From the League Office: Trades

When MLB Pro was formed way back when, the rules described MLB Pro as a, “realistic Out of the Park Baseball (OOTP) league” where decisions one of the clear factors on any decision would be realism.

Blending “realism” with the understanding that OOTP is in fact a game creates some gaps in reality. The first rule under trades is:

No more than ten players may be included by a team in a single trade.

MLB Pro League Constitution

I was not part of MLB Pro at the beginning. I do not know the intent behind the original creator of the league when it came to the above rule.

For starters, there are “workarounds” that have been exposed. For starters, “a single trade” can easily be made into two trades. It is something we have seen, something that does not make me particularly happy, but it’s been within the rules. Realistic though? No, not really.

On December 16th, I was asked about this rule. I stated the following in chat:

I was approached by a GM tonight with a question about the number of players who can be involved in a trade.We do have a 10 player max per side in any given trade. This is our attempt at realism. While often I have real data with numbers backing things up, but in this instance I do not. Rather though, I think we all could agree that trades of even 6+ players are rare, let alone 6-10 or those seeking 10+ here. We have no trade committee, we are not looking to veto trades or to come up reasons to grow stricter with what is allowed. We just want to remind people, that there are ways for deals to get done with fewer than 10 players moving. As far as the other workarounds or methods of sidestepping the rules and this one specifically. Yes, we see them, we know them…and while we’re not going to go out of our way to create more rules to stop these, we just want it to be said again that I think there are better ways than to be seeking 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 players in a deal. If that’s what it is going to take, I would advise you to be in contact with the @anonymous_gm in an attempt to market your players to get other offers on the books, offers of quality, but decreasing the quantity to reasonable levels.

Message posted to Slack on December 16th

Since then, we have had another 10 for 1 trade be completed. While this trade is 100% within the rules and will 100% be processed, it was the tipping point for me when it came to not having data. Using Baseball-Reference’s Transaction Data along with our message board, I have compiled some of the following data.

ACCORDING TO BASEBALL-REFERENCES…
-Since January 1st, there were 134 trades (two-team trades) posted on the transaction page. Of those 134, 93 (69%) involved a total of 2 or fewer TOTAL PLAYERS being traded.
-Of the 42 trades that included a total number of three or more players being traded, only 10 trades were made where five or more total players were involved. Of those 10 trades, only two (Zach Greinke and cash for Seth Beet, J.B. Bukauskas, Corbin Martin, and Josh Rojas — and — Dylan Bundy for Kyle Bradish, Kyle Brnovich, Isaac Mattson, and Zech Peek) were trades of four or more players in return for a single player.
-Only two trades involved more than five total players, both of those involved seven players, they included a five-for-two and a four-for-three trade.

MLB PRO TRADE DATA
-Since the 2019 season was completed, MLB Pro has had ten trades involving five or more players, seven of which have seen a single side trade six or more players.
-During the month of July in the 2019 MLB Pro season, MLB Pro had 14 trades where one side gave up four or more players.
-During the month of July in the 2019 MLB Pro season, MLB Pro had seven trades where seven or more total players were involved.
(April 1 to June 30) During this time, MLB Pro had 12 trades where a single side gave up four or more players. Of those 12, eight involved a single team giving up five or more players.
(April 1 to June 30) During this time, MLB Pro had 15 trades where a total of five or more players were traded.
-(January 1 to March 31) During this time, MLB Pro had six trades where a single side gave up four or more players.

As the data shows, the frequency of trades involving large number of players in MLB Pro FAR EXCEEDS the real-life frequency.


Having said all that, the following couple of points come to mind:

  1. Is this a “concern/problem”?
  2. If it is a “concern/problem” – is there a solution?

I am very curious to hear what others have to say on the matter. For now, I’ll leave it at that. Let me know your thoughts!

