SportsJudge Dispute No. 1586-T: Court Upholds the Trade of Cory Hart and J.J. Hardy for B.J. Upton

SPORTSJUDGE.COM

COURT OF FANTASY BASEBALL

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -	X	Index No. 1586-T Date: March 24, 2008 League Type: 10 TEAM MIXED 5X5 Dispute: TRADE DISPUTE Judge: MARC EDELMAN TRADE BETWEEN 2 LEGIT 2 QUIT AND IT BYRNES IS APPROVED
COMMISSIONER GARY B. Petitioner, - against - 2 LEGIT 2 QUIT & IT BYRNES Respondent	: : : : : : : : : :
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Petitioner, Commissioner Gary Benik, brings this claim in the COURT OF FANTASY BASEBALL, seeking to determine the status of a proposed trade of 2 Legit 2 Quit players Cory Hart (OF, Brewers) and J.J. Hardy (SS, Brewers) to IT Byrnes in exchange for player B.J. Upton (2B/OF, Rays). This court upholds the trade.

The Law on Upholding a Trade

In this court, it is the general rule that any fantasy baseball trade shall be upheld as long as the trade adequately benefits both teams. (See Public Opinion No. 101, Big Red Rockers v. Big City Bombers). Where a league constitution provides alternative criteria for reviewing a trade, the alternative criteria may supersede the general rule. (See Public Opinion No. 409-T, Commissioner P.K. v. Cartman). However, in this case, according to the league constitution, the only rule is that www.SportsJudge.com gets the final say in resolving all disputes so precedents from previous cases must be used.

The Proposed Trade

The proposed trade is a 2-for-1 trade with players matched in their positions.

2 Legit 2 Quit proposes to send to It Byrnes (final 2007 statistics in parentheses):

· Corey Hart (.295 AVG, 86 runs, 24 hr, 81 rbi, 23 sb)

· J.J. Hardy (.277 AVG, 89 runs, 26 hr, 80 rbi, 2 sb)

It Byrnes proposes to send to 2 legit 2 Quit:

· B.J. Upton (.300 AVG, 86 runs, 24 hr, 82 rbi, 22 sb)

Analysis of the Trade

B.J. Upton and Corey Hart are two young superstars in Major League Baseball who put up nearly identical numbers last season. By most accounts, Upton is the more valuable of the two players because he qualifies at second base. According to the Rotowire.com 2008 Top 200 Mixed League Rankings, Upton is ranked at no. 31, and Hart at no. 57. Meanwhile, according to the CBS Sports 2008 Top 300, Upton is listed at no. 35, and Hart is listed at 93. Finally, in the SportsJudge.com Experts League Draft, Upton was selected at no. 20 and Hart at no. 75.

Indeed, there are certain mitigating factors that cut in Hart’s favor, as brought to my attention by one of the court’s internal baseball experts, Joseph Romano. For example, an examination of the two players’ game-by-game statistics from 2007 will show that Hart started strong, struggled for some time, but then raised his average during the last month of the season. Meanwhile, Upton started strong (hitting a high point in batting average in mid-July of .344), but over the final two months of the season struggled and finished hitting just .300. This significant drop has been attributed to Upton’s lack of plate discipline and may indicate that some American League pitchers have figured out how to pitch Upton.

The wild card in all this is J.J. Hardy, a player with varied expectations. Hardy was a tremendous disappointment after a great first half last season and did not even crack the Rotowire Top 200. However, in the SportsJudge.com draft, Hardy went in the 14^th round. Indeed, the young Brewers shortstop hit 26 home runs last season, and has at least enough upside to balance any perceived difference in value between Upton and Hart, even if one were to consider Upton’s late-season struggles to be an aberration.

Finally, according to the e-Affidavit by Anthony Salva, general manager of 2 Legit to Quit, 2 Legit to Quit was “seeking to upgrade my middle infield … [while IT Byrnes] wanted to improve the quality of his outfield.” Having reviewed both teams rosters, the court finds this assessment earnest and valid, and there is no reason to doubt the parties had any intentions other than as stated.

Holding

Based on the foregoing, this court upholds the proposed trade of Corey Hart (OF, Brewers) and J.J. Hardy (SS, Brewers) from 2 Legit 2 Quit to It Byrnes for B.J. Upton (2B/OF, Rays).

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