The fire sale is certainly something that happens in reality. It occurs when a team is way out of contention near the trade deadline or wants to shed salary in the offseason.
Right now is not the preferred time to execute a fire sale. It is unrealistic to do so at this point. A lot can happen in a half-season. The Giants were in fourth place in the NL West around this time last year, and you all know what they did.
Also, teams have an obligation to attempt to win. The point of a fire sale is to get younger players and give up expensive players to teams trying to win, and the team trading the veterans is giving up on the season. At this point, many teams are still very much in their division race (including the team that declared the fire sale), and making a big trade might not be a good idea if a team isn't sure they'll stay in the race.
Once we get nearer the trade deadline, teams that are trying to contend will know what they need to bolster their team, and they might give more for a veteran (in effect giving the trading team a better deal).
So those are my thoughts and preferences on the fire sale. Please consider them.
12 comments:
Yeah I agree. At barely this point of the season to trade away basically your entire pitching staff that was traded even the kitchen sink for before the season, is baffling to me?? And now were going off first half stats, so a lot could change _Sin City
I think this is happening because barb is boring. For instance, standing updates for one week could have you a few games out of the division lead, then one game update in two weeks then new standings could show you to be 10 games back. All in the blink of an eye. When MLB plays everyday and their stats are readily available, it makes owners trade for MLB stats not barbs. That's why this league see teams have firesales now because MLB is nearing their trade deadline where's as barb is what? 20 games behind? (on a good day) . That's nearly a month behind MLB. That's a big difference.
Just my thoughts...
Matt I agree with you but I couldnt make that suggestion myself without offering a solution. Its obvious we are only going to get about 1-2 updates a week and we just have to deal with it.
I personally make a trade every opportunity I can but I havent traded away or cut the heart of my team ( Papelbon, Stauffer, Pedroia, etc..) in fact, I've made more trades than any other gm up to this point but have never announced I had any player on the "block" or I was potentially selling people. I've identified my needs and made the according trades since the roster I inherited at the beginning of the year was pretty bad. I think ive actually gotten to the point where people do not respond to my emails
keep in mind I've started every email respectfully with each gm saying if you do not feel comfortable trading this guy or making any trades at all, just let me know and I wont bother you; yet only 2-3 gms actually reply to my emails at this point so basically I just talk to Anthony and Ronald.
This leads me to believe either people dont want the league to seem unrealistic with alot of trades or they just flat out prefer not to talk with me; either of which is fine
the fact of the matter is this is still FANTASY baseball regardless of the style of this league and there will always be more trades than in MLB... just my two cents.
I agree with Matt. ANDREW this is one of many reasons I decided to do a fire sale. One day I see the standings, and I'm like a game back or so from first. Then all the sudden, I'm 10 games back.. then 8, back higher, now 6.... and its tough to track this if we don't have a clue how many games you play a day or week, when the stats and standing will be updated, etc.
With real life MLB, you know daily where you stand and can take it a day at a time. Here, things come in bunches, and that usually doesn't mean for the best.
AND now, I have Baker and Marcum hurt and if they go down, how can I contend. I know this post was directed to me, although I don't believe YOU have the power to block trades that you PERSONALLY think are wrong no matter what; timing, player being traded, etc. That's the GM decision to decide those things. YOU must decide if its fair and base your acceptance upon that.
HOW many trades has Anthony done which included stars?! How many trades has he done the last two years, which has saw him do what I USED to do. Quite frankly, I don't do as many trades as I used to and thats a fact.
Sure I wanted to contend this year, but right now I'm not looking good. I'm 6 out (and only god knows and andrew) how many at this minute I'm actually out or in, AROD is hurt and my offense isn't producing, and my rotation (which I'm relying on) is now hurt, with two of the five going on the DL (Baker) and one pending (Marcum).
I have other reasons for a fire sale, but I cannot spill all my thoughts, feelings, and reasons to the league cause that's like giving away secrets to prove a point I SHOULDN'T HAVE TO!
This league is meant to have fun. Owners should be allowed to do what they may with their roster movement, even if it may isn't best for them. If the end result is if they are having fun, while following the standard rules in BARB, then their roster movements should be blocked. HOW many trades have we seen this year and in the past where at least one thought that wasn't the right move for the club?! Probably all, but it makes the league exciting... WHY?! Because of the unknown.. what will the team do with this trade.. will they turn that talent around and acquire something big?! Are they planning for next season?! etc. etc. Its fun to NOT KNOW why a GM does what he does.. otherwise, where the hell is the fun and excitement, and strategy if we knew everything.
This year has been the most up and down year. I understand that you (Andrew) had a lot to do to get adjusted, and you made many mistakes along the way... but we seem to be moving to a point where you want to much control over league functions; you implement changes that were notified at the last minute (for example, salaries now include Bonuses), you change your mind on a set decision at the last minute (for example, a ptbn can be anyone as long as they aren't a keeper or FP, but then turn that around, but before it was Ok), now are we moving to a point where trades are being monitored and accepted based upon personal feelings?!
I can make a strong argument on how this isn't good for the league. Your basing your argument that trading like this isn't good for the league, because it isn't realstic...
DO I HAVE TO REMIND YOU, this is fantasy baseball. Trades involving big time names happen in ALL leagues (ESPN, MLB, etc.). So what is occurring here is no new news. I know BARB is all about being realistic, and we have done a good job so far, but we cannot make it fully because we don't have a set schedule on how games are played, on how stats are updated, how standings are updated, etc...