[MLB Trades via Baseball References]

Total PlayersPlayers From Team 1Players From Team 2Other Trade AssetsTrade
752CashThe New York Mets traded Jarred Kelenic (minors), Gerson Bautista, Jay Bruce, Justin Dunn and Anthony Swarzak to the Seattle Mariners for Robinson Cano, Edwin Diaz and cash.
734CashThe Cincinnati Reds traded Jeter Downs (minors), Josiah Gray (minors) and Homer Bailey to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Kyle Farmer, Matt Kemp, Yasiel Puig, Alex Wood and cash.
523The Houston Astros traded Cody Bohanek (minors) and J.D. Davis to the New York Mets for Ross Adolph (minors), Scott Manea (minors) and Luis Santana (minors).
532The Seattle Mariners traded Michael Plassmeyer (minors), Guillermo Heredia and Mike Zunino to the Tampa Bay Rays for Jake Fraley and Mallex Smith.
523The Seattle Mariners traded Roenis Elias and Hunter Strickland to the Washington Nationals for Elvis Alvarado (minors), Aaron Fletcher (minors) and Taylor Guilbeau.
514The Baltimore Orioles traded Dylan Bundy to the Los Angeles Angels for Kyle Bradish (minors), Kyle Brnovich (minors), Isaac Mattson (minors) and Zach Peek (minors).
532The Cleveland Indians traded Dante Mendoza (minors), Tahnaj Thomas (minors) and Erik Gonzalez to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Jordan Luplow and Max Moroff.
523The Milwaukee Brewers traded Zach Davies and Trent Grisham to the San Diego Padres for Eric Lauer, Luis Urias and player to be named.
514CashThe Arizona Diamondbacks traded Zack Greinke and cash to the Houston Astros for Seth Beer (minors), J.B. Bukauskas (minors), Corbin Martin and Josh Rojas.
523The Philadelphia Phillies traded J.P. Crawford and Carlos Santana to the Seattle Mariners for Juan Nicasio, James Pazos and Jean Segura.
431The Miami Marlins traded Chris Vallimont (minors), Sergio Romo and player to be named to the Minnesota Twins for Lewin Diaz (minors).
413International Signing Bonus MoneyThe Miami Marlins traded J.T. Realmuto to the Philadelphia Phillies for Sixto Sanchez (minors), Will Stewart (minors), Jorge Alfaro and international bonus slot money.
422The Miami Marlins traded Nick Anderson and Trevor Richards to the Tampa Bay Rays for Jesus Sanchez (minors) and Ryne Stanek.
413The Houston Astros traded Derek Fisher to the Toronto Blue Jays for Cal Stevenson (minors), Joe Biagini and Aaron Sanchez.
431The Minnesota Twins traded Prelander Berroa (minors), Kai-Wei Teng (minors) and Jaylin Davis to the San Francisco Giants for Sam Dyson.
431The New York Yankees traded Dom Thompson-Williams (minors), Justus Sheffield and Erik Swanson to the Seattle Mariners for James Paxton.
422The San Diego Padres traded Xavier Edwards (minors) and Hunter Renfroe to the Tampa Bay Rays for Jake Cronenworth (minors) and Tommy Pham.
413The Cleveland Indians traded Yan Gomes to the Washington Nationals for a player to be named later, Daniel Johnson (minors) and Jefry Rodriguez. The Washington Nationals sent Andruw Monasterio (minors) (December 17, 2018) to the Cleveland Indians to complete the trade.
413The Milwaukee Brewers traded Keon Broxton to the New York Mets for Adam Hill (minors), Felix Valerio (minors) and Bobby Wahl.
413Competitive Balance PickThe Arizona Diamondbacks traded Paul Goldschmidt to the St. Louis Cardinals for Andy Young (minors), Carson Kelly, Luke Weaver and 2019 competitive balance round B pick.
431The San Francisco Giants traded Juan De Paula (minors), Alen Hanson and Derek Law to the Toronto Blue Jays for Kevin Pillar.
321CashThe Chicago Cubs traded Alex Lange (minors) and Paul Richan (minors) to the Detroit Tigers for Nicholas Castellanos and cash.
