Turning over the Tout Apple Cart

When the Florida Marlins purged their roster this past off-season, a reason given was that their cache of stars was not winning them anything. One could argue that acquiring a few pieces could have been the quicker path to contention, but other teams have had success by tearing everything down and starting over. I am starting to understand.

I have written about my last place Tout Wars team in the Friday newsletter. It’s been a tough year in this 15-team mixed league. In retrospect, I made a few mistakes on draft day. I opened May nearly 30 points out of 14th place. Some family health issues have kept me too distracted over the past few months to employ my usual slow, methodical roster management process. Still, I’m gratified to see that my team has skyrocketed to where I am now jockeying between 14th and 15th each day.

Okay, “gratified” may be too strong a word.

But it’s June; I’ve had enough futzing around.

So I decided to put on my Derek Jeter cap and turn over the apple cart. This past Sunday, I sent the following message out to my esteemed competitors:

“Hello fellow Touts. I am in last place. I am not going to win. I am no threat to you. But I have a few really good players. I can finish in last place with the Vottos and Freemans and Carrascos, or without them. I have no particular affection for any of them. Not one sent me a birthday card this year. So look over my roster and make me an offer. Everyone is up for grabs, but the REALLY good guys will require a 2-for-1 or 3-for-1 deal. So yes, you can own Zack Greinke or Walker Buehler. You can gain some nice position flexibility with Yangervis Solarte. Or you can even go down the rabbit hole with Byron Buxton. I hate them all. Maybe one of them will send you a birthday card.

All reasonable offers considered. I’m not punting the season so don’t offer me a bunch of scrubs. I’m offering an “A” for some “Bs” or “Cs” to replace some of my “Ds” and “Fs”.

In the past, email blasts like this have generated maybe a handful of responses. So I was surprised when more than half the league contacted me within a few hours of the note. It was an interesting case study in how different competitors navigate the trade negotiation process.

Some owners made me an offer right up front. Those were considered first. Some were quite reasonable, and in fact, I clicked “ACCEPT” on one of them right away. Some were lowballs, which I put at the bottom of the pile. No need to work a deal with so many to choose from.

A few of the owners attempted to go through the normal “put the onus on the other guy” negotiation process. I’d get a note that said, “I am interested in [Votto, Freeman, et al]; what would you want?” But with so many real offers on the table, I didn’t need to play that game. I told them that if they wanted my player, they’d have to make me an offer like the others were doing. That generated even more offers to review.

By the end of the day, 16 players changed their address.

The impact:

The net result… I gave up a bit of offense for a bunch of pitching. Even with the offensive downgrade, I was able to cut three bats that were dead spots and replace them with some more useful players. Luis Valbuena and Ryan McMahon are likely placeholders; Paul DeJong will be back eventually, and with all this pitching I’m probably not done dealing yet.

Were these perfect trades? Nah. I think that including Zack Godley in the Votto deal shifted the advantage to my opponent, but I could afford to let him go with all the arms I acquired. Joc Pederson and Austin Meadows are wild cards; if they keep their playing time, it could go a long way towards making up the offensive deficiencies from the loss of Votto, Freeman and Davis.

In the end, I took a Stars & Scrubs team – which is the appropriate way to play a mixed league – and turned it into a Spread the Risk roster. I’m still not going to win, but I think I can make the season far more fun.

What do you think?