• Amazing how a good friend getting drafted by a team in the first round makes you like that team a hell of a lot more.

  Quasi Muto on July 12, 2011 8:49 PM

• I'm remarkably team-agnostic (except for now I'm a "Brewers Fan"), most team-centric sites I can't read.

  Quasi Muto on July 12, 2011 8:48 PM

• There's a popular phillies blog hosting a live drunk chat - only in Philadelphia - might have to stop in to see how sloppy it gets.

  Plakata on July 12, 2011 8:46 PM

• I'm hanging out in the Baseball Prospectus livechat, but otherwise I can do without baseball announcers.

  Quasi Muto on July 12, 2011 8:44 PM

• Any one watch the ASG? I kind of feel like the humor/vitriol of twitter is making it somewhat interesting, and certainly more entertaining.

  Plakata on July 12, 2011 8:32 PM

• Or is it better to just play it safe and ask that owners not attempt such trades?

  Plakata on July 12, 2011 8:30 PM

• Yes, I agree that certain agreements would threaten the fairness. Is there a clear line, or an easy way to determine when such a trade is ok?

  Plakata on July 12, 2011 8:23 PM

• but some kinds would not.

  Kochanowicz Cowboys on July 12, 2011 4:15 PM

• I personally would probably never agree to a deal involving some kind of gentleman's agreement or future considerations. It certainly seems like some kinds of "future considerations" could harm the league's competitive fairness

  Kochanowicz Cowboys on July 12, 2011 4:14 PM

• *feel

  Plakata on July 12, 2011 4:07 PM

• On a related note, how do folks fee about "future considerations" whether it be money or players? In other words, agreeing to a trade now that involves sending money or players later, presumably next season?

  Plakata on July 12, 2011 4:05 PM

• How the hell does he pop 98+ consistently like that with a throwing motion that looks like Jamie Moyer's?

  Quasi Muto on July 11, 2011 10:10 AM

• also nuts that Profar just started switch-hitting two years ago

  Kochanowicz Cowboys on July 11, 2011 5:26 AM

• yeah the look on Liddi's face after Moore struck him out was pretty funny

  Kochanowicz Cowboys on July 11, 2011 5:26 AM

• You guys get a chance to see futures game? Moore's stuff was absolutely filthy.

  Quasi Muto on July 10, 2011 11:57 PM

• Depends on if they think benching Hunter or Wells for Trout's a good idea.

  Quasi Muto on July 8, 2011 4:07 PM

• Goldstein thinks he might stick around, but I think it'll be a short visit.

  Plakata on July 8, 2011 4:03 PM

• Mike Trout was called up today, for those who are interested.

  Quasi Muto on July 8, 2011 10:51 AM

• Detroit Ligers's trading block has been updated!

  Kochanowicz Cowboys on July 7, 2011 10:19 AM

• It may not be collusion, but it?s damn close. Meanwhile, the race for first is now totally unbalanced.

  Plakata on July 6, 2011 2:45 PM

• There are other risks, though. What?s to stop me from sending Longo, Zim, Kershaw, and Hamels to Ligers for just one, possibly middling prospect? It doesn?t hurt my chances next year, assuming they all come home, but I really don?t benefit either.

  Plakata on July 6, 2011 2:44 PM

• In the case of these loaner trades, there is value going to the team sending out their stud player, so I think it may fall short of collusion. And there is also risk that the player will get voted off, and not be returned, lessening the case for collusion

  Plakata on July 6, 2011 2:31 PM

• Ump, to your question, I think your definition is about right. I?m not sure about the exact specification, but if an owner makes moves intentionally or clearly against their best interest, then collusion is certainly a possibility.

  Plakata on July 6, 2011 2:30 PM

• So I should start by saying that I don?t have a horse in this race: I think it?s totally reasonable and legit to say that attempts at these types of trades will likely be vetoed, and certainly will not be enforced by the commissioner.

  Plakata on July 6, 2011 2:29 PM

• As long as it's not OK to loan someone with no compensation received, I think we're steering clear of collusion.

  Bunt Cake on July 6, 2011 2:03 PM

• Yeah, I think that would be necessary. And the important thing about the Kershaw example is that Duffy was offered as compensation to be kept after the loan deal ended.

  Bunt Cake on July 6, 2011 2:02 PM

• And, if Kershaw is returned according to the terms of the trade. Such details would need to be made public, most likely.