321CashThe New York Mets traded Simeon Woods Richardson (minors) and Anthony Kay to the Toronto Blue Jays for Marcus Stroman and cash.
321CashThe Atlanta Braves traded Jesse Biddle and Arodys Vizcaino to the Seattle Mariners for Anthony Swarzak and cash.
321The Atlanta Braves traded Joey Wentz (minors) and Travis Demeritte to the Detroit Tigers for Shane Greene.
321The Atlanta Braves traded Tristan Beck (minors) and Dan Winkler to the San Francisco Giants for Mark Melancon.
312The Houston Astros traded Jake Marisnick to the New York Mets for Kenedy Corona (minors) and Blake Taylor (minors).
312The Houston Astros traded Max Stassi to the Los Angeles Angels for Rainier Rivas (minors) and Raider Uceta (minors).
312Competitive Balance PickThe Cincinnati Reds traded Shed Long and 2019 competitive balance round A pick to the New York Yankees for Reiver Sanmartin (minors) and Sonny Gray.
312YesThe Baltimore Orioles traded Andrew Cashner and cash to the Boston Red Sox for Elio Prado (minors) and Noelberth Romero (minors).
312Cash/INTL MoneyThe Chicago White Sox traded Nate Jones, cash and International bonus slot money to the Texas Rangers for Ray Castro (minors) and Joseph Jarneski (minors).
312YesThe Cleveland Indians traded Corey Kluber and cash to the Texas Rangers for Emmanuel Clase and Delino DeShields.
312International Signing Bonus MoneyThe Cleveland Indians traded Ruben Cardenas (minors) and international bonus slot money to the Tampa Bay Rays for Christian Arroyo and Hunter Wood.
321The Cleveland Indians traded Sam Haggerty and Walker Lockett to the New York Mets for Kevin Plawecki.
312The Milwaukee Brewers traded Domingo Santana to the Seattle Mariners for Noah Zavolas (minors) and Ben Gamel.
312The Milwaukee Brewers traded Mauricio Dubon to the San Francisco Giants for Ray Black and Drew Pomeranz.
312The Oakland Athletics traded Jurickson Profar to the San Diego Padres for a player to be named later and Austin Allen. The San Diego Padres sent Buddy Reed (minors) (December 12, 2019) to the Oakland Athletics to complete the trade.
312The Kansas City Royals traded Jake Diekman to the Oakland Athletics for Ismael Aquino (minors) and Dairon Blanco (minors).
321The Los Angeles Angels traded Will Wilson (minors) and Zack Cozart to the San Francisco Giants for a player to be named later. The San Francisco Giants sent Garrett Williams (minors) (December 12, 2019) to the Los Angeles Angels to complete the trade.
321Cash/INTL MoneyThe Los Angeles Dodgers traded Jeffry Abreu (minors) and Tony Cingrani to the St. Louis Cardinals for Jedd Gyorko, cash and international bonus slot money.
321CashThe Los Angeles Dodgers traded Ronny Brito (minors) and Andrew Sopko (minors) to the Toronto Blue Jays for Russell Martin and cash.
211The Chicago Cubs traded Carl Edwards Jr. to the San Diego Padres for Brad Wieck.
211The Chicago Cubs traded Drew Smyly and player to be named to the Texas Rangers for player to be named.
211The Chicago Cubs traded Jason Vosler (minors) to the San Diego Padres for Rowan Wick.
211The Chicago Cubs traded Martin Maldonado to the Houston Astros for Tony Kemp.
211The Chicago Cubs traded Mike Montgomery to the Kansas City Royals for Martin Maldonado.
211CashThe Chicago Cubs traded Tom Hatch (minors) to the Toronto Blue Jays for David Phelps and cash.
211The Chicago Cubs traded Tommy La Stella to the Los Angeles Angels for a player to be named later. The Los Angeles Angels sent Conor Lillis-White (minors) (December 13, 2018) to the Chicago Cubs to complete the trade.
211The Miami Marlins traded Brian Schales (minors) to the Minnesota Twins for Nick Anderson.
211The New York Mets traded Jason Vargas to the Philadelphia Phillies for Austin Bossart (minors).
