The EP Leagues brings this claim in the COURT OF FANTASY BASEBALL to determine the status of a fantasy baseball dispute involving the proposed trade of PiNsTrIpErS players Andrew McCutchen (OF Pittsburgh Pirates), Jonathon Niese (P, New York Mets) and Brett Anderson (P, Oakland Athletics) for The Sons of Pitches players Michael Cuddyer (OF-1B, Minnesota Twins) and Tommy Hanson (P, Atlanta Braves).
This court ACCEPTS the proposed 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.(SeePublic Opinion No. 101, Big Red Rockers v. Big City Bombers).A fantasy trade reasonably benefits both teams if it allows both teams to have a reasonable chance of moving up in the standings.(See Unpublished Opinion No. 468-T, Commissioner Gary B. v. Ever-Lastings and 2 Legit 2 Quit).If the league is a keeper league, as is the case here, this Court will also consider a team’s likely performance in future seasons, especially with respect to the team currently ranked lower in the standings (See Unpublished Opinion No. 3704-T, Commissioner Paul Schultz v. Snakes & Blutos).
This Court recognizes that team owners may have different strategies in terms of short-term and long-term goals; and that while one team may try to maximize its chances of winning prize money this year, another team may play for the future (See Unpublished Opinion No. 3731-T, Commissioner v. Muleskinners & Southsiders; see also Unpublished Opinion No. 3797, Commissioner v. Foo Dogs & Maulers).
Four of the five players in this fantasy trade dispute are age 23 or younger, so the key to this trade is primarily about potential, and there is a lot of uncertainty on both sides.
The PiNsTrIpErS are currently in second place, and have acquired the trade’s lone veteran, Michael Cuddyer.With Cuddyer, who is batting in the middle of the order for Minnesota, the PiNsTrIpErS could be expected to improve in HR (a bit) and RBI (more than a bit). In addition, with Hanson, the PiNsTrIpErs look to enjoy an upgrade in wins and strikeouts.
The Sons of Pitches, sitting in eighth place and without the benefit of three clear keepers for next season, get at least one potential keeper for their roster in McCutchen.McCutchen has dealt with shoulder issues this month, but can boost almost any team’s stolen bases and batting average. The Sons of Pitches do lose HR potential, but they are already at the bottom of the league in those categories – with 124 HR, trailing the next-lowest team by 19 (15.3 percent).
In pitching, the ceiling is high on Niese – 6-2 with a 2.58 ERA and 1.10 WHIP since coming back from the DL on June 5 – and Anderson, a projected ace who plays in a pitching-friendly stadium for a team that is on the upswing.One, if not both, a these pitchers could prove important to the PiNsTrIpErS run at “a money finish” down the stretch.
Holding
The Court approves the trade of PiNsTrIpErS players Andrew McCutchen (OF Pittsburgh Pirates), Jonathon Niese (P, New York Mets) and Brett Anderson (P, Oakland Athletics) to The Sons of Pitches players Michael Cuddyer (OF-1B, Minnesota Twins) and Tommy Hanson (P, Atlanta Braves).
The Commissioner of the EP Rules Baseball Keeper League brings this claim in the Court of Fantasy Baseball Disputes to determine a fantasy baseball dispute involving the proposed trade of Evil Empire players Brian McCann (C, Atlanta Braves), Jonathan Broxton (RP, Los Angeles Dodgers) and Josh Willingham (OF, Washington Nationals) to McNack for players Adrian Gonzalez (1B, San Diego Padres), Chase Headley (3B/OF, San Diego Padres) and Yadier Molina (C, St. Louis Cardinals).This court accepts the proposed trade.
The Law on Upholding a Trade
In the SportsJudge.com Court of Fantasy Baseball Disputes, the general rule, absent contrary language in a league constitution, is that any trade shall be upheld as long as the trade adequately benefits both teams.(SeePublic Opinion No. 101, Big Red Rockers v. Big City Bombers).A fantasy baseball trade adequately benefits both teams if it allows both teams a reasonable chance to move up in the standings.(See Unpublished Opinion No. 468-T, Commissioner Gary B. v. Ever-Lastings & 2 Legit 2 Quit).
