S69 Town Hall #6: Trade Partners

[garbageman]

Rules: 1 point if you give thoughtful answers, which I will award after the timer ends for responses. The timer ends for responses at the moment the corresponding week's Sim is run.

Note: Use approximately 5 sentences as your bare minimum for 1 point. If you write 3 long, complex sentences, you'll still get a point. If you write 5 3 word sentences, you will not get a point. Don't @ me.

What do you like in a trade talk? What things have other GMs done that make you more or less likely to engage in a talk with them in the future? Without naming names (or do, IDGAF), what makes certain trade partners harder or easier to deal with?

[Mike Lowry]

I'm pretty straight forward.
My trade block consistently says exactly what I'm trying to do.
I like to trade with people who have something in mind and offer a deal that makes sense.
They looked at my block or they looked at my roster.
They want somebody I have, and they offer value in return.
Most of my deals get done in less than five responses.
I hate the guys that haggle over insignificant bullshit!

Win now player for prospect - I've been on both ends:
"Oh, but my prospect is going to be better than your win now player in five seasons"
Bitch GET OUT my DM!!

Big contracts taught me the most about this game.
If you're in win now mode, your players have to be worth the big contracts.
If they're not, it's worth paying to get them off your payroll.
Ten points ain't shit to dump 100 mil contract!

I hate when <expletive deleted> act like they're doing me a favor offering a declining player who ain't worth the contract after they held him for three seasons penny pinchin.
Shit or get off the pot!

Shout out to Kavarga, Xist, LazyTitan, Greeple, NickMalone, GarbageMan, and Mamba it mostly always makes immediate sense when they make an offer.
Even when we don't make the deal, it's a good deal, and I just don't want that specifically at the time.
Easy call.
No Date Rape

And I almost forgot, the REAL Fucc Niggas are the ones who don't respond to my offers at all.
Catch Yo Bitch Ass in the Streets - Watch

[BigDaddyd8720]

I’m still new to trade talks and haven’t had much communication in them. But I will say in the few trade talks I have been a part of, the GMs have been very straightforward. It’s been annoying in fantasy leagues where you go back and forth and then just get a “nah” from somebody or they clearly are asking for a top player and offering scraps. I’m hoping that I can learn more about how to value players/assets in this league so I can become a better trade partner.

Also, if anybody has any advice, I’m all ears. Still learning the ropes and want to do all I can to be a reason this league is fun


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[greepleairport]

Trading is the lifeblood of this league. If you ain't tradin? You ain't playin!

That being said, I love a bad trade negotiation as much as I love a good one. Sometimes you value trades completely differently than your trade partner...and I think that's okay! You do or don't get a deal done, but you have a better idea where that guy stands.

My little corner of the sim verse is gman and mamba. Gman brought us both into the league within weeks (days? hours?) of each other. I haven't done a ton of deals with either one, but when we do lock in a deal, I know the other party is happy with the return. Am I getting hosed because they're both extremely Fryeing good???

No!

Because I want the deal and who gives a Frye?!

I've had extremely easy negotations with nick malone, k-100 (even though I have to hate his guts on fake principle), JNR and 78. If I start a negotiation with these fools, I know we're going to agree or part ways quickly. If I'm looking to trade with AB or RPF, I know that if we are able to get it done, it will be good...but I also know i'm in for the long haul to find the middle ground.

I've had some great negotiations with EazyP but we never got anything done. We got close on a Delmar for Genaro Montoya / Dorian Whitley deal, but it never came to fruition. Good for him, bad for me lol. But I did get a good return on Delmar from gman. I just slowly squandered that deal in a series of fun trades but long term missteps. It happens.

Dont be afraid to get hosed. Get excited to learn what's good and what isn't. Sometimes trial and error is the best way to go.

[LazyTitanSmash]

Teams in the tax are my favorite to trade with. I think I undervalue points (especially now that I am facing my first serious tax), so trading with people that want points works well.

My next favorite group to trade with are people at the bottom of the standing. They generally have younger players, rookies and untapped potential. They are also less attached, since they haven’t been winning with those players.

