So, twice this season I have been on the very lucky end of trades. In each case, one of the players I was sending to another team ended up on the DL shortly after.
Trade 1: I traded Chase Utley and Ryan Raburn for Clayton Kershaw.
Trade 2: I traded Jayson Werth and Mike Moustakas for Matt Cain and Zack Cozart
For as long as I have played fantasy baseball, this is just something we’ve chalked up to buyer beware. However, should there be some statute of limitation in which a player must at least provide some service to the team or else the trade can be voided?!
In the pros players have to pass a physical before a trade is finalized. In the fantasy baseball world we don’t have such a luxury. In the above case of Trade 2, the other owner accepted the trade. Just two hours later, Werth, a key piece to him, was walked off the field and will now miss 12 weeks. With Werth hitting the DL this trade really hurts his team as he gave up value to get value. As we learned from William Ladson (among others), this is a serious injury.
#Nats RF Jayson Werth had left wrist surgery today. He will be out for more than six weeks. I was told at least 12 weeks. #Nats #MLB
— William Ladson (@washingnats) May 7, 2012
I know that for most of us “all is fair in love and fantasy baseball”, and I can be as cutthroat as the next guy, but something about this struck a chord with me Sunday evening, and really made me question my ethics, if I don’t at least offer some sort of restitution.
It made me also think back to the preseason trade – Utley for Kershaw. When it was made, some league rivals thought was unbalanced. You can only imagine what people thought Utley ended up on the DL. As it happens, he still hasn’t made his season debut.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that I was responsible for these players hitting the DL, nor is any owner who is the beneficiary of such transactions. But should there be an unwritten rule, or better yet a written one, to help facilitate fairness in these circumstances?!
Our suggestions:
- First, Clave had a VERY good article about LMs having a constitution, even had a copy of our Tunacorn Constitution. This is a must for all leagues!
- Second, in said document there can be amendments when things such as this arise. Our document does not have such a clause but at our mid-season rules summit, I will certainly bring it up!
- Third don’t lose friends over fantasy baseball, it really isn’t worth it. If you want to be that guy that just says C’est la vie, there are public leagues that you can join.
PS – You might enjoy following me and all the Crackerjacks on Twitter.
