In my last column, I related some stories from the auction draft of the Splendid Splinter league and noted parenthetically that at the time I was writing I was negotiating a trade to obtain Joey Votto.

It was a little early for a team to make a rebuilding trade but my trade partner was in year two of trying to improve an absolutely terrible roster he inherited last year. That first year was tough for him and he was faced with trying to get a better roster for next season – and that was apparent at the draft.

So with my biggest power hitter on the DL, I needed to find a hitter to get me some HR/RBI to tread water in those categories until Aramis Ramirez returned and then to add to my decent but not championship hitting (the pitching being fine). I had reached out to the team that needed to rebuild and he had correctly posted a note on the league’s site to let everyone in the league know he was open for business. Giving everyone in the league this knowledge is not only the ethical thing to do but may also get some trade dialogue started with a team you would never think would be interested.

There were several pieces I was interested in but it looked like outfielders Matt Holliday or Carlos Quentin were likely the best targets, and I should be able to get them for a very good minor league prospect or even two and maybe a player from my current roster. But I couldn’t help notice that attractive Joey Votto sitting on his roster, and at $47 not a keeper but a very valuable trade chip. So when we got past the introductory emails, I suggested that while I wouldn’t include him in a trade for a lesser player, I would be willing to trade my $5 Yonder Alonso in a package for Votto.

Prior to discussing any players, I had looked at the other team’s roster and also identified a nice upgrade at catcher if I could get his $11 Wellington Castillo in the deal and I would send my $8 Russell Martin so he would have a replacement at that position without having to spend any of his precious FAAB dollars. But I didn’t mention that until we were dealing in specific players – you don’t want to ask for or offer every single player in your first serve.

And I had encountered a problem as I did the math with my current and future lineups. (This is easy to do, take your current lineup and put it onto an excel sheet. I usually put my current players in column A, their salaries in column B, and a list of positions in column C. Then in column D you will put in the new players and their salaries in column E.  Run a sum below both salary columns.) It was important for me to make sure that I could fit both Ramirez ($33) and Votto ($44) under the $300 salary cap once Aramis was back. But after printing out both my roster and his, I found my memory faulty because Votto had actually gone for $47 in the auction. That meant since I was also adding three dollars for the upgrade at catcher, I needed to ask for one of his $1 starting pitchers and really needed to add a starter anyway, having only five coming out of the draft.

So we actually exchanged trade proposals in cyberspace – something that wouldn’t happen on the phone but can have some benefit. He had asked for Alonso and a minor league prospect for Votto and another player. At the same time, I had sent an offer of Alonso, Martin and a prospect for Votto and Castillo. I followed that saying I needed the one dollar pitcher and asked for A.J. Burnett. That didn’t work for him as he thought Burnett was the only keeper of his four one dollar starting pitchers (and he is probably right about that).

So after a phone discussion, we arrived at the final trade.

I would give Alonso (5D12), Martin (8D13), and minor leaguers Brett Jackson (CHC) and Alex Castellanos (LAD) for Votto (47D13), Castillo (11D13) and Ricky Nolasco (1D13).

I got Votto to replace Ramirez at CI (and then stay there when Ramirez was back going to 3B, moving Matt Carpenter to the outfield) and an upgrade at catcher, as I think Wellington Castillo will hit plenty of Wrigley Field home runs. My trade partner also did well, as he will be able to put Alonso under contract next year and has two very interesting prospects that will hopefully graduate from his Farm next year or later. Jackson’s star is not as bright as it used to be, but the Cubs reworked his swing this year and early returns from his first few weeks at Triple-A Iowa have been positive. Castellanos would have been the star of the Dodgers spring training games if not for the explosion of Yasiel Puig, but is a very good outfield prospect.

There are some points here that may help you:

  1. Communication is always the key towards finding a deal. I prefer a phone call to get things started but e-mail will work very well, especially if you know the person you are dealing with.
  2. Find out what your prospective trade partner needs/wants and don’t try to just trade players you want to trade.
  3. Give several options for your trade partner to choose from. Whether you offer a choice of outfielders or pitchers or prospects, you empower them to choose the player they like of equal parts.
  4. Always be willing to give an extra/better player to acquire something that will help you – you can’t get something without giving up something.
  5. A trade should ALWAYS work for both teams.
  6. It is never too early to look beyond the standings – I am currently in first place in this league thanks to a great start by my pitchers, but my offense will lose points if I can’t get some production from the CI slot.

And getting an early start puts you ahead of your competition to get a deal done and gets you ramped up in your quest for the Yoo-hoo shower. {jcomments on}