With the APBA-Between the Lines disk chats going on, I’ve been looking forward to next year’s season more and more. Indeed, my Thunderchickens look to improve in the pitching department with four Bs and two Cs in the rotation and two Bs in the pen (assuming Chris Perez is one, I haven’t confirmed his grade).
Hitting and defense seem to be up and down throughout the roster. Next year, I won’t be able to relish in having a SS-10 and a 2B-9 in my lineup (sigh). But overall, we look better and this is before my draft which includes five picks.
As I look towards next season, I sent out my annual ‘Let’s talk trade’ email to my league. To make it easier, I listed my needs (shortstop, please! Tulo’s injury really hurt me). I also put in what I had to offer. I admit, that was a little harder. In the game of negotiations, you have to give up something of value to get something of value (but I’ll be damned if you’re getting Stephen Strasburg).
I’ve re-posted the following article for a couple years now this time of year but it’s still relevant especially if you are in an APBA league. It’s my Top Ten Tips for Trading in an APBA League. It’s not baseball-specific really and for that matter, there are a lot of principles that are germane to day-to-day life.
1. Know your strengths and weaknesses.
Before the off-season, before you even think of making trade offers or consider anyone else’s offer, take stock of your APBA league team. Get a good sense of your team’s strengths and be honest about your weaknesses. If you’re serious, a depth chart would be nice.
If your league imposes player limits, then definitely fill out a spreadsheet with your team’s limits so you know what you need to cover positions. This is a must. You don’t want to be scrambling post-draft trying to fill positions via trades. When you are in a position of weakness, other managers know it.
2. Understand your goal
Some teams are rebuilding. Others are “going for it”, thinking they have what it takes to make the playoffs, championship, whatever their particular league structure allows.
With each goal comes a totally different strategy of approaching your team drafting and trading. That bum B starter isn’t going to be much worth to you if you’re rebuilding and next year, he’ll be a DW. Consider trading him for high pick. What about that position player that had a career year? Same thing.
And if you’re a top rung team, consider trading a player with loads of potential but little short term value to a rebuilding team for a low risk short term player (see above).
3. Know your opponent’s strengths and weaknesses
Just as important as knowing your own team is knowing the other teams in your league. In the game of trading, it doesn’t help knowing your own team if you don’t know who you are trading for.
At the very least, know the other teams’ weak points, strong points, areas of depth and areas of need. If one team needs a shortstop and you have three, there might be a good match for a trade.
4. Make offers that help both teams
It might be tempting to contact a team manager and a say “What do you want for Nick Markakis?”. If I got that, I might give it a thought or two but no more. Be more specific. Like I said in #3, learn your opponent’s team and find out what he needs. When you come to him with a more concrete deal like “I have Nick Markakis. Would you give me your #1 pick for him?”. He’ll at least be more willing to come back to the table and talk.
5. Leave room for negotiation
Despite what I said in #4, don’t give away the farm. No one says you have to make an offer that your trading partner will accept right off the bat. If I made a deal that a manager snapped up without thinking about it, it would certainly make me wonder if I offered too much.
Leave some room for a little room for give and take. Don’t be afraid to be flexible either. If he wants that B* instead of that C* out of your pen don’t dismiss it out of hand.
6. Don’t burn your bridges
Everyone has ideas of that one big trade that puts one over on the other guy. But don’t go into trade discussions with that mindset. If you get the reputation of a swindler, other managers aren’t going to want to trade with you in the future. Be a fair trader and they’ll come back and more importantly, they’ll have a equally fair attitude toward you.
7. Discretion is prudent
When you get into a protracted trade discussion over a blockbuster deal, keep the deal under wraps especially if the other manager requests that you do so. Nobody likes a tell-all who replies-to-all over email. Some managers have needs or wants that they would prefer to keep quiet.
This is especially true when other managers confide their draft pick preferences. For example, I wouldn’t want my buddy Brando to tell the other managers in the IAL that I’m interested in picking David Price with my first pick of the draft (oops!).
8. Get advice
Ok I know, this goes counter to # 7. If you’re in the middle of trade negotiations and ready to pull the trigger but just not quite sure, get a second opinion. If there’s another manager who’s not affected by the deal and whose opinion you trust, run it by them. Even if their opinion runs counter to your gut instinct, it’s good to get their feedback.
9. Electronic is good, Talking is better.
In the old days, we in the IAL used to run up phone bills talking trade. Thank goodness for email. It makes thing a whole lot easier not to mention cheaper. I think I even made a deal via texting last year. That said, if it’s a complicated trade, the novel concept of TALKING doesn’t hurt either. It removes some of the miscommunications that can occur with email.
10. Announce your completed trade.
When you and your trading partner finally pull the trigger on your deal, announce it to your league. Your commissioner will need to know, of course. The other managers will too, if they are interested in any of the player involved in the deal.
Why not have some fun with the announcement? Sometimes, IAL managers will format their email announcement like a press release MLB-style.
I hope this helps. It comes from being in a league for 32 years. Joining the league at the tender age of 16, I would never have guessed that some of life’s best lessons could be learned from 10 guys playing APBA.
