Themed Task July 26th 2020 to August 1st 2020

Let's Talk About Trades

Written 150 words or Spoken 5 min.

Your task should you choose to complete it is to discuss trades. In the SBL and SBLM we have not had a ton of trade action, discuss why you think that may be. If that does not interest you try talking about what a good or a bad trade is to you. What is the best or worst trade you can imagine happening at this point and time. If you like moral questions you can try this one on for size, "should the commies step in when they see a very uneven trade happening" Why or why not?

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Any trade Related graphic:

A trade you would love to see
A trade fail graphic
Worst trade ever
King of trades graphic for your GM

Have fun Ya'll

It is too early in the leagues life span for trades to happen. There is loyalty between the general managers and the players they took on their teams early on. We are only in season two and there is not the need for teams to be over competitive and sacrifice a young player or pick yet to become better. There is a lot of uncertainty with each season as new rules will be added and hopping on to early moves can be a less than ideal scenario in unknown circumstances. You might begin to see teams making trades as desperation sets in after a team does poor for a longer period of time. There is also a lack of real rivalry with the league being in such a young state. Do not worry though there will be trading in due time and we all expect that to be when the league really has a sense of its direction and when the game becomes a chess match between the general managers.

This is a good question. I think what CaptainHook said mostly nailed the question. It’s still relatively early in the life of the league for any trades to happen. Everybody seems to want to invest in their team as well as the members whom they invested in from the Inaugural S1 Entry Draft. People are also still learning the sim engine and figuring out what works in terms of builds. I can see there being a lot of “buying into” what our current team is trying to create. There’s also not a lot of manpower in terms of active members at the SBL level yet (more in the SBLM atm, but hoping that changes over the next 2-3 years). So once we reach that point, I think it could be fair to see some trades going on as teams go for a longer / shorter title window and so on with more differentiations among the players on SBL rosters.

Trades-wise, what I would love to see is the Dallas Drillers giving up one of their pitchers for a premier slugger. I’d like to see Indianapolis give up one of their midfielders for a catcher. I’d love to see Toronto give up Pingu for a pitcher. I’d love to see Charlotte give up Magnus for a hitter. Big name trades stir up life and conversations within the league. So far, we’ve had relatively small, nominal trades (mostly involving Indianapolis lol) - would love to see that change by Season 3 or so.

There probably could have been some more trades in the SBLM by now. I'm not sure why there hasn't been so I won't speak about it. The case of the SBL is easier to solve though. Every team's roster has holes and every team can virtually compete for the title. No team has any reason to sell hard because technically everyone is in the race. And it's hard to find win-win kind of trades because no team has a surplus of anything. If at some point some teams was to draft a second potent shortstop, they might look to unload him to a team that doesn't have any in return for a pick, or a player from another position that might be a need of them, but no team is in such a situation right now. It might happen more often by Seasons 3 and 4, but before then, I don't really expect any team to make that kind of deal. Seasons 3 and 4 is also when I kind of expect some teams to give up. With every player so close in TPE and every team so close on the field at the moment, no team has any reason to give up, but maybe after 3 seasons at the bottom, one team might decide to drop one of their stars for a buttload of picks. That would give a chance to the star to play for a championship on another team, and it would give better odds of winning to the team acquiring him for a couple of years. The team unloading it would be sure to be in the next crop of great teams, however, as they'd have the opportunity to get many great players for a couple of seasons via the draft, future stars.

But yeah, no reason for anyone to pull the trigger on that a third of the way through S1, 11% through our rookie contracts.

