SPORTSJUDGE.COM
COURT OF FANTASY BASEBALL
| - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - | x | Index No. 8165-T Date Issued: July 17, 2010 Date Rendered: July 21, 2010 League Type: Rotisserie, 5x5 Dispute: TRADE REVIEW Judge: Marc Edelman TRADE BETWEEN YOONS GOONS AND MCNACK IS REJECTED |
| COMMISSIONER OF EP RULES BASEBALL KEEPER LEAGUE Petitioner, - against - YOONS GOONS & MCNACK Respondent | : : : : : : : : : : | |
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Syllabus:
The SportsJudge.com Court of Fantasy Baseball has long held under its default rules that a trade shall be upheld as long as it reasonably benefits both teams. In this vein, the court has held that, in a keeper league, a team’s likely performance in future years may be considered, and that, in a keeper league, club owners at their discretion may choose to play for the future rather than the present.
This case, however, tests the limits of how far this court may delve into the future when seeking to determine the benefit of a deal involving a non-dollar keeper league. The court ultimately rejects the notion that a team out of playoff contention in a non-dollar keeper league could incur a good-faith benefit by trading a healthy 31-year old player plus an additional "top 40" player for a healthy 25-year old player of equal statistical value.
While the court recognizes that under its default rules that age may constitute a factor in assessing the future benefit of a deal, the court concludes that age may not serve as the exclusive factor, especially where the team trading the older star also trades another player of substantial value. The court further explains that when a club makes a trade based on perceived future benefit, that future benefit has to be concrete, substantial and imminent, in light of the players traded.
Thus, the court rejects the proposed trade of Evan Longoria, Carlos Lee and Mark Buehrle for Ryan Howard, Aramis Ramirez and C.C. Sabathia.
Issue
The Commissioner of the EP Rules Baseball Keeper League brings this claim in the Court of Fantasy Baseball to determine the status of the proposed trade of Evan Longoria (3B, Tampa Bay), Carlos Lee (OF, Houston) and Mark Buehrle (P, Chicago White Sox) from Yoons Goons to McNack for Ryan Howard (1B, Philadelphia), Aramis Ramirez (3B, Chicago Cubs) and C.C. Sabathia (P, New York Yankees).
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 it adequately benefits both teams. (See Public Opinion No. 101, Big Red Rockers v. Big City Bombers). A trade reasonably benefits both teams if it allows both teams a reasonable chance of moving up in the standings. (See Unpublished Opinion No. 468-T, Commissioner Gary B. v. Ever-Lastings and 2 Legit 2 Quit). In addition, where a league is a keeper league, a trade may reasonable benefit both teams if it is likely to improve the performance of a team in future years, especially with respect to a team that is currently ranked lower in the standings (See Unpublished Opinion No. 3704-T, Commissioner Paul Schultz v. Snakes & Blutos).
The Proposed Trade
The two lead players in this trade, Evan Longoria (2010: .302, 60 runs, 13 HR, 63 RBI, 14 SB) and Ryan Howard (2010: .299, 60 runs, 21 HR, 74 RBI, 0 SB), need no introduction. Both are among the best fantasy players at their position, as well as in the game overall. Their current values are nearly identical, with Howard providing more raw power and Longoria stealing more bases. In most leagues, it is a toss-up as to which player should be drafted first. Howard has a better track record, but Longoria is six years younger. Howard’s physical shape concerns some owners, but Longoria has more of experience on the DL with injuries. Howard plays in a better hitting ballpark, but Longoria enjoys the advantage of playing in the American League where he can occasionally serve as the DH.
| | Yahoo Rank Actual 2010 | Yahoo Rank Actual 2009 | Yahoo Rank Actual 2008 | Yahoo Rank Projected for 2010 |
| Ryan Howard | 15 | 7 | 20 | 9 |
| Evan Longoria | 16 | 31 | 112 | 7 |
By contrast, the other players in the trade are nowhere close to equal. While not a keeper in the EP Rules league last season, C.C. Sabathia (2010: 12 wins, 3.13 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 110K) remains one of the better starting pitchers in baseball and certainly deserves mention in the same breadth as two of two starting pitchers that were keepers—Felix Hernandez and Johan Santana. While Sabathia would likely not be a keeper on either Yoons Goons or McNack, he is about as good of a player that does not fall within a team’s top three. In addition, Aramis Ramirez (2010: .226, 37 runs, 15 HR, 47 RBI, 0 SB), despite his awful first half while playing with a thumb injury, is one of the better non-keeper third baseman in the league. Even despite his horrid start to the season, some reasonable fantasy owners may currently prefer Ramirez to Mark Reynolds and Pablo Sandoval—both third-baseman keepers this season in the EP League.