  Quasi Muto on July 6, 2011 11:40 AM

• I'd generally consider collusion to be an absolute effort to rig the league. Loaning another team a player like Kershaw isn't collusion to me IF you're getting something in return for him.

  Quasi Muto on July 6, 2011 11:39 AM

• My instinct, and I could certainly be wrong, is: if there is no attempt to gain either (a) player value, whether future or present, or (b) cash in a trade or series of trades, it is probably collusion.

  Bunt Cake on July 6, 2011 8:08 AM

• Anyway, I suppose I'm just playing devil's advocate here. So back to the original question: does anything constitute collusion?

  Bunt Cake on July 6, 2011 6:50 AM

• Just for the record, I would very rarely veto a trade, but I think there is probably a line to be drawn at behaviors that put the rest of the league at such a strong disadvantage.

  Bunt Cake on July 6, 2011 6:49 AM

• "facex"? Guess it's early. Should be "faced."

  Bunt Cake on July 6, 2011 6:49 AM

• Is that a desirable behavior? I think it is not. Regardless of the risk facex by the loaning team, the other eight teams are at a distinct disadvantage.

  Bunt Cake on July 6, 2011 6:45 AM

• Collusion is difficult to define, but look at the logical extension of that scenario: two owners agree to sending each other their best players in alternating years, essentially doubling their team strength every other year.

  Bunt Cake on July 6, 2011 6:42 AM

• Just out of curiosity, what would you guys consider to be collusion, if that type of trade is not collusion?

  Bunt Cake on July 6, 2011 6:39 AM

• By the way, was at the Braves-Brewers AA affiliates game over the weekend. The Braves RF has an absolutely ridiculous arm. Jeff Francouer like, even

  Quasi Muto on July 5, 2011 3:29 PM

• Grudge brought something to my attention: offseason trades don't start until after arb voting, meaning the player/s to be returned could get voted off and would therefore be un-returnable. I guess it's a risk you'd have to take.

  Plakata on July 5, 2011 2:51 PM

• I've got no issue with it, since you're risking him not sending Kershaw back to you. It kind of "is" collusion in a literal sense, but since you're profiting from the trade, I don't see an issue. If you sent Duffy back then it would be a different story.

  Quasi Muto on July 5, 2011 2:03 PM

• An example might be: I trade Kershaw to Ligers so that he can catch up with Ump. Ligers sends me Daniel Duffy in the trade. At the start of the offseason, he trades Kershaw back to me, and I keep Duffy.

  Plakata on July 5, 2011 1:41 PM

• The team receiving his players back, keeps some or all of the players originally received in the trade, essentially as a cost for loaning out the player/players.

  Plakata on July 5, 2011 1:39 PM

• What do folks think about loan-type trades, ostensibly executed so that one team could make a run at the title? Teams trade players, but one team agrees to return the player/s at the conclusion of the season.

  Plakata on July 5, 2011 1:37 PM

• I didn't even really think about the budget, I'm just not stoked with most of the name brand players' prices. I try to bargain shop, and end up not spending any real amounts of money. Beltran is still 0.50$!

  Quasi Muto on July 5, 2011 4:22 AM

• Awesome work taking down picksix yesterday! Hadn't looked at your lineup yet but awesome that you did it on a $31.25 budget. Winning with the $3 minimum should be added as an achievement.

  Montgomery Biscuits on July 5, 2011 12:22 AM

• Err, all 3$ lineups, not 6$.

  Quasi Muto on July 4, 2011 10:52 PM

• I'm thinking now that I've won with a 31.25$ lineup, I'm going to try to do a 6$ lineup every day.

  Quasi Muto on July 4, 2011 8:51 PM

• Not sure if it was the first win from our league or not. I've gotten some good feedback on it so far, I'm toying with ideas on how to improve it right now.

  Quasi Muto on July 4, 2011 3:40 PM

• "from," not "in from." Haven't had a chance to read the paper yet, sorry. I hope to get to it this week. Any interesting feedback yet?

  Plakata on July 4, 2011 2:03 PM

• Grudge, awesome work yesterday in picksix!! That's the first victory in from our league, right?

  Plakata on July 4, 2011 2:01 PM

• Everyone's Grudge's trading block has been updated!

  Quasi Muto on July 4, 2011 10:25 AM

• Everyone's Grudge's trading block has been updated!

  Quasi Muto on July 3, 2011 9:48 AM

Previous 50 messages | Next 50 messages