Fantasy Baseball Dispute 8165-T: SportsJudge.com Rejects Trade of Longoria for Howard & Sabathia

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.

The Ryan Howard Contract

Yesterday, the Phillies announced that they reached a five year extension with Ryan Howard, worth $125 million.  Howard will be 31 by the time his current contract (which runs through 2011) expires and several analysts have been critical of this new contract.

I would argue that Howard falls behind Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins and is the third most valuable position player on his team, so is he worth the money?  If the Phils pay for past performance and reward Howard for his past contributions, I guess so, but this deal handcuffs the Phillies financially.  Sure, they are a bigger market team and probably have more resources than, say, the Pirates, but the Phillies will have to make some tough financial decisions in the near future that will be impacted by the Howard deal.  First, productive right fielder Jayson Werth is a free agent at the end of the year and will probably walk now that Howard signed a big deal.  Rollins and Brad Lidge are only under contract through 2011 (Rollins through 2010 with a club option that is sure to get picked up for 2011, Lidge with an option for 2012 that probably won't be).  Other players like Shane Victorino and Cole Hamels are only signed for the next few years.  Philadelphia won't be able to sign them all to long contracts.  Cliff Lee would have loved to be Philadelphia's number two starter, behind Roy Halladay, but the Phillies traded him to Seattle the same day they acquired Halladay.  Why couldn't the Phils use some of the money they spent on Howard to re-sign Lee, a free agent at the end of the year? 

With contract uncertainty for a good portion of the rest of their roster, you can't help but wonder if the Phillies just spent $125 million efficiently. 

SportsJudge.com PTI: Was Ryan Howard Robbed?

[Editor's Note: SportsJudge PTI appears every other Monday at 9am as Chris Stanley and Adam Primm weigh in on hot topics in the world of sports.]

Chris:

Ryan Howard hit is 200th career home run at Land Shark Stadium where it was caught by a 12 year old girl named Jennifer Valdivia. Howard naturally wanted the ball back given the major significance of the 200 HR milestone. He invited the girl down to the clubhouse and met her. He also autographed a different ball and gave it to her. That is a class act in my opinion, and more than a fair trade.

Apparently the 12 year old’s parents saw things differently. Instead of giving Howard credit for being a good guy in a world of athletes who make the newspapers almost daily for the wrong reasons, they did the American thing….they filed a lawsuit.

Only in America. This is one of those threatened lawsuits that make me understand why all the lawyer jokes fly around so often and why there is so much disdain for attorneys in this country.

You just had the great fortune of catching a ball at a baseball game, something that not every fan gets to experience in their lifetime. Just ask my co-author how hard those things can be to catch (especially the Travis Hafner foul ball that went through his paws this season!) To top it off you just got to meet one of the best players in baseball today. And then Ryan Howard gives you an autographed baseball as icing on the cake. Still, the family claims that Howard took advantage of the young girl by offering her less than what he should have given for the ball and threatened a lawsuit.

So what would you do if you were Ryan Howard at this point? Would you hire a better attorney and battle it out in court? I don’t think anyone would blame you for doing that, but that’s not what Howard did. Instead, Howard simply gave the ball to the family.

If this would have happened to me when I was 12 years old, it would still be the best moment of my life to this day. Instead, the little girl looks back on the moment as the day that Ryan Howard screwed her out of a ball and mommy and daddy hired an attorney to get it back. You gotta love the American justice system. Kudos to Ryan Howard for being the bigger man (pun intended).

Adam:

Normally Chris and I debate both sides of an issue, but I can’t on this one. I agree 100% with what Chris said. In fact, we had this conversation earlier this season, and I said that I would give the ball back to the player in exchange for one ball autographed by the player and another by the team (except for a home run ball that could be auctioned for over $1 million, although I think I would still see if the player wanted it first).

This whole situation comes down to one thing – greed. In America today, no one thinks of what the other person is feeling; they only try to maximize their own benefit. One of the reasons the parents felt their daughter was taken advantage of was because they heard the ball could be auctioned off for a few thousand dollars. While the ball may have been worth that much, I still have a problem with this situation for two reasons.

The first problem is that the girl made a deal already. She traded the ball for a chance to go into the dugout, meet Howard, and receive an autographed ball. Now she has both balls and a trip to the dugout while Howard has nothing.

Second, no one auctioned the ball off to earn the few thousand dollars. The Phillies representative whom the parents accused of taking advantage of their daughter never was in possession of the ball, so he couldn’t auction it off. Howard wanted to keep the ball for the sentimental value, so he wouldn’t auction it off either. The argument is totally false. The parents and their attorney created the straw man of a sinister baseball executive taking advantage of a 12 year old girl to make a few thousand bucks. But that person didn’t exist and no one tried to make any money.

Instead of a nice story about a fan giving a ball to a player because the player has a sentimental attachment to this particular ball, we have a story about good, old-fashioned American greed present in a twelve year old and her parents. While Jennifer may have made the trade without a parent present increasing the chances of her being taken advantage of, it is hard to argue that she was taken advantage of when the trade is pretty standard in Major League Baseball. It is fairly common for a player to trade an autograph for a ball that means something to a player, generally a first home run or a milestone homerun. So even if Jennifer was not accompanied by a parent, it is hard to argue that she was taken advantage of when the result would have been the same regardless.

In the end, it makes me sick that Jennifer and her parents cried foul on a fair deal, Howard is deprived of his piece of his own milestone, and the legal system defends greed and seller’s remorse. The lesson that this is teaching Jennifer, and the potential it holds for others like Rudy Giuliani’s spoiled golfing son (article here), doesn’t show much class for our nation’s youth. The only person showing class in this story is Howard, who quietly gave the ball back even though he could have fought to keep it.