About That Bumgarner Trade...

When you join a league, any type of league, the underlying principle that makes the league worthwhile is the unstated assumption that each member of the league is actually trying to win. Once in a while, you will come across a league where some sort of collaboration or alliance between teams is beneficial to winning, but even then, the teams in that alliance benefit equally. Otherwise, what's the point?

If you are in a league where the ultimate prize is money, then the motivation to win is obvious. When there is no money involved, then there may be ulterior motives to winning that would explain a team's decision to decrease their chances of winning in order to increase another's. In the end, when there is no money on the line, then the league must rely on the honor system or the entire league would collapse.

All of which is to say...what the fuck was up with that Madison Bumgarner trade?

Imagine that you actually are trying to win, and you enter into a trade negotiation with another team in order to increase your odds of winning -- whether now or in the future. You offer your best trading chit, and your trading partner offers Players A, B, and C in return. You value Players A, B, and C so greatly that you feel that is a fair trade. At no point does it occur to you to make a counter-offer for Players X, Y, and Z instead. You prefer A, B, and C.

Now, imagine if your trading partner then says, "Oopsie! I forgot that I already traded A, B, and C! My bad! How about Players X, Y, and Z instead?"

We've already established the fact that you didn't want Players X, Y, and Z. Otherwise, you would have asked for them instead. If you had considered A, B, and C to be a fair market value for your player, then X, Y, and Z would -- by logical extension -- be LESS than fair.

Given that, why on earth would you accept a less-fair package of players in exchange for your player?

I have given some thought to that question, and these are the only answers I can come up with:

1) You are in a rush, and don't care much about getting fair value, so you simply take whatever is offered, because it's better than nothing.

2) You really don't care about your team, so in the end, it doesn't matter who you get in exchange for your best trading chit.

3) You were saved from making a foolish trade initially after realizing that it was Players X, Y, and Z that you really wanted all along.

There is only one other possible explanation: you simply wanted to screw someone else by trading his main competitor a good player, and in the end, it didn't matter who you got in return, as long as it screwed that guy.

Joplin has turned the 16th-best farm system in the BDBL into a division-leading team thanks to the generosity of two owners in the league who decided that the 50th, 75th, 92nd, and unranked prospects in baseball were worthy of their impact players.

Of course, that isn't the only reason Joplin is winning after "cutting their losses" a chapter ago. They're also winning thanks to some fortuitous performances from some incredibly-unlikely players. And they are in first-place only because our Cowtippers have collapsed so spectacularly. Joplin has been both incredibly lucky AND have created their own luck through trades. Sometimes it helps to be in an alliance, even when the league structure doesn't call for one.