Where the fantasy trade dispute involves a keeper league, this court will also consider a team’s likely performance in future years, especially with respect to the team currently ranked lower in the standings (See Unpublished Opinion No. 3704-T, Commissioner Paul Schultz v. Snakes & Blutos).However, when a club in a keeper league makes a trade based on the perceived future benefit of a player, that future benefit must be concrete, substantial, and imminent, in light of the players traded. (SeePublic Opinion No. 8165-T, Commissioner EP Rules v. Yoons Goons & McNack).
The Proposed Trade
The proposed trade has Evil Empire sending Brian McCann (.274, 13 HR, 51 RBI, 43 R, 3 SB) Jonathan Broxton (3.00 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 19 SV, 57 K, 3 W) and Josh Willingham (.273, 15 HR, 50 RBI, 50 R, 7 SB) to McNack for Adrian Gonzalez (295, 21 HR, 64 RBI, 57 R, 0 SB), Chase Headley (.269, 7 HR, 34 RBI, 55 R, 13 SB) and Yadier Molina (.236, 4 HR, 38 RBI, 21 R, 6 SB).
The Analysis
In the SportsJudge.com Court's fantasy judgment, this trade reasonably benefits both teams as McNack is very likely to move up in the 2010 standings, while Evil Empire may move up in the standings and has acquired a player with some keeper value in Adrian Gonzalez.
Currently, the standings indicate that McNack is in the bottom half of the league in stolen bases, runs, home runs and saves.With the addition of Jonathan Broxton, McNack is almost certain to gain at least two important points in saves.In addition, by adding McCann and Willingham (and perhaps more importantly losing the light-hitting Molina), McNack is likely to gain some important points in batting average.
Evil Empire likewise has the potential to move up in the standings, by improving in runs (within 10 runs of two teams) and home runs (within 11 home runs of three teams).Chase Headley and Adrian Gonzalez both provide a drastic increase in runs scored while equaling the home run output given up in the trade.
In addition, the acquisition of Gonzalez gives Evil Empire a potential third keeper, or trade bait for another team.While Evil Empire already has Joey Votto, Roy Halladay, and Carl Crawford as its likely keepers for 2010, Gonzalez serves as a legitimate alternative to any of the three, and could pave the way for a future trade.With only a year and a half left on his contract, there is an even greater potential for a future payoff if Gonzalez is traded to a hitter-friendly ballpark.Any such trade, while highly speculative, would surely increase his already impressive numbers he has accumulated in a pitcher-friendly home stadium.
Finally, the SportsJudge.com Court of Fantasy Baseball Disputes notes with respect to this fantasy baseball dispute that while it can be argued that McCann is also potential keeper for some team, the Court finds this argument implausible, given the emergence of young catchers such as Posey and Carlos Santana as the new elite at that position.
Holding
Based on the foregoing, this court accepts the proposed trade of Evil Empire players Brian McCann (C, Atlanta Braves), Jonathan Broxton (RP, Los Angeles Dodgers) and Josh Willingham (OF, Washington Nationals) to McNack for players Adrian Gonzalez (1B, San Diego Padres), Chase Headley (3B/OF, San Diego Padres) and Yadier Molina (C, St. Louis Cardinals).This court accepts the proposed trade.
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.(SeePublic 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, theproposed 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 Commissioner of the EP Rules Baseball Keeper League brings this claim in the COURT OF FANTASY BASEBALL, to determine the status of a proposed trade of PiNsTrIpErS players Mark Teixeira (1B, New York Yankees) and Ian Kennedy (SP, Arizona Diamondbacks) to the HappyScrappyHeroPup for players Felix Hernandez (SP, Seattle Mariners) and David Ortiz (DH, Boston Red Sox).This court accepts the proposed 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.(SeePublic 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 Benik. v. Ever-Lastings and 2 Legit 2 Quit).However, where a league constitution provides alternative criteria for reviewing a trade, the alternative criteria may supersede the general rule.(SeePublic Opinion No. 409-T, Commissioner P.K. v. Cartman).As the League Constitution at issue has no restrictions on trade reviews, the holding of Big Red Rockers will be used and this trade will be accepted if it adequately benefits both teams.