By contrast, Mark Buehrle (2010: 8 wins, 4.14 E.R.A., 1.41 WHIP, 54 K) and Carlos Lee ( 2010: .240, 17 runs, 12 HR, 48 RBI, 1 SB) are generally perceived to be players of far less value—both statistically and in terms of future impressions. Mark Buerhle is a far worse fantasy pitcher than he is in real life given that he gives up many hits and strikes out few batters. Meanwhile, Carlos Lee’s numbers, while possibly impressive at other positions, are far less remarkable for an outfielder.
| | Yahoo Rank Actual 2010 | Yahoo Rank Actual 2009 | Yahoo Rank Actual 2008 | Yahoo Rank Projected for 2010 |
| C.C. Sabathia | 37 | 36 | 6 | 40 |
| Mark Buehrle | 408 | 181 | 181 | 211 |
| | Yahoo Rank Actual 2010 | Yahoo Rank Actual 2009 | Yahoo Rank Actual 2008 | Yahoo Rank Projected for 2010 |
| Aramis Ramirez | 295 | 249 | 47 | 48 |
| Carlos Lee | 310 | 80 | 63 | 65 |
Analysis
Upon first glance, this seems to be a deal of A-Ram and Carlos Lee for Sabathia and Buehrle—a trade that would never pass muster—disguised by the inclusion of two equal superstars that cancel each other out.
However, McNack, quite articulately, contends that the court is not seeing the full picture. According to McNack, this trade is actually to his long-term advantage because, among the star players in the deal, Longoria (born October 7, 1985) is six years longer than Howard (born October 19, 1979 ) and thus will serve as his star keeper for many years after Howard passes his prime.
While this court has looked at hundreds of cases involving the present for the future, it has never before needed to address an argument where the future is so far away. Indeed, even if you accept the McNack argument as true, Howard is healthy and just 31. Thus, is likely would not be for another 4-5 years until his numbers begin to decline.
Not many fantasy leagues make it 4-5 years, much less beyond. While the EP Rules League is impressively in year 10, our history has found that even many of the strongest fantasy leagues destabilize over that period of time. Thus, in allowing this trade, there is a real risk that McNack, Yoons Goons and others will be gone from the league far before the future value of this deal is felt.
Moreover, even if the EP Rules league does last another decade, if the court were willing under its default rules to give substantial weight to ephemeral possibilities, the court would still have to draw the line somewhere. Otherwise, one could argue that the trade of C.C. Sabathia for Bryce Harper reasonably benefits both teams. We presume that most leagues that come to SportsJudge.com and ask us to apply our default rules would not be pleased with such a result.
Thus, this case truly tests the limits of how far this court may delver into the future when seeking to determine the benefit of a deal involving a non-dollar keeper league, especially given our belief that McNack was genuinely interested in approving his team for the long haul. In addressing this issue, while we acknowledge that under our default rules age may constitute a factor in assessing the future benefit of a deal, the court concludes that age may not serve as the exclusive factor. That is especially true here, given the high level of players traded by McNack, and that currently, there are no signs that Ryan Howard’s skills are declining.
The court further finds that when a club makes a trade based on perceived future benefit, that future benefit has to be concrete, substantial and imminent, in light of the players traded. To the extent Evan Longoria actually is a better keeper than Ryan Howard, that conclusion is not clear based on past statistics nor indicative in any significant way, at least for the next several years. Thus, the court concludes there is insufficient benefit for McNack in the deal and thus rejects it.
As a final point of note, this conclusion is reached solely under our default rules. Should the EP Rules wish to allow fantasy owners to consider the very long-term future of their clubs, the league needs to change their league constitution to express as much.
Conclusion
Applying the SportsJudge.com Court of Fantasy Baseball default rules, the proposed trade of Evan Longoria, Carlos Lee and Mark Buehrle (P, Chicago White Sox) for Ryan Howard, Aramis Ramirez and C.C. Sabathia (P, New York Yankees) fails for not adequately benefiting both teams.
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