The Lotto tradeDefinition: When two or more owners determine a pool of available players from their team that they would include in the trade for selection by the other owner.
This has got to be the single most unique type of trade I have ever been involved with. I have heard of no similar trades and believe this may set a precedent for weird. Another owner and myself were sitting around, shooting the little baseball BS we had in the middle of December. Boring? Man it couldn’t have got too much worse. ESPN doesn’t carry a lot of winter league games on TV. I do not know what started the “let’s make a trade” discussion but the two of us had pulled many, many trades over the years. We knew each other and trusted each other. After tossing out a lot of near trades, bizarre offers and generally getting no where the owner looks over at me and says, “Eh, I got an idea!” Now every time he had come up with this line in the past I had always come out well so what the heck, hear him out right?
His idea is that we both already had our keepers picked out for the following season and we were not going to keep any of the rest. I agreed. He said let’s throw the rest into a pool and take turns selecting them back. That stopped me cold and I looked over both of our rosters real quick. I asked how would we select who picked. He said coin toss. I said toss it and guess what the very 1st Lotto trade was born. We cracked up all winter long over that one. I wouldn’t suggest that you attempt to make your team better this way but it was a heck of a lot of fun and I picked up a very reasonably priced Eddie Murray for my keepers!
The Hospital Trade
Definition: When one or more of the owners make a trade to address an injury problem.
Just as you might have suspected from the title, this Trade is usually made as the result of injury. Even if players are not placed on the 15 or 60 day DL it doesn’t mean their performance will continue to be as projected due to injuries. In the league I’m currently in, we have a sick joke that comes up every year, “What are the three worst words and owner can hear? DAY TO DAY! Moan!!! Our rules prohibit placing a player on the injured reserve list unless they have been placed on the major league disabled list. Once the player’s injury has been diagnosed the owner should change his projections for that player based on the expected recovery time. Depending on the severity of the injury an owner can waive the player, keep him active or place to reserve or injured reserve if spots are available. Much like the Positional and Statistical trades mentioned above the option of trading the injured player or receiving an injured player is always open. You may want to try this approach but it would take a very cooperative and willing owner to absorb injury and give up an equal or even average player for you as a replacement. This is in fact not a very common trade because in effect you help your opposition for what gain? It is another way that you can use to establish that important bond with another owner and maybe you assume the risk of the injury and earn brownie points towards a bigger catch later.
Late Season Trading
Definition: Trading by owners after the All Star break up to the seasons end.
A greater than normal amount of care must be taken when making trades after the All Star break. Significant changes in Rosters at this point may not allow time for recovery if a mistake is made. The other owners will try to recover or work out their own deals in a tight time frame to counter yours and because of this are susceptible to making their own errors. More complaints are made about “Dumping” after the All Star break because it is much easier to see the effects of a major trade over shorter time period on the Standings.
In order to avoid charges of “Dumping” when related to late season trading, we have implemented a simple rule. After Aug. 1 you can only trade with the teams immediately above and below you in the standing. This makes trading a very dicey proposition but at least the possibility is still there. Additionally after Sept. 1 no trading at all is allowed until after the season. I really hate this time of the season though. It stifles the “Art of the Deal”. If you’re in the hunt then perhaps the time is better spent trying to catch those September coffee call ups that might be able to help you in your pennant drive. If you’re out of the race, then spend the time looking over the other team rosters trying to identify weaknesses you can help them with and strengths they can help you with or pick up an injured free agent at rock bottom prices. He might end up being a keeper for you the following season. Stay Active!!!
A simple rule of thumb that holds true with all types of trade is included in the 7th commandment. Remember it always, it will serve you well;
Trading commandment #7, repeat after me “THE BEST TRADES HELPS BOTH TEAMS EQUALLY!”
The Salary Trade
Definition: A trade made by an owner to improve the cost to value ratio of one or more of their players.
This type of trade is only applicable to those keeper leagues that use salaries for players. Distant first cousin to the Positional & Statistical Swap trades and third cousin to the Package Deal, the Salary Trade is a key component to building a year in & year out competitive team. Any owner that can constantly replace his low cost higher value players, as they leave his team for whatever reason, with other low cost higher value players will be in the pennant race. Expanding this cadre is a key tenant of stable competitiveness through incremental improvement. Anytime an owner can identify those situations that would lead to a package deal, he/she must keep a critical eye on each individual players salaries. If you can get what you want in a trade, reduce your salary and maintain the quality of the player, then it’s like getting gravy on the turkey at Thanksgiving.
The Salary trade in it’s simplest form may be just a one player for one player straight up or Positional or Statistical Swap but with the intent of getting the lower salary without sacrificing quality.
Trading commandment #8, repeat after me, “THOU SHALL TRADE TO LOWER SALARY WITHOUT LOWERING QUALITY!”
Off Season Trading
Definition: Trades made during those long cold wintry months.
Hopefully your league allows off-season trading. I’m not sure I would know what to do with myself at times if I couldn’t just pick up the phone and start Wheeling and Dealing. In our league all the normal in season trading rules are turned off during the off-season. You can trade 15 players to get one if you want. Studs can be had and I can only encourage all leagues to implement relaxed trading during the dark ages of winter. Here’s the very best time to position your team for the next years draft. Drive that salary scale down, improve the value to cost ratio, fill the weak spots at scarce talent positions, pick up extra players to deal away to another owner, improve your keeper list, stay in close and constant contact with the other owners, study the reports coming out of the winter leagues, catch every bit of information about any player you can in the league and work, work, work. To date this off-season there have been 25 trades and I personally have been involved in 14 of them. Stay active, stay alert! In the long run it will pay off big time.
Trade Commandment#9, repeat after me, “THOU SHALL TRADE TILL YOU DROP DURING THE OFF SEASON!”
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