What do you consider before trading a player?

BeisbolFan · 02-13-2013, 05:09 PM

I am a new player currently tanking in my 2nd season as GM (but still having fun!) I'm getting kind of concerned because my position players are almost all getting up there in years, although their stats are for the most part good. I don't have a lot of good prospects in IF/OF, although I traded for an eventual replacement for my aging 1B (33) and I have a good young outfielder who got called up due to injuries. I am confused about how I should be approaching getting some good younger players on the team, and what I should take into consideration in who to trade/keep for older players (mostly late twenties or early thirties)

Anyway, I am wondering what factors you consider during mid- or off-season in what veterans or established players you are willing to trade. What carries more weight in your decision: age, depth (or lack thereof), stats (this and last years'), trends on their development report, etc?

Also, how do you go about finding good players from other teams, prospects or not? I'm kind of overwhelmed by the sheer numbers in the 'player search' list. I've been trying to comb through the top 100 prospects list, but that doesn't tell me anything about more established players.

The Game · 02-13-2013, 06:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BeisbolFan

I am a new player currently tanking in my 2nd season as GM (but still having fun!) I'm getting kind of concerned because my position players are almost all getting up there in years, although their stats are for the most part good. I don't have a lot of good prospects in IF/OF, although I traded for an eventual replacement for my aging 1B (33) and I have a good young outfielder who got called up due to injuries. I am confused about how I should be approaching getting some good younger players on the team, and what I should take into consideration in who to trade/keep for older players (mostly late twenties or early thirties)

Anyway, I am wondering what factors you consider during mid- or off-season in what veterans or established players you are willing to trade. What carries more weight in your decision: age, depth (or lack thereof), stats (this and last years'), trends on their development report, etc?

Also, how do you go about finding good players from other teams, prospects or not? I'm kind of overwhelmed by the sheer numbers in the 'player search' list. I've been trying to comb through the top 100 prospects list, but that doesn't tell me anything about more established players.

Go to League Menu - Top Prospects and that will give ya a good idea on who to trade for. For me it depends on what my needs are and how I want my team to look. I recently traded a right handed clone of Ryan Howard at 30 yrs old because his stats were terrible and was asking for 9+ mil per season which I don't have. While I have Lance Johnson in CF I decided to trade for a LHB CF who is 23 yrs old and is a 4 star player. I also have my LF who is a FA after this year and if I don't resign him I can move One Dog to LF and have the new guy in CF along with Harold Baines in RF. My Of is taken care of for the foreseeable future. I also traded 2 backup OF and a top SP prospect for a 27 yr old 3B. My only true weakness is 1B where I am using 2 middle IF there vs RHP and vs LHP. Both are hitting well over .500 and are rated 9 at 1B, but neither have power and I am very left handed heavy in Wrigley Field. Since the trade for the CF I have went 34-8 to take over 2nd place in my league and am leading the wildcard by 1/2 a game. Eventually my clone of Ernie Banks (Chuck Berry) will be my 1B. I am gonna have to find someone who is a right handed power 1B and not resign my LF come Free Agency. I will be quick to trade certain players if I think I have someone waiting in the wings that can take over if this player fails or the prospect I am trading away is replaceable. I have my 5 man rotation set for the next 2-3 seasons if they stay healthy.

That help? or did i ramble too much?

struggles_mightily · 02-13-2013, 06:44 PM

Salary and budget determine what's possible, I guess, and then ratings and stats of the concerned players determine what's desirable. I don't factor in age too much as long as a player was good last season -- however old he is, he's only one year older than he was when he was last good. I use 'heavily favour prospects' so it's usually difficult for me to get a young cost-controlled player from another team. With my own prospects I'm generally happy to go with guys who have shown a bit at the ML level (in September callups and ST), and will sometimes plug in a rookie starter if they have insane stats at AAA and good ratings, even if they're not over the big league hump yet. I'm playing modern-day MLB right now and it's hard to avoid evaluating prospects partly on how good they are in real life, too.

With the trade settings I have, it's rare to be able to trade an expensive veteran for a useful piece (and useful pieces become harder to find if you're a good team), so I rarely trade a veteran unless I'm happy for it to be a straight salary dump or a deal for an ml non-prospect.

