Large dump trade (NL-Only)

[mjl]

Different argument than someone saying Taveras may or may not pan out. He probably will be something good to great, but him alone is not a rebuild, and you would still be in same place you are in now, next year.

This. Taveras is nice. Taveras at $3 for a while is better than not having him, but that's not going to make you competitive with the teams ahead of you.

Honestly my read of this situation is that your league has really weird balance issues with valuation of bargains vs good players, and if I were you and I had all those good players and whoever else you have, I'd consider trading one or two medium-to-poor-quality keepers to one of the lesser teams for Choo and Bruce or Kennedy for example. Maybe you move up a little and reconsider if you're dumping this year, and maybe you just trade them off later and possibly you don't even lose much on doing that.

What's your entire roster? Would picking up two more very good players make you semi-relevant, given that Kemp will get better at some point and Cueto just came back?

I mean really, if that's the offer for your guys and that is what the rest of the league thinks is reasonable, you should be able to trade Jorge Soler and a ham sandwich for Choo and Kennedy and then figure out your next move later.

[Judge Jude]

I traded two of the best prospects in all of baseball - Felix Pie and Ian Stewart - in 2007 to get a half-season of a lame-duck Pujols and won the pennant.

I traded two of the best prospects in all of baseball - Buster Posey and Mike Stanton - in 2010 to get most of a season of Roy Halladay at 44 AND he was so awesome I kept him at that price in 2011. But I didn't win the pennant, because another owner gave up a half-season of a lame-duck Pujols AND an overpriced H-Ram for an even bigger prize - an already otherwordly Jason Heyward, the only one of the bunch who was already in the majors, and who was killing it.

I realize hindsight will tempt people to believe that Pie and Stewart weren't REALLY as highly thought of - and you would be embarrassingly wrong. Pie was 5-tool, and Stewart was the next Rockies slugger....

[Mithrandir]

Seriously? Trout is the 11th best hitter and 19th best player overall, and that was after his slow start. My boy Kemp, on the other hand...

Based on what. I can name 20 Hitters with better numbers right now...

[overkill94]

Based on what. I can name 20 Hitters with better numbers right now...

Standard league Yahoo ratings.

[overkill94]

What's your entire roster? Would picking up two more very good players make you semi-relevant, given that Kemp will get better at some point and Cueto just came back?

C - Y. Molina
C - R. Hernandez
1B - AGon
2B - Chris Coghlan
3B - ARam
SS - D. Espinosa
CI - G. Sanchez
MI - TBD (was Brignac, put in a waiver claim on Lemahieu)
OF - Kemp
OF - Dejesus
OF - Jay
OF - Tabata
Util - Ankiel

P - Kershaw
P - Cueto
P - Niese
P - Zito
P - J. Chacin
P - Pettibone
P - Gast
P - R. Soriano
P - Broxton

DL - Ludwick
DL - Forsythe
DL - Eovaldi

A team that I thought would contend, but the early injuries to Ludwick, ARam, Cueto, and to a lesser extent Eovaldi and Forsythe plus the subpar play of Kemp and Espinosa have put me waaay back. As of now my keeper list would be mostly question marks which is why I'm trying to build for the future.

[Lucky]

I don't have anything against minor leaguers, but I see people who chase them crazily to be like baseball card collectors.

For the haul you are giving up, I would want a major league freeze or two. People who trade away minor leaguers in dump deals usually make out like bandits, with very little pain.

[mjl]

Do you have minor leaguers that aren't listed there? What could you get from a lower-division team for Forsythe?

[overkill94]

The only blue chipper is my $3 Archie Bradley, the others (Kyle Parker, Noah Syndergaard, Jonathan Galvez, Jacob DeGrom, Logan Watkins) are all $5 and I also have Matt Davidson for $1.

Not sure what Forsythe might fetch considering he's set to be a utility guy upon his return (unless Headley gets traded) - maybe someone like Ethier?

[mjl]

man, either I'm not keeping up with baseball or those are unimpressive minor leaguers, because the only one I've heard of is Syndergaard (well, and Bradley and Davidson). I did skip most of my minor league prep this year because I had so many keepers though.

(after further review I did know who Parker was)

So Syndergaard has gotten some good press and he's pitching well. Your pitching seems fine. Not trying to run your team or anything, but can you trade Syndergaard and Jay for Choo and Bruce? Bruce hasn't exactly been showing the power stroke so far, and if you had those guys you could try to make a small run and if it doesn't work you can probably sell them in a month for a decent return especially if Bruce gets better. Not saying that trade would get done in my league, but it's a better deal for the dumper than it sounds like your league regularly has. Or maybe for Upton and a pitcher?

Also either of those deals would have the side effect of making you about the only guy with anything decent to sell, which gives you a little more leverage even if your team doesn't improve in the standings.

[overkill94]

Jon Jay has an expiring contract so a dumper wouldn't want him. To get Choo and Bruce I'd probably have to give up something like Ludwick ($4/1) and Davidson ($1/2+) but I'm guessing the dumper would hold out for something better from a contender.

I have one owner after Cueto and he has a $1 Matt Adams to give up. With Beltran being a free agent after this year, are they planning on putting Taveras in CF, opening up RF for Craig (and pushing Jay to the bench) or just swapping Taveras in for Beltran. The fat dude can hit so I'd love to target him if he'll be getting PT.

[overkill94]

man, either I'm not keeping up with baseball or those are unimpressive minor leaguers, because the only one I've heard of is Syndergaard (well, and Bradley and Davidson). I did skip most of my minor league prep this year because I had so many keepers though.

It's a 12-team league with 8-man minor league rosters (and you can draft minor leaguers during the auction) so it's a decent if unspectacular batch. I picked up Watkins because Barney's been struggling (although Watkins is struggling now himself) and I picked up Galvez because of his SB ability (and he's holding his own as a 22-yo in AAA).

[overkill94]

Well, that trade kinda fizzled, and with Kemp and Cueto on the DL might not ever happen.

Got a new offer from a different owner. What do you guys think of:

Kershaw, R. Soriano, and J. Jay (all non-keepers)

for

Giancarlo Stanton ($11 through next year, can't be extended) and Brandon Beachy ($11 through 2015, could be extended before last year of contract)

Better than the original deal? Need to get more back?

[overkill94]

Welp, the same owner came back offering a much less blockbustery trade. Right now it's:

Kemp and K-Rod (but I might be able to talk him into Thayer)
for
Rosenthal ($4/2015) and Soler ($11/2015+) or D'Arnaud ($13/2015+)

I do still like Rosenthal whether he becomes a closer or starter, but the other piece (either one) doesn't excite me much. Is this the best I can expect at this point?

[Silentmist]

Welp, the same owner came back offering a much less blockbustery trade. Right now it's:

Kemp and K-Rod (but I might be able to talk him into Thayer)
for
Rosenthal ($4/2015) and Soler ($11/2015+) or D'Arnaud ($13/2015+)

I do still like Rosenthal whether he becomes a closer or starter, but the other piece (either one) doesn't excite me much. Is this the best I can expect at this point?

D'Arnaud doesn't excite me one bit. Catchers are never as good as advertised out of the gate. It usually takes them a few years to become an offensive force, at that price you need him to be a masher right away. I think if you can't get Tavares, you'd be better off going after Rendon from him.