I'm going to talk about the very interesting topic of answering the question, "should the commies step in when they see a very uneven trade?" In my opinion, the commies should not do this. The reasoning that I have is as follows. The GMs are GMs for a reason. If they aren't trusted to make trades that they believe are fair for their team, then why are they even GMs in the 1st place? The only reason I could see the commies stepping in would be if someone was hired as a GM who shouldnt have (meaning they're not deserving of being a GM) and said GM attempts to make blatantly horrible trades right before resigning. At which point, I would be happy if the commies to step in. However, since I believe that those who hire the GMs know what they're doing, there shouldnt be a need for the commies to step in. This is just my opinion, so feel free to disagree.
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I don't think we're going to see a lot of trades in this league for a while. One big reason for that is that every team automatically makes the playoffs in the SBL, and just last year we almost saw the #4 seed in the SBLM almost go on a run to win the league. When any of the teams could win the title, it seems silly to sell on your chance to do so. Now, if a team was able to acquire multiple high picks in exchange for a S1 draftee then I could see that being an interesting deal to a team like Charlotte or Dallas, but that is a very difficult to deal to find the right value for on both sides, especially in a tiny league. As far as trade vetoes go, I think the commissioner should be allowed to veto an obviously imbalanced trade. These leagues suck when the teams aren't balanced right, and I think it's fair to expect that users would lose interest in this league if they ended up playing for a GM who didn't know how to get value in trades

Trades are always a huge part of sports, whether it be baseball, football, hockey, etc., it seems that trades are inevitable and sim leagues are no different. Tons of GMs will ship off high tier picks in exchange for a bundle of lower valued picks, or for a premier player in the league, in order to make their current team stronger. However, with where the SBL stands now, I do not think that trades are really an option at this point. The league is still super young so every pick matters for every team. The league is still growing and with the SBL playoffs including every team, and the SBLM playoffs including a majority of the teams, it seems like trading picks would be more detrimental than anything. Unless the trade is for a max earner player in exchange for a couple picks, I do not see any trades happening any time soon. I also do not think there should be league involvement for trades that are unfair. These GMs are put in place so they can guide the team to the best outcome possible, without intervention. So GMs will make a trade that they think is the best idea possible in order for their vision to come true. Whether the trade ends up hurting or improving the team, it is for the GM to learn from their wins and losses in order to make their tenure successful.

Like I mostly covered in last week's task, trades are fairly difficult to complete at this point in a league. With so few teams, the available roster pool becomes more like pieces of a puzzle rather than easily switchable parts. One team takes a SS early, the next team waits a couple of rounds to draft their SS and now half of the league's jobs are filled - and you can go down the line in that manner, although spots like pitcher and OF are a bit more flexible. In the coming years, we will certainly see some more trades as the roster sizes expand and possible team expansion as well. For me, a good trade is purely this - both teams get something out of it. I've heard some people say both parties hating their side of the deal makes for an even trade, but I don't necessarily see that. If one team has an overabundance of lefty relief pitchers - but are lacking power in the lineup - and another team has two third baseman who are mostly interchangeable - but could use an extra arm in the pen - it seems like a fair deal to swap those two players to fill in two holes. Also, if one team has crazy depth with a bunch of talented players on their bench who wouldn't play otherwise, packaging multiple pieces for a star on a team with multiple fillers filling in at starting positions makes sense. People always jump to conclusions with trades, and usually take the side of whichever team received the single best player. But each team has different motives, and as long as both teams are gaining roughly as much as they are losing then I say it's fair game.

With a limited amount of teams, it's not surprising that you won't see many trades. With that few teams, everyone is competing, and I don't see many opportunities where teams can make swaps that both teams make thinking they're the clear winner. Until we start seeing teams selling rentals, players they don't believe will re-sign with them, or the eventual selling it all to stockpile draft picks... trades will likely remain scarce.

Generally, GMs should be trusted to make trades, so I've never really been an advocate of trades being blocked. Unless it's evident that this trade is so lopsided in every single form, maliciously throwing competitive balance or one of the parties was impaired, there's no need for trades to be vetoed unless it violates a league rule.

I don't expect a lot of trades until the teams eventually have enough players and know what the fuck they are doing. Since they are still on the roster building stage, it's just smart and typical to keep on drafting and trying to figure things out in the first few seasons before trying to be fancy with trades. In the early going, trades don't really do you much good unless you have a firm plan cuz you still have a lot of unknown to figure out and roster spots to fill. There might be trades next season though. Dallas Drillers can do my 8D chess plan, draft all the pitchers and force trade. At that time, they just stocked up on all the future aces and even if other teams are grabbing pitchers by S3 or so, these pitchers are still two years younger so they cannot be aces until regression. This will force other teams to trade if they want true aces or they will have a tough time competing. And Drillers can then nego for batters with their pitchers. Smart trade plan IMO.

