Trading for Prospects

[Thalion]

I'm curious what kind of prospects people attempt to trade for.

Let's say you're approaching the trade deadline and you've decided you're not going to make the playoffs and want to build for the future. You've got some solid starting pitchers or other starters you don't foresee part of your rebuilding project so you're looking to trade them.

What kind of prospects do you try to get in return? Are you looking for those that are nearly MLB ready or ones who may be years away?

For those of you using the star system, what level of prospects are you seeking?

When shopping my starters around, I try to gauge interest in return. When it looks like there may be a strong interest from a particular team, I open negotiations and try to replace who they're offering with a prospect that I may be interested in, but I'm not getting positive responses back, so I think maybe I'm setting my sights too high.

I figured I may as well ask the community what your experiences are.

[NoOne]

using the shop feature and finding a team that offers visibly more is a very good tactic.

make sure to take note of team needs - which generally corresponds with the above, but can be found via other means.

i will generally keep a shortlist of well-rated MiL players to reference at any time i'm looking to trade - generally updated at that time, too. what quality i trade for is more about what i have to offer and need / other opportunities to fill that need. i generally know which players i am grooming to keep, so that portion of my prospects is easy for me to exclude with certainty.

just because i can get a stud, doesn't mean it's the best trade to make. so, i'll just say i trade for the best possible quality player i can get in context.

i've always been able to find ways to stockpile some young talent and willing to trade my players before they begin to age. when the cupboard is bare, it means i have a 3-5 year window re-stock or i really screwed up.

how much money you have avialble to spend on payroll over the next 3-5 years is a huge concern too... if you can sign a few FA and trade "too" prospects for that stud, then it's a viable option.

true studs have greater consistency, and further to fall if a TCR or somethign like aging does rear its ugly head. and always a chance you can sign them to their first long-term deal for a discount. i want babe ruth and micky mantle type player(s) on my team, but i'm not going to pay them 40-50M/year, lol. the next team can do that, foolishly.

in the trade screen i will go through each of my minor teams and sort by potential... i'll swap out as low as 30's/80 to find something the ai likes.

if the type of players you are swapping in and out don't change the feedback (know it like a meter, it's ordinal), add some player that makes it more clear -- even if you won't use that player in the deal. this is just like RL. using names to gauge interest and value etc...

find players that the AI likes individually... then use them as the basis for your package and keep adding, if neccesary and worth it.

even on Normal trading difficulty, you will pay alot more than what you get back, in general... and the times you get more it feels like you just robbed a bank or something.

[TuckerDuckson]

I trade for contact oriented prospects only. Never trade for power, they rarely develop the way you want them too, however, if you do get a power prospect to develop, then they are usually very solid major leaguers. It's just to much short term risk for a very low long term reward.