Trades

What is the most number of trades you have made in a normal league that did not have some kind of trading theme component? ... UPDATE: I just completed my 5th trade of this young season!

How many trades do you average a season? one? 1.25? I would say I average at least 1.25 trades per season.

In my current 1990s season which is only 6 games old I have made FOUR trades. I advertised that I am open to all offers and I have accepted 4 of 6 offers. And one offer was a totally ridiculous offer with like 5 of the guys worst performing players for my five best performing players. I know the guy to be a smartass, I will not mention his name to protect the guilty. All four trades I made were NOT my offers. I just advertised that I will trade ANY player for the RIGHT deal. And keep in mind this is a mystery league....Kudos to someone who traded me Barry Bonds in a deal for a red hot Jeff Bagwell! That was a big deal and a lot of fun.

Why are people so afraid of trades? Why are people so afraid to even make an offer? And why do some not even take the time to reply to an offer (that sort of bugs me, I think it is rude)? I ALWAYS reply to a trade offer, even the silly lopsided ones.... The thing is, because of the salary cap, yes trading is harder, but it is also safer. You can not really make too many horrible trades, especially with the regular game. ........ I am addicted to the mystery game and only play non mystery leagues very occasionally anymore. To me there is just no comparison. The Mystery Leagues are pure genius and really capture what it is like to be a GM.

Side subject, I understand some guys are busy but I like to interact with some of the guys in my leagues. If someone never replies, of course I leave them alone, but if someone asks for my help or comments I ALWAYS reply. Anyway, good luck to all you fine people!.... end rant

I will take a stab at some answers. To be very clear first none of these answers are aimed at anyone in particular.

Until I took a semi-break about a year ago I averaged about 6 trades per league. But in my last few I put in little or no effort due to the effort required verses the benefits.

Why are people so afraid of trades? Why are people so afraid to even make an offer?

Sometimes I do not make even exploratory offers because too often if someone did not like the trade instead of just declining or making counter offer you see them coming on the boards to ridicule the offer and accuse the person making the offer of international conspiracy.

And why do some not even take the time to reply to an offer

No clue on this one. I almost always respond with brief note why I did not like the offer. But there is always the risk that will trigger a debate I choose to avoid.

The main drag on my trade enthusiasm though is the deep player pool. Do not misunderstand, I like the large player pool of ATG. But often it is easier to arrange a trade with mr. free agent than mr. manager. If I do not like my shortstop in a non 200 mil league I can probably find a very suitable alternative just sitting out there. And there is the flip side of that. I may have an 8 mil shortstop who is quite good but then I look across the league and everyone has a shortstop along that level it seems pointless to even make and offer when I am not really helping the other guy or myself. Ditto for most other positions.

I liked the back and forth of trade discussions but there is so much working against it these days and I am so busy with other things. I always felt I got a better feel for who someone truly valued by who they were or were not willing to include in a trade. I once offered Ruth for Bonds, or was it Bonds for Ruth, just to see which card the other guy really felt was the better value.

Yes, the not replying to trade offers bugs me too(or more precise, the deleting of an offer instead of simply declining)! Like you guys, I always respond with why I like or (more often) don't like certain offers, then scan that roster to see if there are players of interest. I won't ever bother to offer another trade to someone who has just deleted any of my previous offers.......

I'm playing mostly 24 team leagues, lower caps ($80>), and the trading is much more prevalent there than in 12 team leagues...

I have ran approximately 60 teams in about 2.5 years now (spring 2013 I started on-line)

I probably can count on both hands the number of trades I have made, certainly less than 10.

The vast majority of those were pre-season trades to clear cash or swap * pitchers for non * ones.

I tend to make fewer offers than I have received as I like to offer something I think the other owner might want or could use, instead of just asking for a player I want and offering a player the other team has no use for.

Usually when I'm thinking of a trade I will send a interleague message first to see if there is any interest instead of sending a trade offer out of the blue.

I usually reply to trade offers I turn down and explain my reasoning, but I have just checked the decline box to a couple and been done with it when I think they are truly one-sided offers, but I am not offended by them--I can just say no.

Some offers to me are rescinded, or impossible to make as the guy offering made a different deal before I logged in--I certainly don't bother responding to those.

To get to the core of it though--after the season has started I find deals that are good for both teams extremely difficult to work out with the salary caps---You can do a drop with no penalty for your team if you offer the trade, but you can't do the same for the other team--if both teams could do no penalty drops in a single transaction it would be a help.