211The Atlanta Braves traded Kolby Allard to the Texas Rangers for Chris Martin.
211The Boston Red Sox traded Esteban Quiroz (minors) to the San Diego Padres for Colten Brewer.
211The Boston Red Sox traded Sandy Leon to the Cleveland Indians for Adenys Bautista (minors).
211The Houston Astros traded Trent Thornton to the Toronto Blue Jays for Aledmys Diaz.
211The Houston Astros traded Tyler White to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Andre Scrubb (minors).
211The Tampa Bay Rays traded Nick Solak to the Texas Rangers for Peter Fairbanks.
211The Tampa Bay Rays traded Wilmer Font to the New York Mets for a player to be named later. The New York Mets sent Neraldo Catalina (minors) (May 13, 2019) to the Tampa Bay Rays to complete the trade.
211CashThe Cincinnati Reds traded Brian O’Grady to the Tampa Bay Rays for cash and a player to be named.
211CashThe Cincinnati Reds traded cash and a player to be named to the Tampa Bay Rays for Jose De Leon.
211CashThe Cincinnati Reds traded Connor Joe to the San Francisco Giants for Jordan Johnson (minors) and cash.
211The Cincinnati Reds traded Matt Wisler to the San Diego Padres for Diomar Lopez (minors).
211PTNBLThe Cincinnati Reds traded Scooter Gennett and cash to the San Francisco Giants for player to be named.
211The Cincinnati Reds traded Tanner Rainey to the Washington Nationals for Tanner Roark.
211CashThe Cincinnati Reds traded Tanner Roark and cash to the Oakland Athletics for Jameson Hannah (minors).
211CashThe Minnesota Twins traded Michael Reed to the San Francisco Giants for John Andreoli and cash.
211The Minnesota Twins traded Tyler Austin to the San Francisco Giants for Malique Ziegler (minors).
211CashThe Minnesota Twins traded Zack Granite to the Texas Rangers for Xavier Moore (minors) and cash.
211The Colorado Rockies traded Alfredo Garcia (minors) to the New York Yankees for Joe Harvey.
211The Colorado Rockies traded Hunter Stovall (minors) to the Philadelphia Phillies for James Pazos.
211The Colorado Rockies traded Mike Tauchman to the New York Yankees for Phillip Diehl.
211CashThe New York Yankees traded Juan Then (minors) to the Seattle Mariners for Edwin Encarnacion and cash.
211The New York Yankees traded Shed Long (minors) to the Seattle Mariners for Josh Stowers (minors).
211The New York Yankees traded Shed Long to the Seattle Mariners for Josh Stowers (minors).
211The San Diego Padres traded Alex Dickerson to the San Francisco Giants for Franklin Van Gurp (minors).
211CashThe San Diego Padres traded Clayton Richard and cash to the Toronto Blue Jays for Connor Panas (minors).
211The San Diego Padres traded Socrates Brito to the Toronto Blue Jays for Rodrigo Orozco (minors).
211The Seattle Mariners traded Grant Anderson (minors) to the Texas Rangers for Connor Sadzeck.
211The Seattle Mariners traded Jesus Ozoria (minors) to the San Francisco Giants for Tom Murphy.
211CashThe Seattle Mariners traded Nick Wells (minors) and cash to the Washington Nationals for Austin Adams.
211The Baltimore Orioles traded Jonathan Villar to the Miami Marlins for Easton Lucas (minors).
211The Baltimore Orioles traded Mike Wright to the Seattle Mariners for Ryne Ogren (minors).
211The Baltimore Orioles traded Mike Yastrzemski to the San Francisco Giants for Tyler Herb (minors).
211The Baltimore Orioles traded Yefry Ramirez to the Pittsburgh Pirates for a player to be named later. The Pittsburgh Pirates sent Patrick Dorrian (minors) (June 26, 2019) to the Baltimore Orioles to complete the trade.
211The Chicago White Sox traded Alex Call (minors) to the Cleveland Indians for Yonder Alonso.
