The Positional Swap TradeDefinition: When two or more owners make a trade of players from different positions.
This type of trade is typical of shrewd owners that keep a sharp eye on where their teams are headed and how they are performing against projected value systems. Coming out of the draft, as we all know, there is just no way to anticipate the specific players by position that you may end up with. The “best laid plans” can change in a heartbeat at the draft. Also during the season “stuff happens” as they say. Injuries occur on a regular basis, guys get traded out of the league; they are suspended, demoted and even at times arrested. Plan on all of the above and more to happen to your team during the whole year. This means you will end up with under performers and weak spots on your active roster no matter what you do. I guarantee it. The only time this can be avoided is when a league has so few owners in it that their teams end up looking like the starting ML All Stars. There is a greater talent pool of position-qualified free agents to draw from. I do not particularly care for this situation because it makes it more difficult to make trades. Hey, that’s why I’m writing this all down. Love to deal!
The Positional Swap trade is a very good way of handling these changes as they occur. No matter how hard you plan, how well you draft there is just no way for you to have the perfect reserve waiting to fill in each an every time another disaster strikes. Positional swaps are typically made when one or more owners recognize that, oh-oh, I need a replacement and don’t have a position-qualified player available. The free agent pool may also be pretty dry of helpful productive talent. Look at the other teams. I bet more than one of them has just the player you need either active, reserved or on their taxi squads or farm teams. Perhaps you have a reserve or an active player that qualifies at a position where the other owner is weak, has no current reserve or…? Swapping these two players from different qualified positions may address and hopefully improve both teams.
The Statistical Swap Trade
Definition: When two or more owners make a trade of players with strengths in different statistical scoring categories.
Similar in nature to the above Positional Swap trade, this trade is basically a swap of scoring categories. The easiest example may be, one owner needs Hr’s and RBI’s and the other owner needs Batting average and Stolen bases. A straight swap of a “one for one outfielders” from both teams or multiple for multiple positional players can be used to improve both teams in the specific categories that they are weak in. As with all of the different types of trades you can end up combining the various aspects of several different types of trades to achieve the goals of the specific owners. It is not unusual for a Statistical Swap trade to also be a Positional Swap trade. As long as it gets the deal done it really doesn’t have to have a strictly defined name.
Trading Guns
Definition: When two or more owners make a trade involving only pitching.
Similar to both the Positional and Statistical Trades the “Trading Guns” trade is just what it sounds like. Two or more owners swapping pitchers. The reasons for this type of trade may lie in different areas than any of the previously mentioned trades. One difference, when it comes to a Gun trade, may be that one or both of the owners own other pitchers on the same staff as those in the trade. It’s a killer when you have two starters pitching against each other isn’t it? The best you can hope for is a single win. The advent of inter league trade has diluted the number of times this can occur but regardless it can make a difference. Those extra two to three opportunities for a win or a save granted by not owning opposing pitchers in the same game may be the difference in a tightly contested pitching race.
Another potential reason to own a different pitcher is that you already own the closer on a particular staff but he has had a past history of minor injury or a sluggish arm at certain points of the season. A Gun trade could be used effectively to pickup the Stud Closers back up or potential replacement. I mean why not swap middle relievers if all other things like salary, contract status, quality of team, number of opportunities are about the same?
There is always the possibility that any one team is loaded with starters and another is bulked up in saves or quality relievers. A Statistical Swap Gun Trade would mean dealing that reliever for a starter. This may be a forced situation if you have a minimum innings requirement in your league. You need to monitor all the other teams innings pitched to catch opportunities to take advantage of a potential trade of this nature.
The Throw in Deal
Definition: When one or more of the owners in the trade adds an extra player to sweeten the pot.
The throw in is not really a different type of trade but rather a much-used tactic for getting that extra player out on the table to make the deal happen. If it is offered and it doesn’t hurt your team or force you to make unplanned moves, why not accept it? Caution must be used here, for if an owner offers it by his choice it may be that he knows a bit of information that you are unaware of. You should not be making the decision on whether to do or not do a deal based on the performance potential of a throw in unless they are plugged directly into your active roster. That throw in won’t be doing you any good on your reserve or farm team will they? It is socially acceptable to ask for a throw in though, as an incentive for you to ok a deal. Anytime you can get a throw in, even if it’s just a farm prospect down at single A, go for it. A positive of this throw in is that you now have one more player you can package to make a deal. Throw-ins are almost always common in Package Trade deals. Unless the packages are for exactly the same number of players.
Trading Commandment #5, repeat after me, “THOU SHALL ALWAYS GET A THROW IN”*
*The only time this isn’t true is when the other owner isn’t willing & you need to do the trade!
The Home Boy Trade
Definition: When an owner or owner makes a trade based strictly on ML player team affiliation.
The “Home Boy Trade” is one of my most favorite types of trades. It invariably is a trade that you can come out ahead on in good conscience. If you have identified another owner in your league that has a strong major league team infatuation it’s time to check your roster for any one you have from that major league team. Offering him that player does play on his emotions but it must be his decision to accept the trade as offered. Do not attempt to strong arm or over hype the player offered since he probably knows more about the guy than you care to. There are some clues to watch out for that owners have strong ties to a ML team. If they always come to the draft wearing the same team hat or shirt with team logo, get suspicious. If in casual conversation he drops a bit of trivia about player(s) from one ML team that you didn’t have a clue about start getting real suspicious.
One year another owner shared with me the fact that Marge Schott’s dog (owner of the Reds at the time) was going to be banned from the field because Barry Larkin had accidentally stepped in it, as they say. It wasn’t five minutes later that he had me guessing what shoe size Eddie Taubensee wore. Ca-Ching! Little bells and whistles went off in my head when I picked up on his interest in the Reds. About a week later I was the proud owner of a young Javy Lopez (with a throw in farm) and he had Taubensee in his back pocket.
Discovering the type of owner/ML team infatuation that leads to making the “Home Boy Trade” isn’t always easy though as the more mature, astute owners go to great lengths to hide their allegiance. One way to find out is, when your dealing with other owners talk about the trades they’ve been discussing with others. If you’ve developed the strong trust I keep getting back to they may share with you some specifics about who the other owner was after. If he was asking about a guy that you see no reason he would have a particular need for get suspicious. If you find another owner who has had the same experience for a different player but from the major league club those little bells and whistles should start firing off in your head to.
The thing about the Home Boy owner is that we are probably all guilty to one degree or the other of having allegiance to particular ML team or can readily identify with their players. An admitted younger owner replied to an article I had written with the comment that, ‘He feared he would never be able to enjoy the fierce allegiance to any one team like I had voiced because of the constant comings an goings of players in the Bigs.” I think that’s really unfortunate he felt that way but is it really necessary? To me, it’s not about the city or team or players. It’s about the game. I admit growing up in St. Louis you couldn’t convince me otherwise that Stan the Man wasn’t the best dam hitter ever and Hoot Gibson would blow away Drysdale or Koufax. That’s they way it was and if you still feel that way about any team that’s ok but shhhhh, be very, very quite about it!
Trading commandment #6, repeat after me, “THOU SHALL NOT BE A HOMEBOY OWNER!”
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