Also the tendency for most teams to carry 24 players makes it impossible to do 2 for 1 trades roster wise--a lot of the time I want the 2 lesser players, but can't make an offer as it will put the other team at 23 players. He should be able to accept such a trade if he has .5M or more in reserve and do an immediate pick up--he has to click the accept button, and if it puts him under 24 players it should take him to the FA screen to do a pick-up in order for the transaction to be completed.

What is the most number of trades you have made in a normal league that did not have some kind of trading theme component?

There's a difference between keeper leagues and auto leagues. I trade a lot in keeper leagues (many will attest that I'm also a pain in the duff to trade with), but I don't trade in auto leagues. With cap constraints, time pressures, and dealing with other people, the ROI just isn't there for me. Also, I usually construct a team with intention, and want to see it play out -- not to imply lack of intention on your part, but unless the deal makes complete sense I wouldn't pull the trigger. The caveat is if a team isn't performing up to snuff, then I'm willing to roll the proverbial dice.

In keeper leagues it's worth the long-term investment of time and effort, IMO, so it's a different equation.

Salary levels are a challenge as well. When there's no wiggle room, matching up salaries can be daunting. Similarly if you have pandora's box in your hands it may not be worth the effort. Case in point, I ran a six team keeper league ($200M, 40 man roster) for a short time and over three seasons there was only one trade made. I think that was a factor of the style more than the managers.

Hey thanks for all the responses guys. .... I will say I have seen one manager drop a player in Mystery League play, say George Brett for example. Then a second guy will drop Mike Schmidt (for example), then the first manager will pick up Schmidt for a try and a week later the guy who initially had Schmidt will pick up Brett for a try. It's like why didn't they just communicate, at least send out a feeler to see if anyone is interested.

I always try to offer some value to my trading partner. For instance I noticed a guy picked up Ryan Klesko who hammers RHP but stinks against LHP. So I offer the guy Chad Curtis who hammers LHP and is a perfect platoon mate (I have used this platoon and even tried to get them both in this current league) for a backup player. The guy has cap space and I am trying to create a little. So he just deletes the trade, no reply. Now it is his right to not like the deal, but hey I did make a nice offer, that would have helped his team....

There are some guys who are easy to trade with. Jerry Durant and I always seem to make at least one deal when we are in a Mystery League together....Usually the trade will involve Ralp Garr....

But yeah, even preseason deals for a SP for a SP* or backup for backup. Often times I will offer a coveted star who might not fit my park or team for a role player or backup.

I was so excited to have Jeff Bagwell off to a hot start but now I am excited to have Barry Bonds for the first time..

I will also offer hot players for cold ones, early in a Mystery Season, or even a non Mystery season. It is easier to trade a hot player. But I will take a cold one, if they have a nice card they will come around and often times people lose patience, which by the way is a mistake... One more time I have seen guys make trades but through free agency, in other words they swap players without even realizing it when they drop and pickup someone, if they had just asked around they could have saved some money.... But I do understand some guys don't have the time. You can really put in some effort if you are just managing one or two teams. And Mystery teams need daily attention to be good, in my opinion. I am always tinkering.. But at the same time I hate to cut players.


Anyway, thanks for some input and happy trading. I really do think it adds to the game, spices things up, and it can bring the group a little closer together.

Milleram wrote:

You can do a drop with no penalty for your team if you offer the trade, but you can't do the same for the other team--if both teams could do no penalty drops in a single transaction it would be a help.

I didn't even know you could do a no penalty drop on the offering side, is this really true? And yes, if so it would be nice if both sides could do that.

Most of the time doesn't seem worth the time and effort to make the offer. Pre-waivers period gets my attention most, as maybe I can clear or fill cap space as needed to accomplish my goals. After that, getting rosters and salaries to match up AND meet the desires of the other manager can get difficult. Even in regular 80m/12 team leagues, the FA pool offers "good enough" talent to get immediate satisfaction for solving a need than waiting for a possible yes to a trade.

I'm not sure how many trades I average, but it's not a lot. I used to make offers when I thought I saw some deal that would be useful to both teams, but unless I'm in a league with folks I've played a few times, these days I rarely bother - seems like people I don't know much rarely respond. When an offer comes in, though, I'll always try a little back and forth (unless it's the one-in-a-million offer you can't refuse, and I think maybe I've had that once). I agree with whoever said trades are probably a lot more common in keeper leagues.

I just completed my record 5th trade 12 games into this 1990s season! Wow!