Why does every team try to rip me off in trades?

[joejccva71]

I did a few tests and I have player on my team who's one of the best players in the league in my save right now. He's an outfielder named James Wood.

He's 80 in contact, 75 in Gap, 70 in Power and Eye. 5 stars OVR and he's 24 years old in my save. He's a beast.

I tried shopping him in the trade window and teams were offering garbage for him. I shopped him for prospects packages and it was ridiculous. 3 star and some 4 star potential prospects but nothing crazy.

You'd figure a team that needs that power hitter to take them to the postseason would give up the farm for a player like this. But no, they try to lowball to the extreme.

Is this how trading is supposed to be?

[drrok]

In a save I was starting with the Pirates I was trying to get Mayo from Baltimore. Wouldn’t take anything for him. Even when I threw in Skenes it didn’t even move the needle. I’m pretty sure I could have offered the entire team and it didn’t matter. This was with trade difficulty right in the middle. Tried similar offers with the Rockies and the same thing. You would think Skenes would at least make them listen.

[Rain King]

What is the contract situation of this player?

[joejccva71]

Originally Posted by Rain King

What is the contract situation of this player?

He's up for Arbitration at the end of this year.

This player (James Wood) is a monster. He's like Acuna 2.0.

His 2026 stats:
596 AB's
57 HR's
163 RBI's
36 SB's
.369 AVG
.461 OBP
1.202 OPS
12.5 WAR

[SirMichaelJordan]

Define garbage. You mentioned a 3 star and some 4 star potential. Is that correct?

[Edster007]

Getting a prospect package of 3 and 4 star players sounds about correct to me unless a team is doing a salary dump on a vet

[joejccva71]

Originally Posted by SirMichaelJordan

Define garbage. You mentioned a 3 star and some 4 star potential. Is that correct?

Originally Posted by Edster007

Getting a prospect package of 3 and 4 star players sounds about correct to me unless a team is doing a salary dump on a vet

I guess I'm expecting way too much from a 5 star stud player. I figure teams would throw me the farm for a guy this good is all.

[Rain King]

Baseball isn't really a sport conducive to throwing the farm at one player.

[joejccva71]

Good point. I think my reasoning for my post is if I 'Shop a Player' and ask for a multi-player package or a prospect package, every single one I get from other teams, my front office personnel says "no dont take this" or "this is a very bad deal". Not "well i'm not 100% on board with this, but I think it'll work" or something like that.

It's like every deal, the opposing team just lowballs you and doesn't give atleast a realistic trade, even if it's still in their favor. I understand teams look out of themselves and their best interest, but atleast be somewhat realistic with what you're offering.

[Edster007]

Originally Posted by joejccva71

Good point. I think my reasoning for my post is if I 'Shop a Player' and ask for a multi-player package or a prospect package, every single one I get from other teams, my front office personnel says "no dont take this" or "this is a very bad deal". Not "well i'm not 100% on board with this, but I think it'll work" or something like that.

It's like every deal, the opposing team just lowballs you and doesn't give atleast a realistic trade, even if it's still in their favor. I understand teams look out of themselves and their best interest, but atleast be somewhat realistic with what you're offering.

I can only speak for myself but I seek out my own trades and rarely use the shop function

[Rain King]

I think the Shop function is more to get a starting point. Find out which teams are interested and what their starting offer is. I don't think most expect to take the initial deal offered from that process.

[Bobfather]

I look at the team(s) offering the best players, then discuss with them, as they seem the most interested.

[SirMichaelJordan]

Initial deal should always be the starting point. That’s negotiation. The AI should be looking out for themselves, it’s up to the other side to come to a middle ground.

[MikeS21]

It helps to also play around with the salary retention of deals as well. When your front office folk balk at a deal because the other side is offering a “vastly overpaid veteran” you can sometimes get the other team to retain some of that salary. I have had teams retain 75%-80% of those hefty multi-year salaries, and my front office personnel will be much more willing to go along with.

Plus, it’s a whole lot easier to flip a player that you owe $5 million to than $20 million to. You would be surprised at how much money you can save on salaries and make your own people happier.

[shipfb21]

Like stated before, I use the shop a player to see what teams are interested. Then I enter negotiations with a team who offered a starting point I could work with. Then I'll rework the deal with the player or players im interested in... I actually like the trades in this year's version. I use the trade difficulty set a few points harder then the middle. I look at it like they are trying to get best bang for their buck just as a human user would be doing. So gotta find a middle ground in negotiations

[Pelican]

I use the Shop Player option, usually with no preferences, to test the market. Rarely have I shopped a superstar; but if so would not expect what OP has reported. Definitely keep trying with trade negotiations.

[OutS|der]

What are his in game ratings? Maybe the AI is seeing something you're not.

Though the AI has always been hard to trade with IMHO

[MisterTidster]

If it helps, AI doesn’t evaluate cash in offers very good… can sign a mediocre reliever for 4 million and get a trade package with 6+ million coming back to you.