I haven’t made any movement on my purple pot players and I don’t plan to. So I’m generally looking for that second tier player, there are alot of them ( I mean just about everyone’s got one) so the price is normally right.

Right now I’m looking for a good second tier player with an expiring contract (because they should be cheaper.)

[Black Superman]

My favorite people to trade with are people who are willing to negotiate or willing to at least give some type of feedback. It helps to know how to deal with them in the future. Some people don't say anything or will just say no without a reasoning. It makes it tough to know what they value, how they think, etc.... Without this knowledge, it makes it tough to know how to approach them in trade talks in the future.

I do typically try and trade with people I've traded with before because of that feedback. I definitely tend to trade with people I've already traded with. And I tend to trade with people who are willing to trade. Some owners aren't big in the trade game and I usually leave them be. Especially a certain owner who likes to devalue your player even though they're tempting to trade for them lol. The logic is..... Strong with that guy.

If you and I have ever traded in the past, then know I appreciate you. And if you ever feel like I ripped you off in a trade, DON'T. Because Gman and mamba can attest I ALWAYS feel crappy about trades. I have to start coping with the idea of a trade not being even. Sometimes they may favor another team and that's okay. Which leads me into an advice pointer.

I think that's that one owner's issue. He's out to win every trade and it leads to awful trade offers. Get the piece you need and don't worry about the regret later.

[NickMalone77]

I’ve been in this game longer than the dirt we’ll get buried with one day and you learn by making the trade both for good and bad examples. Some trades work, some don’t, but you always learn something after the execution and experience.

It starts by following the team plan and building route you want to set for yourself going in. Both short term and long term timelines. You can hold onto your assets but they will depreciate in value over time. There also isn't a single contract in the league that can’t be traded. You may have to add a little bit more to get that contract off your books but you never know what one person may value over the other. Understand the assets you have and how they can be a value to you and a value to others in what they may want or be looking for in return. I never try to “win” a trade. I am just trying to look out for a trade that helps both sides when and if I offer something out.

Communication is key. Clearly. Always try to be timely with them if someone reaches out to you, just try to respond back within a 24 hour timeframe that way you’re not holding up the line of other possible trades you may have potentially lined or am working on. Do your research in terms of looking at what the person is offering or what you’re looking for across the league. Update your trade blocks if you’re actively buying or selling. I almost never use the points I earn throughout the season to train players. I almost exclusively use them for trading purposes knowing some teams may have a tax burden weighing them down.

There really isn’t anyone in the league that is bad to deal with but as others have already expressed in the comments previously, you generally know how the trade conversation is going to go within the first few minutes of getting in touch with someone. It could happen in 5 minutes if people are online and available to talk. Just be courteous with them and respectful and a deal will happen maybe not in that moment but down the road. Especially if they have a social media platform or messenger service the league is using at the time or is pretty responsive in the PM’s.

All that to say the door is always open if you want to talk trade, get feedback, or talk about life.

[MexicanMamba]

My most favorite thing that happens during trade talks is when people actually respond. Even if it's to tell me I'm full of shit, at least we have a place to start. It's obviously much easier to trade with folks who seem to have a similar eye for the talent as you do as well, since value will be close. And if you know we don't often see things exactly the same way, don't soft shoe in, just put your best foot forward and let's see what we can cook up. A pet peeve of mine in trading (made worse that know I'm occasionally guilty of this too): Only fishing. Meaning, you only want the other team to make the first offer. I don't mind a quick message to gauge general interest levels to deal at all, but once interest is established, please don't only wait for the other person to send an offer. And really, the time this is actually annoying is when you've asked about one of my players. Don't try to flip the responsibilities of choosing value on me when YOU want my guy. Drop your offer and let's chat.

In general though, I've had very few trade discussions that I have simply hated. In fact, I enjoy the engagement and conversation. Sometimes it leads to interesting conversation about the league as a whole, learning more about particular GMs, and just keeps things fun. I welcome all the conversation you want to have.