We know things in bunches, and it is tough to think what might pop up in the next update.
I PROPOSE THE FOLLOWING:
We should move closer to real life by simulating games once a day, and provide delta updates daily (as in, just show who won, lost, and the score, and who got the save, as well as HR present in the game.. something like this:
Firebirds (3)
(record)
Toads (4)
(record)
W: Player X L: Player Y S: CI
HR>> Player, X, Y, Z
This would be great for the league because we can track games daily, like real time, and we don't have to wonder what things will look like at random times in bunches. And we can closely track player performance in BARB more closely, and standings, making our trades more thoughtfully.
All this shouldn't take more than 10 minutes a day, and maybe once in a while, you do the big blog with descriptions. Quite frankly, I'd take small delta updates than big posts any day.
BUT until that happens, you must understand me trading "early" isn't quite early in BARB standards, because we don't know the quantity of games you will be doing in a week or day, and we have no clue, because of this, where our team stands when we see the updates. Like last season; I'm in competition then ALL THE SUDDEN, I'm over 10 games back... how am I suppose to take that when now I have to wait for the next bulk update; 20 games now, 15... 10 still, or lower. Delta updates would allow me to be able to sit back and wait cause I can, every day, see where my team stands and make better decision on my team functions. Until then, you have to understand that not all of use have the luxury to see your computer every day and know where we stand when the software is powered up.
Sorry I'm making this long, but really I'm growing tired of how much control is being taken in areas where it shouldn't be. It's becoming less fun and exciting and really if this keeps happening, this year could be my last.
It is important to remember that computer simulations that have more constant updates, etc. also PAY people to run them in amounts that are appropriate for the time invested.
I really don't understand the mindset of many of you people. The quality of BARB is at an all-time high. We are only a month behind the majors, as opposed to six to eight weeks behind, as in the past. The combination of the blog updates, dedicated tabs and other new features is outstanding. Commissioner Haynes has done a very good job. Speaking as the former Commish, who used to have the advantage of running the software, I am perfectly happy with the level of updates. Once or twice a week is perfectly acceptable. I actually think the unbalanced schedule with 13 teams is a bigger headache, both administratively and in terms of providing meaningful standings. It's tough when one team has literally played more than ten games than another to get a feel for where you're at: that's not caused by any lack of industry on the part of the Commish: it has to do with the scheduled as it is generated. I think we need to go back to a league with two divisions and an even number of teams.
I also counsel more patience. If you don't have people willing to spend their time running this for virtually no compensation, there would be no league to quit. I think Andrew has done a great job, and there's no rule that says he has to keep doing it. Think about it.
Scott, I dont think anybody is attacking or saying anything ill of Andrew, in fact I think he has done a great job, but this is neither the place nor the time to discuss something such as that. Nobody in the comments above had anything negative to say about Andrew, only about the structure of the league. There has to be an easier way to administer updates and keep people informed
If you read Ronald's advice, all he wants is updates less than semi weekly to judge his teams performance. It literally takes seconds to paste html code in and update. The part that takes the longest I assume is reading the results and reporting them as if this were a publication.
Everything above from all the other gm's has been a suggestion, not a criticism as far as I can tell. Its obvious this is alot for one person to handle the whole league, It doesnt seem like itd be too difficult for Andrew to pass the results to somebody who can simply publish the results on the blog and then whenever he gets a chance he can write an actual blogpost.
I agree, surprisingly, with Ronald. I have said it for years that box scores would do wonders for this league. I dont watch every mlb game or see every baseball tonight showing. I do, however, see every games box scores via internet everyday. Thats enough for me to understand whos playing well and what not. I personally, think game write ups would be great for playoffs, but I don't put too much stock into the wordings. I would much rather like to see whos pitching what innings and whos going 2-5 or with 2Bs or whatever.
This is no criticism of Andrew. I believe the switch to a committed commissioner should have been made a long time, but I didnt know it was possible or the job was up for grabs. I wouldve put my bid in.
Lets be radical and try box scores. think about it.
^agreed
Perhaps someone here has the technical expertise to suggest how we might automate it? Because the software we use generates separate files for each game. Extracting even the bare minimum suggested by Ron involves collating 4-6 files per day, then selecting the relevant information. Based on my experience, it would indeed take LESS time to do what Ronald suggested, as opposed to writing up selected games. But here's the thing: SELECTED games means that we aren't providing all of the contests, even a bare-bones description. Providing what Ron suggested is LESS info per game, and thus LESS work...but the implication is that virtually EVERY game would get this treatment.
In the long run, this amounts to an increase in the Commish's workload. I'm not opposed to modifying how we provide information, I just think we have to be realistic about how much time an essentially-uncompensated person can expect to bring to this task. Keep in mind that when I started this league, I had a well-established career and a steady income and could afford to give a certain amount of time to what is essentially a hobby, to amuse myself.
By the way, I am not trying to dismiss the suggestions or make the issues that have been raised go away. Anything that prompts this many posts and new ideas is obviously worth discussing further. I think a sit-down meeting might be helpful. What do you guys think?
I think you're stuck on this compensating aspect. I paid for this league at the start of the season. Might be chum change to someone with an established career but I payed nonetheless. I just fail to see how automatically simulating a game and taking a screen shot of the results then pasting it online could by any stretch of the mind be more difficult than writing game descriptions.
What could be done is emailing the game results to the league. The blog then could be updated by one owner (perhaps someone with an established career) on his spare time as a simple reference page. That way the commish wouldn't have to waste his time on the technically difficult blog page.
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