. Clark is the 14th best 1B (ignoring the fact that Musial and Yaz usually play the OF) and 14th best RF (again ignoring duplicates, and the fact that in high caps people usually use the CF only Cobb).

Still, it's hard for him to make a case other than the fact that Clark hits a lot more HR's than Mauer. Perhaps he's using the caveman system of player evaluation, where you rank players by position and total home runs. In any case, he needs to understand that trades only occur when both players think they're fair.

BTW, why in hell do you want to trade Mauer in that park and league?

I don't play much high cap leagues, but with that said.....

A great C is more valuable than a great RF or 1B.

I do see why he wants a trade. I just checked the last $200M league I played, and Troupe got drafted and dropped 30 games into the season. That and a 2 injury without a viable backup will make for a long season.

Good luck.

I don't see where fair even comes into play. Clark would be a pinch-hitter on your team, making him hardly worth a look by you.

And I agree with Mr. Burgh -- why the heck do you want to trade Mauer?

Lefty homer league. It's harder to get a great catcher then it is to get a top 20 right fielder. Clark in lower cap leagues struggles to hit for any average. Walker and Jackson are more valuable than Clark. I would take Mauer every time over Clark.

[quote="rburgh"BTW, why in hell do you want to trade Mauer in that park and league?[/quote]

If you look at my team, I'm NOT exactly happy with my CF situation.

C - Mauer - Haller - Porter
1b - Cash / Fielder platoon
DH - Delgado / Scales platoon
2b - Morgan / Biggio platoon
SS - Trammell
3b - Chipper
LF - O'Neill / Delahanty platoon
CF - Jim Edmonds !!!!
RF - Regiie or Larry - the other rotting on the bench with NO platoon partner!

I know you guys are THINKING....why the heck don't you trade Reggie or Larry for a 2nd tier Cfer like Snider or Ott, right? Been turned down by BOTH teams, both owners claim Reggie and Walker "don't hit" Tried moving Haller and/or Porter to teams with catchers like FISK, Troupe, Spoony Palm (remember this is a lefty stadium league), they have no interest. Tried moving Morgan or Biggio.....NO INTEREST, of course they'll offer guys like Jack Clark again....and it goes the same on down the line.

My thought process was if I can't trade Reggie or Larry for a Duke Snider / Mel Ott kinda a guy, surely I could trade Mauer and then platoon Haller with Porter (I've used that EXACT platoon in other $200 lefty heavy leagues with decent success)....WHIFF.

So I guess I go with what I have...I"M NOT throwing Reggie or LarryBoy back for the SHARKS, so do I platoon LarryBoy with Edmonds in cf? (remember, lefty stadium theme with 40% lhp in the league) Larry's only a 3 in CF, but he still has low errors and -4 arm.....then keep Mauer. Line up is NOT stellar, but my pitching is and when given Lemons I'll try to make some lemonaid....QUASI.......

Dozens of you guys know I've played hundreds of leagues here over the past 3 years and this is the FIRST time ever I've ever done a NEV-esque rant here, but I was fuming with frustration and needed a VENT.....I'll just chalk it up to one of those $200 leagues where 9 of the other 11 owners are CLUELESS and the 2 guys that have a clue don't have the pieces in order to craft a win/win trade.

Thanks guys for telling me I'm NOT crazy for turning down JackClark for Mauer and I'll STOP being CRAZY and trying to move Mauer for a Duke Snider / Mel Ott option in cf since I can't even get that.

You are both "misguided."

First, the trade offer was of the "good for me, screw you variety" that so many idiots here attempt to pull over on other managers. I detest people who try this crap and have zero respect for these jerks. And I do target such folks in future leagues as well. Merm was the worst of the offenders, but he seems to have vanished recently. Good riddance.

My trading philosophy is to only offer win-win trades, at least in my valuation of the deals. I don't actually trade much here because most managers here prefer to try to screw the other manager with lopsided deals. Many simply can recognize a good deal despite it staring them in the face.

The Clark for Mauer offer is a perfect example of the "good for me, screw you" trade. Mauer is a standard 3rd round pick in live drafts, Clark rarely is drafted before the 10th, and often considerably later. Frankly, putting Mauer on the block was incredibly bad judgment. The drop off from Mauer to your other catchers is just huge. To make matters worse, you grossly undervalue Edmonds, probably because most of the other guys playing at 200M and higher caps do. So many managers blindly copy others and have great difficulty thinking independently or creatively. He's fine in CF, especially as his 15-game injury risk doesn't matter and you can easily get a guy like Otis to platoon him with if you don't want him facing hard lefties.

You could also try moving Delgado so Reggie could dh. My concern with this team would be to upgrade SS, not CF.
Who is the righty part of your lf platoon? That's a bizarre platoon you have there.

Here's two 200M or higher cap teams with Edmonds. The first one finished about a month ago and got the ring in a 24 team league. The other team is still active.

http://onlinegames.strat-o-matic.com/team/1400738

http://onlinegames.strat-o-matic.com/team/1403313

Don't ask me about Jack Clark right now. He is a cool 2 for 41 with no XBH in my latest $200M DH league.

Here's two 200M or higher cap teams with Edmonds. The first one finished about a month ago and got the ring in a 24 team league. The other team is still active.

http://onlinegames.strat-o-matic.com/team/1400738

http://onlinegames.strat-o-matic.com/team/1403313

Druid, I have used Edmonds a few times with mixed results....thanks for helping me wrap my brain around the idea of keeping Mauer.....can you believe I offered Mauer PLUS Reggie for Yaz last night in the same league and a VET of these boards turned me down cold??? YIP! Some of my BEST trades have been the ones turned down by other owners who just don't get it.

Thanks again guys.....no options at ss or elsewhere since NOBODY is willing to make a win/win trade. Perhaps I'll ONLY win 85 games, but with my pitching perhaps I can eek out a few more than that.