Dealings with Nate, Charlie, and Jon have been the smoothest for me. Not usually a ton of hemming/hawing and we can tell if there's middleground pretty quickly. Nick and I don't always see values the same, but those are interesting trade discussions. Doug and I don't always trade, but we've been part of our fair share of blockbusters over the seasons. Doug is easy to reach when he's interested, but, he will go strangely quiet when you send him something he's not feeling as much 🫣

Two guys I haven't made a lot of dealings with who I really do hope we get more opportunities to do so are Carlos and Josh. I respect the hell out of both guys, and I definitely trust that our ideas on value of players is pretty spot-on. However, I think why we rarely get opportunities to do big splash trades is that all of us are competing at the same time so often that we're more competing for players and wins, not in a place where we can swap a ton.

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[K-100]

I just want the talks to end as quickly as possible. Send your best offer in the first DM. Dont try to lowball me just to get talks "started". I dont care about the song and dance that comes with figuring out where the other GM is coming from and then trying to wring out every last drop of value I can out of the other guy. The back and forth with negotiations bore me so I quickly lose interest if the counteroffer is radically different and we have to start over. I like to trust my gut instinct so I'll know within a few seconds if I like the trade or not.

[pennpanther1]

I'm not the best at responding to trade offers in a timely manner so I feel like that is annoying to some people in the league and I need to get better at getting talks going. I'm still trying to assess what is valuable so I get shot down a lot at the beginning, but I enjoy haggling so it is not a big deal. I really enjoy when GMs explain their thought process and what they are trying to do. I learn a lot about their styles that way and can try to get better at forming my own deals. I think I have tended to hold onto to my talent a little too long sometimes so I need to get better at letting go when a good offer comes up. Like I said last time, I really enjoy talking about trades with garbageman because he is patient and lets me mull it over.

[garbageman]

I generally have a pretty good idea about what I'm looking for in a trade, and I pretty much know who has players or packages I would make an offer for, but I feel like not a lot of guys come to me based on my trade block whether I'm super specific with what I want or super general. Most of the time, when I put someone up on the block, people ask me what I want for a certain player. What I really want is an offer. I don't care if it's bad for me or needs tweaking, but if I had something that would make sense, I probably would've already asked you about it. And while generally I have a pretty good idea about what I'm looking for in a trade, if I say I could go either way (either competing or selling), that's the best time to hit me up with your ideas because who knows what I will accept.

I do like prompt responses...even if it's just acknowledgement that you've seen the offer and are thinking it over, but time is kind of important. If I make an offer for a win now expiring player at day 60 and offer X amount of points, it's going to be less valuable to me to offer the same amount of points at trade deadline because that's 2 months less usage I get out of the player.

My biggest pet peeve is GMs who don't respond back to you or GMs who don't ever leave their tree, which I think is pretty obvious why that sucks, and I like trading with GMs who are putting in effort because you get better deals if someone's trading in the interest of trying to be good at this game (either now or later) than just because trading is fun.

[Xist2Inspire]

I love it when trade talks are just that, "talks." Even if a trade doesn't get done, just having friendly conversation and discussion around the kind of stuff you're actually willing to accept (because nobody ever has a clear idea of exactly what they want, they have an ideal return in mind that they know they probably won't get and work backwards from that) or your future plans goes a long way towards me hitting you up again. I almost never make/made trades with Gman and Syndicate, but we always have/had good talks about the direction of the league, plans for our teams, the value of certain players, etc. A short response (or no response) is generally a mood killer for me most of the time.

Besides, actually talking with trade partners has benefits beyond just building relationships with other GMs. If you pay attention, you can really get a sense for who and what's valuable in the league, and maybe help someone out along the way. I know I've dropped plenty of hints or recommendations that probably ended up leading to trades down the line for other GMs over the years. And it's also worked in reverse, I don't often do trades with Mamba, but we talk a lot, and he's looped me into a few deals here and there.

[greepleairport]

+1 to @Xist2Inspire @pennpanther1 @@K-100 @MexicanMamba @NickMalone77 @Black Superman @LazyTitanSmash @greepleairport @BigDaddyd8720 @Mike Lowry

+2 to @garbageman