211The Chicago White Sox traded Omar Narvaez to the Seattle Mariners for Alex Colome.
211The Chicago White Sox traded Steele Walker (minors) to the Texas Rangers for Nomar Mazara.
211International Signing Bonus MoneyThe Chicago White Sox traded Welington Castillo and international bonus slot money to the Texas Rangers for Jonah McReynolds (minors).
211International Signing Bonus MoneyThe Chicago White Sox traded Yordi Rosario (minors) and international bonus slot money to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Ivan Nova.
211The Cleveland Indians traded Gionti Turner (minors) to the Tampa Bay Rays for Chih-Wei Hu.
211The Cleveland Indians traded Ignacio Feliz (minors) to the San Diego Padres for Walker Lockett.
211The Cleveland Indians traded Jordan Milbrath (minors) to the Miami Marlins for Nick Wittgren.
211Future ConsiderationThe Milwaukee Brewers traded Adam Hill (minors) and future considerations to the Seattle Mariners for Omar Narvaez.
211The Milwaukee Brewers traded Chase Anderson to the Toronto Blue Jays for Chad Spanberger (minors).
211The Milwaukee Brewers traded Cody Ponce (minors) to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Jordan Lyles.
211The Milwaukee Brewers traded Erik Kratz to the San Francisco Giants for C.J. Hinojosa (minors).
211The Milwaukee Brewers traded Jesus Aguilar to the Tampa Bay Rays for Jake Faria.
211The Milwaukee Brewers traded Sal Biasi (minors) to the Seattle Mariners for David Freitas.
211Cash/INTL MoneyThe Oakland Athletics traded Jesus Lopez (minors) and international bonus slot money to the Toronto Blue Jays for Kendrys Morales and cash.
211The Toronto Blue Jays traded Daniel Hudson to the Washington Nationals for Kyle Johnston (minors).
211The Toronto Blue Jays traded Eric Sogard to the Tampa Bay Rays for players to be named later. The Tampa Bay Rays sent Curtis Taylor (minors) (September 1, 2019) and Edisson Gonzalez (minors) (September 1, 2019) to the Toronto Blue Jays to complete the trade.
211The Kansas City Royals traded Homer Bailey to the Oakland Athletics for Kevin Merrell (minors).
211The Los Angeles Angels traded Daniel Ozoria (minors) to the Minnesota Twins for John Curtiss.
211The Los Angeles Angels traded Jose Alvarez to the Philadelphia Phillies for Luis Garcia.
211The Los Angeles Angels traded Tyler Stevens (minors) to the Miami Marlins for Dillon Peters.
211The Los Angeles Angels traded Williams Jerez to the San Francisco Giants for Chris Stratton.
211The Pittsburgh Pirates traded Tanner Anderson to the Oakland Athletics for a player to be named later. The Oakland Athletics sent Wilkin Ramos (minors) (December 1, 2018) to the Pittsburgh Pirates to complete the trade.
211The Los Angeles Dodgers traded Caleb Sampen (minors) to the Tampa Bay Rays for Jaime Schultz.
211The Los Angeles Dodgers traded Daniel Castro to the Seattle Mariners for Kristopher Negron.
211The Los Angeles Dodgers traded Nathan Witt (minors) to the Tampa Bay Rays for Casey Sadler.
211The Los Angeles Dodgers traded Niko Hulsizer (minors) to the Tampa Bay Rays for Adam Kolarek.
211CashThe Los Angeles Dodgers traded Tim Locastro to the New York Yankees for Drew Finley (minors) and cash.
211The St. Louis Cardinals traded Patrick Wisdom to the Texas Rangers for Drew Robinson.
211CashThe Arizona Diamondbacks traded cash and Ronald Roman (minors) to the New York Yankees for Tim Locastro.
211The Arizona Diamondbacks traded Jazz Chisholm (minors) to the Miami Marlins for Zac Gallen.
211CashThe Arizona Diamondbacks traded Jose Caballero (minors) to the Seattle Mariners for Mike Leake and cash.
211International Signing Bonus MoneyThe Arizona Diamondbacks traded Marcus Wilson (minors) to the Boston Red Sox for Blake Swihart and international bonus slot money.
