Ask Rotoman

TRADING ETIQUETTE

By PETER O’NEIL

As a father of three children between ages 11 and six I probably spend an inordinate amount of time dealing with manners: “Devin, elbows off the table please.” “McKenzie, don’t talk with your mouth full.” “Will, stop firing your Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast gun in Aunt Ruthie’s ear.”

So I’m particularly conscious these days of the social interactions surrounding trade negotiations.

Trading is at its best when you are honestly sharing ideas and information, keeping doors open, testing bottom lines, and finding the best deal that leaves both sides happy. In my experience this never happens if an owner involved in the negotiations is quick to spit venom at the first sign of a so-called “insulting” offer, or simply ignores e-mailed suggestions he doesn’t find appealing. Why even consider making offers to people like that?

I’m far from perfect on this front, but after giving this matter some thought I’ve come up with some dos and don’ts that I think make trade talks pleasant and build, rather than raze, bridges.

DO:

*No one likes the silent treatment. Try to respond promptly to a trade offer or e-mail query, even if it’s just a “thanks for the offer/idea but no thanks.” It’s pretty frustrating going to the trouble of putting together an offer, developing a rationale, and have it sit in someone’s in-basket for a week or longer. I know of someone who forgot about an offer he made in that situation, and it was finally accepted after the player he sought went on the disabled list. Now that’s both rude and unethical.

I realize some people will pester others with offers and not take no for an answer. A firm “thanks but I’m not interested” should be applied, and after that it makes total sense to ignore further contact.

*Throw in a few pleases and lots of thank-yous, the latter even if you get what you perceive to be a low-ball offer. “Thanks for this! I don’t think that would work for me, I’m not really a fan of Kevin Millwood and I’m pretty attached to King Felix, but when you’re ready to part with Peavy let’s talk.”

It might turn your stomach to laugh off a ridiculous offer but you only catch fish if some of them are nibbling.

*Conversely, try to respect your league-mates by doing your best to make sure the offer doesn’t insult the other person’s intelligence. Remember, even if they accept a low-ball deal the long-term impact could be negative, because if that person is burned they’ll be twice-shy. The other downside, of course, is they start to mistrust your offers even when they are legit.

I have some friends who say that respect means you should never make an offer without providing meticulous research to prove the deal is beneficial to the other guy. But in this era when everyone’s hyper-busy that’s not always realistic. It might be fairer to say: “Sorry, I’m busy, not sure if you want a steals guy and no time to check, but if you have a need for speed B.J. Upton is available for power.” The other guy doesn’t have to do any research at all to simply bang out on the keyboard “yes” or “no.”

*Respect confidences and privacy. It’s not ethical in my opinion to take elements of a private trade discussion public on a league forum without the permission of the other person.

DON’T:

*Say anything in trade discussions you wouldn’t say at a social event with acquaintances. For instance, calling an offer ridiculous or absurd is inflammatory, insulting and counterproductive. Maybe you think the insult is just, but if you want to trade with that person again why would you alienate them? And trust me, word will get around if you are abusive and others won’t want to deal with you either.

I received a very reasonable offer from someone this year, delivered politely, and I said no. He asked for a counter but I just didn’t have the stomach to offer one. Why? Last year he called an offer I made ridiculous and when I objected to his tone he said something along the lines of: “This isn’t a tea party, you know.” Well, he may think a fantasy baseball league encounter is the equivalent of a longshoremens’ night out at the local pub, but that’s not my style. I face enough stress, and challenging people, in my day job.

*Assume the person making what seems to be an obvious low-ball offer knows it’s a low-ball offer. It’s very hard to be objective about your own players. You follow a player through his minor league career and pick him in the March draft, he hits .340 in April with six home runs, you’re giddy as heck, feel like a genius, and suddenly notice an established player is hitting .196 in April with two rbis, and has a bothersome hammy. You listen to experts constantly chanting the mantra “buy low, sell high,” so you make an offer legitimately believing it’s fair, and then you get a response a treats it like a slap in the face. I remember touting Jeff Hamilton last year in late April and I got heckled a fair bit, but I legitimately believed I’d struck gold. I think his performance since then has proven that, when healthy, this guy is a stud. But when I flogged him in early-2007 trade talks some of my leaguemates treated me like a snake oil salesman.

Last year I broke my own rule and responded to an offer by saying something along the lines of, “Please be serious.” I had dangled the league’s best closer, looking for a starter, and was offered a rookie pitcher with a 5.00-plus era. But I think I let my disappointment over the lack of decent offers from others get the best of me, and I took out my frustrations on this poor guy. Maybe he’s in keeper leagues where this phenom is considered gold, and perhaps he actually thought the kid was about to have a huge second half. I felt badly, as the guy did take offence, and I think I unnecessarily burned a bridge.

*Harass or argue with someone who turns you down, unless they say something that you believe is fundamentally incorrect. Even then it’s probably best to begin with: “I realize we aren’t going to do this deal but I just wanted to point out that I think you are underestimating my player’s value because of…”

*Don’t always ask for offers without coming up with your own. Do some legwork yourself. I was in a league with a guy with the attention span of a three-year-old who would break most of the aforementioned rules. He’d post on the forum: “Offers! Where are my offers? C’mon guys, I need to make a move.” And when we actually sent him offers, by email or even by phone, he didn’t even respond.