If the league is a keeper league, as is the case here, this Court will also consider a team’s likely performance in future years, especially with respect to the team currently ranked lower in the standings (See Unpublished Opinion No. 3704-T, Commissioner Paul Schultz v. Snakes & Blutos).This Court recognizes that team owners may have different strategies in terms of short-term and long-term goals; and that while one team may try to maximize its chances of winning prize money this year, another team may play for the future (See Unpublished Opinion No. 3731-T, Commissioner v. Muleskinners & Southsiders).
The Proposed Trade
The proposed trade is a 2-for-2 trade:
PiNsTrIpErS proposes to send to HappyScrappyHeroPup (2010 statistics in parentheses):
As the trade includes a pitcher and offensive player going to each team, the Court will compare the players by their position.In looking at the pitching, there is no question that Felix Hernandez is better than Ian Kennedy.Felix Hernandez is currently 6th in the AL in ERA, 2nd in Strikeouts, and 9th in the AL in WHIP.By comparison, Ian Kennedy is 36TH in the NL in ERA, 16th in the NL in Strikeouts, and 18th in the NL in WHIP.Felix Hernandez also has three more wins than Ian Kennedy on the season.Kennedy has had a good season this year, especially in the Strikeout category, but does not project as a keeper for the 2011 Season, which is something that Felix Hernandez certainly does.
In looking at the offensive side of the trade, even on an off-season, Mark Teixeira has more fantasy value than David Ortiz.While both hitters have nearly identical batting averages, nearly identical RBI totals, and identical Home Run totals, Mark Teixeira currently is ranked 4th in the AL in Runs scored, with 17 more Runs scored than David Ortiz who is currently 77th in the AL in that category.Clearly the acquisition of Mark Teixeira is sure to add a lot of Runs to the PiNsTrIpErS, but it also adds increased Keeper value looking forward.David Ortiz is 4 years older than Mark Teixeira.While Mark Teixeira is still in the prime of his career, and an excellent option as a Keeper for future seasons, David Ortiz appears to be at the tail end of his career.This Court does not project David Ortiz to be a keeper looking forward to the 2011 Season.
Both teams in this trade will be gaining one Keeper.The PiNsTrIpErS will be improving their pitching for this year and beyond thanks to the high keeper value of Felix Hernandez and HappyScrappyHeroPup will be improving their offense for this year and beyond thanks to the high keeper value of Mark Teixeira.This Court views Felix Hernandez as having slightly more value than Mark Teixeira looking forward, but it is very close.As David Ortiz has a little more value than Ian Kennedy, this trade is as equal as can be.To further prove this point, the justices of SportsJudge.com could not even agree on which side of the trade they would rather have.During this Court’s discussion of the trade, I personally felt that the PiNsTrIpErS were getting the better end of the trade by getting Felix Hernandez and David Ortiz, while Chief Justice Marc Edelman thought that HappyScrappyHeroPup was getting the better end of the trade in Mark Teixeira and Ian Kennedy.
In this trade, one team sought to improve its pitching while the other sought to improve its offense.Because of the fact that players of equal value were involved, it is up to the teams to choose which area of the team they wish to improve and focus on.As this trade can reasonably improve both teams, it must be accepted.
Holding
Based on the foregoing, this court accepts the proposed trade from the PiNsTrIpErS of players Mark Teixeira (1B, New York Yankees), Ian Kennedy (SP, Arizona Diamondbacks) to the HappyScrappyHeroPup for players Felix Hernandez (SP, Seattle Mariners) and David Ortiz (DH, Boston Red Sox).
Disclaimer: Information contained on this site is for informational or recreational purposes only. Nothing written is intended to serve as legal advice or legal counsel.
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