211CashThe San Francisco Giants traded Erik Kratz and cash to the Tampa Bay Rays for player to be named or cash.
211International Signing Bonus MoneyThe Philadelphia Phillies traded international bonus slot money and player to be named to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Corey Dickerson.
211CashThe Philadelphia Phillies traded Jake Scheiner (minors) to the Seattle Mariners for Jay Bruce and cash.
110CashThe Chicago Cubs traded cash to the San Francisco Giants for Derek Holland and cash.
110PTNBL/CashThe Chicago Cubs traded player to be named or cash to the New York Yankees for Ronald Torreyes.
110PTNBL/CashThe Tampa Bay Rays traded Ian Gibaut to the Texas Rangers for player to be named or cash.
101International Signing Bonus MoneyThe Cincinnati Reds traded international bonus slot money to the San Diego Padres for Travis Jankowski.
110Future ConsiderationThe New York Yankees traded Nestor Cortes Jr. to the Seattle Mariners for future considerations.
110PTNBL/CashThe New York Yankees traded player to be named or cash to the Oakland Athletics for Kendrys Morales.
101International Signing Bonus MoneyThe Baltimore Orioles traded international bonus slot money to the New York Mets for Keon Broxton.
101International Signing Bonus MoneyThe Baltimore Orioles traded international bonus slot money to the Philadelphia Phillies for Drew Jackson.
101International Signing Bonus MoneyThe Baltimore Orioles traded international bonus slot money to the Philadelphia Phillies for Tom Eshelman.
101International Signing Bonus MoneyThe Baltimore Orioles traded international bonus slot money to the Toronto Blue Jays for Dwight Smith Jr..
110International Signing Bonus MoneyThe Cleveland Indians traded international bonus slot money to the San Diego Padres for Phil Maton.
110International Signing Bonus MoneyThe Cleveland Indians traded international bonus slot money to the Tampa Bay Rays for Andrew Velazquez.
110PTNBL/CashThe Cleveland Indians traded Tim Federowicz to the Texas Rangers for player to be named or cash.
101Competitive Balance PickThe Milwaukee Brewers traded 2019 competitive balance pick. to the Texas Rangers for Alex Claudio.
110PTNBL/CashThe Milwaukee Brewers traded Jake Petricka to the Texas Rangers for player to be named or cash.
0Three-Team TradeThree-Team TradeAs part of a 3-team trade: The Oakland Athletics sent Eli White (minors) and international bonus slot money to the Texas Rangers. The Oakland Athletics sent Emilio Pagan and 2019 competitive balance round B pick to the Tampa Bay Rays. The Texas Rangers sent Jurickson Profar to the Oakland Athletics. The Texas Rangers sent Rollie Lacy (minors) to the Tampa Bay Rays. The Tampa Bay Rays sent Yoel Espinal (minors), Kyle Bird and Brock Burke to the Texas Rangers.
0Three-Team TradeThree-Team TradeAs part of a 3-team trade: The San Diego Padres sent Victor Nova (minors), Logan Allen and Franmil Reyes to the Cleveland Indians. The Cleveland Indians sent Trevor Bauer to the Cincinnati Reds. The Cincinnati Reds sent Taylor Trammell (minors) to the San Diego Padres. The Cincinnati Reds sent Scott Moss (minors) and Yasiel Puig to the Cleveland Indians.
0Three-Team TradeThree-Team TradeAs part of a 3-team trade: The Tampa Bay Rays sent cash to the Seattle Mariners. The Tampa Bay Rays sent Jake Bauers to the Cleveland Indians. The Seattle Mariners sent Carlos Santana and cash to the Cleveland Indians. The Cleveland Indians sent Yandy Diaz and Cole Sulser to the Tampa Bay Rays. The Cleveland Indians sent Edwin Encarnacion and 2019 competitive balance pick to the Seattle Mariners.