To sum up, be polite and respectful, and don’t abuse the anonymity the internet age provides you. Pretend an e-mail is a phone call, and an actual exchange is a live conversation. Ask yourself: “Is this something I’d say face-to-face?” AND, most important, remember that no one views players exactly the way you do.

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(Peter O¹Neil, who covers Europe from Paris for a Canadian news agency, is a
former stock market columnist for the Financial Times of Canada. He won the
2007 Rotoman¹s Regulars non-keeper title and is multiple winner of the Brian
Baskin¹s Fantasy Baseball League based in Ottawa.)

t r u t h o u t | Michael Massing

My old poker buddy went to Iraq recently, and writes in his usual clear way about complex issues with nuance and understanding. There isn’t anything particularly new here, but while he considerings the success of the surge and the rather divergent positions the two presidential candidates have taken on the war, Michael explores the merits of each side’s thinking and what the means next year and five years down the road. Well worth reading, and not even inside baseball in it’s metaphorical sense. Instead, fine reporting and clear analysis.

Tout Wars NL-Only League – Joe Sheehan

Somebody has to be in last place, even in an expert league, and the usual reason (in an expert league) is the last place team suffered an inordinate number of injuries. It can be argued that avoiding injuries is a skill, at least sometimes, but most injuries are pretty random. This is especially true in auction leagues, where at least two people agree on each player’s fair (including injury risk) price.

Joe Sheehan’s Tout Wars piece this week (like all of this remarkable series running on Sportsline) describes his measured plan to climb out of the basement. One of his prime motivations, it seems, was to not break the Ask Rotoman record for worst finish in Tout Wars AL!

Reading this, I was stunned. I reeled. I rocked. I’ve had some bad years, but I didn’t know that I held the record for worst finish ever (I’m pretty sure this is in the AL version of the league). Then I remembered: The year was 2000. The draft was in Chicago. I couldn’t attend and I asked a guy who wrote for my magazine that year to represent Ask Rotoman.

Over the years there have been some bad Rotoman teams, and I was responsible for all of them, except that record breaker. For the record.

In early March I posted a tip in a fantasy baseball forum I frequent after noticing that Willie Taveras had stolen 94 bases over the past three years against right-handers, but just seven against lefties. Obviously the much larger number of ABs against righties magnified this bias.

I was looking into Taveras’s splits because I was considering ways to maximize his speed while minimizing the power void. I advised forum readers to follow my plan and bench him against lefties. I did that until – doh – I sat him against Jonathan Sanchez and lost a three-SB night. I assumed it was a blip, that Sanchez perhaps was brutal in holding runners on.

But in checking his split stats this year on Yahoo I have discovered that this is part of a trend. He’s 16-1 (up to June 13 games) in 160 ABs against righties, and 13-1 in 50 ABs against lefties! He’s had 11 singles and three walks against lefties so I think it’s safe to assume he’s attempting to steal every time he gets on base against a southpaw.

I think this is a pretty significant development. He’s already on a 69-sb pace, according to CBS Sportsline, despite sitting a fair bit due to his crappy BA. His OBA of .294 is way below his career .333 OBA.

If he starts hitting a little better and wins back his manager’s confidence, and goes back to playing full-time, what’s this guy capable of? Granted, the fatigue factor would eventually set in if he’s playing every day, and maybe he’s running wild to prove something and will be less motivated if told he won’t sit again. And of course his pace now is inflated by his wild-running weekend.

Still, in pre-season many of us who thought about drafting him looked at a player who had been averaging around 30 steals a year and wondered if he could break out to 50 in a full season in Coors.

Now he appears to have a new skill. It should be fun for his owners to watch him use it, and the development raises questions about what Taveras could or should fetch on the trade market.

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(Peter O¹Neil, who covers Europe from Paris for a Canadian news agency, is a 
former stock market columnist for the Financial Times of Canada. He won the
 2007 Rotoman¹s Regulars non-keeper title and is multiple winner of the Brian
 Baskin¹s Fantasy Baseball Pool based in Ottawa.)

It was raining like crazy here in New York last night, with massive lightning and thunder. Somehow it took the Mets a couple of hours to call things off, just enough time for some players to come up with a playful idea.

It’s nice to see the Texas Rangers having fun, but when your fantasy team (or if they were your Texas Rangers) you’d have to be a little alarmed to see the fragile Milton Bradley and thus far injury prone Josh Hamilton running in the rain on a slick tarp. No doubt Ian Kinsler owners had similar concerns.

On the other hand, isn’t it great to see the usually dour Bradley having fun?

Flickr: teddychamps Photostream

Incredibly odd and oddly engaging series of drawings of the Beatles, together or alone, doing everyday yet odd things. Like carrying around a bunch of dolls or taking John’s temperature because he apparently isn’t feeling well or, well, you have to see them for yourself.

Yanksfan Soxfan

Astounding bit of research uncovered by this blog. A commenter says “best post ever” and I find it hard to disagree. Well, maybe by degree. But then I remember the first time I heard someone say “suck my ass,” which profoundly changed me. Best post ever!