With the SBL being a relatively new sim league, I don’t find it hard to believe that there haven’t been a lot of trades recently. This is due to the fact that a lot of fillers are just as good as regular players. There also is such a small pool of actual players to pick from that it makes it hard to fill a position. Gms don’t want to give up a good player for another one in a position that still needs to be filled. I think the issue is the lack of players to choose from. You’re forced to find a filler. Now I could see fillers being traded around in the upcoming seasons but the primary reason is due to the fact at the age of the league. It’s still finding its bearings, which will happen in time. I think with 2 other baseball leagues that have grown in reputation it has put a damper on the SBL.

Trades are so useless. I was thinking about this earlier and came to the realization that during this early period of the league where the amount of players in each league are limited and there is an abundance of players around corner it is better for each team and it's respective GM to build a reputation of being loyal and trustworthy than to trade for little value. No trade will hold a significant jurisdiction to how a season will turn out in my opinion. I think we will start to see a lot more trades if the league grows to a level of EFL or SBA and probably only than at season 8 or more. Anything trades that happen from now to then will be a result of LR drama or personal request. I do not think a GM will make any particular moves that'll have much impact. A gm could make a trade for a pick or too but since everyone currently playing in the SBL is currently a prospect with an edge I don't see that coming anytime soon.

There is one trade I would love to see happen. The Indianapolis Invaders could trade any number of fillers to acquire superstar CF Sora Mekajiki. This trade is obvious for many reasons. Indianapolis needs better outfielders. Indianapolis is a championship caliber team. Sora Mekajiki is a championship caliber center fielder. He's too good to be playing on whatever bum team he is playing for currently. Pairing him with superstar Kurtis "Ordinary Guy" McKenzie is the obvious thing to do. The fans in Indy would fall in love with the outstanding fielder of center alignment. It would give the Invaders an outfield that will dominate for years to come. Now? What is whatever team that happens to have Mekajiki's motivation to make this trade? I'm not sure entirely. Perhaps as I've said, he's too good for the roster. Maybe he is underperforming. I'm not sure. But anyway, Prezzy, get McWolf in Indy. Please? Thanks. Sincerely, Psanchez55.

I think there are two aspects to the limited number of trades so far: one is GM pride, and the other is the limited number of resources/players in the league so far.

Everyone likes to think they’re right, even in the case of moderate to significant evidence to the contrary. And it takes a degree of self-confidence to take on a management position anywhere – be it in sim leagues or your job in real life. You have to be sure that your decisions are better or at least comparable to the other guy. As a result, when the GMs make their draft picks they’re pretty damn sure that the guy or girl behind the screen is worth taking over all of the other picks they’re leaving on the table.

Implied in this, as a result, is that no GM wants to admit that they’re wrong on their pick. So why would they take a trade that’s relatively even in another GM’s eyes if they think their pick is better than the others? Beyond that, it’s unlikely that the limited number of resources available will make an ideal trade in terms of position, scheme, etc. possible for two different teams. I think we’ll see more trades when GMs think their picks are a little more expendable.

I think the reasoning for the lack of trades in the league is that it's just too early. Teams are just starting out on drafting players, signing free agents, and establishing relationships with the players on their team. Locker rooms are getting fully realized and people are building chemistry. It's very hard to determine who's going to stay super active or who will go inactive, and even then, right now, every player is pretty valuable if they have a good amount of training hours. As a GM, why trade a guy away and give anybody the idea that you don't trust your players?

As a player, I have always been team-first. If there comes a time where it's best for the team to trade me and get them some quality pieces for the future, then I'm fine with that. That is not the case though. It's too early in the season's history to have those discussions and I think that is just where we are at right now.