I find players by searching in all personnel -- for any position other than 1B and LF I generally like to have someone rated at least 6 at their position, and then I set low basic benchmarks for ratings that weed out the worst hitters (so, say, I might look for someone who's at least a 4 for contact, gap hitting, power and eye -- this misses players who have zero power or good power and no patience, but for a positional starter I tend to prefer hitters that are reasonably well rounded anyway). I play with 2-8 ratings on, scouting on, but potential and 'tools' (defense, speed) ratings only. Then I look at contracts to rule out players who are too pricey or, on the other hand, too good value to be tradeable for anything I want to give up. This is for starters. For bench guys I'm much more likely to have a specific profile in mind in terms of skills at secondary positions, handedness, speed (or not), etc., and am usually less worried about getting a well-rounded player. My team right now is too good and too over-budget for me to target specific players, though -- I shop guys who have no future role and pick up the best offered player in terms of organisational fit, usefulness, flexibility (who has options?) and cost/contract type.

Being unable to get starters from other clubs easily means I tend to amass fringy bullpen arms. There are probably 12 relievers in my system right now who are basically much of a muchness. I'm not sure you necessarily want to follow that practice.

02-13-2013, 05:09 PM	#1
BeisbolFan Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Jan 2013 Posts: 20 Thanks: 5 Thanked 3x in 2 posts	What do you consider before trading a player? I am a new player currently tanking in my 2nd season as GM (but still having fun!) I'm getting kind of concerned because my position players are almost all getting up there in years, although their stats are for the most part good. I don't have a lot of good prospects in IF/OF, although I traded for an eventual replacement for my aging 1B (33) and I have a good young outfielder who got called up due to injuries. I am confused about how I should be approaching getting some good younger players on the team, and what I should take into consideration in who to trade/keep for older players (mostly late twenties or early thirties) Anyway, I am wondering what factors you consider during mid- or off-season in what veterans or established players you are willing to trade. What carries more weight in your decision: age, depth (or lack thereof), stats (this and last years'), trends on their development report, etc? Also, how do you go about finding good players from other teams, prospects or not? I'm kind of overwhelmed by the sheer numbers in the 'player search' list. I've been trying to comb through the top 100 prospects list, but that doesn't tell me anything about more established players.

02-13-2013, 06:44 PM	#3
struggles_mightily Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 292 Thanks: 19 Thanked 79x in 38 posts	Salary and budget determine what's possible, I guess, and then ratings and stats of the concerned players determine what's desirable. I don't factor in age too much as long as a player was good last season -- however old he is, he's only one year older than he was when he was last good. I use 'heavily favour prospects' so it's usually difficult for me to get a young cost-controlled player from another team. With my own prospects I'm generally happy to go with guys who have shown a bit at the ML level (in September callups and ST), and will sometimes plug in a rookie starter if they have insane stats at AAA and good ratings, even if they're not over the big league hump yet. I'm playing modern-day MLB right now and it's hard to avoid evaluating prospects partly on how good they are in real life, too. With the trade settings I have, it's rare to be able to trade an expensive veteran for a useful piece (and useful pieces become harder to find if you're a good team), so I rarely trade a veteran unless I'm happy for it to be a straight salary dump or a deal for an ml non-prospect. I find players by searching in all personnel -- for any position other than 1B and LF I generally like to have someone rated at least 6 at their position, and then I set low basic benchmarks for ratings that weed out the worst hitters (so, say, I might look for someone who's at least a 4 for contact, gap hitting, power and eye -- this misses players who have zero power or good power and no patience, but for a positional starter I tend to prefer hitters that are reasonably well rounded anyway). I play with 2-8 ratings on, scouting on, but potential and 'tools' (defense, speed) ratings only. Then I look at contracts to rule out players who are too pricey or, on the other hand, too good value to be tradeable for anything I want to give up. This is for starters. For bench guys I'm much more likely to have a specific profile in mind in terms of skills at secondary positions, handedness, speed (or not), etc., and am usually less worried about getting a well-rounded player. My team right now is too good and too over-budget for me to target specific players, though -- I shop guys who have no future role and pick up the best offered player in terms of organisational fit, usefulness, flexibility (who has options?) and cost/contract type. Being unable to get starters from other clubs easily means I tend to amass fringy bullpen arms. There are probably 12 relievers in my system right now who are basically much of a muchness. I'm not sure you necessarily want to follow that practice. Last edited by struggles_mightily; 02-13-2013 at 06:47 PM.