The high transaction costs of trading in fantasy baseball

[tecmobowl12]

If I were an undergrad again that's what my economics thesis would be about.

There will never be a trade in my fantasy baseball league because there will never be a fair trade offer. Every trade proposal sent my way is so dumb I can't figure out if my buddy is just being an ass (if that's the case then no problem ) or has truly lost his mind

Obviously this isn't a groundbreaking complaint here, and I'm definitely not writing this post to complain about my league. But I think that trading players in fantasy baseball provides a good example of a situation where the transaction costs are so high that it suffocates the market. The costs that come to my mind are:

1. draft - people have a hard time disregarding draft position no matter how hard they try no matter how late in the season
2. staring at your roster so long you become dilusional about how great they are - this is my main problem
3. generally not understanding fantasy baseball - i.e. failing to see how your team would benefit from a certain trade even when it's obvious - i bet the very experienced leagues trade a lot more than those leagues comprised of competive novices
4. lack of interest in real baseball - and thus basing their trade decisions solely on things like yahoo o-rankings and the name of a player

any other explanations for this amazing phenomena???

[BillyHallDisciple]

I'm guilty of #2. Many people are.

[shawngee03]

i also have the greatest fantasy team ever assembled, tehrefore making it illogical to trade...jk

but i do find it curious why expert leagues talk about trades happening all teh time and the league im in w my buddies almost never has trades.

[AcidRock23]

LOL, we have the same problem. "there are no trades" "the offer you sent suxx" etc. #2 appears to be the most likely cause.

[jake_harv88]

If I were an undergrad again that's what my economics thesis would be about.

There will never be a trade in my fantasy baseball league because there will never be a fair trade offer. Every trade proposal sent my way is so dumb I can't figure out if my buddy is just being an ass (if that's the case then no problem ) or has truly lost his mind

Obviously this isn't a groundbreaking complaint here, and I'm definitely not writing this post to complain about my league. But I think that trading players in fantasy baseball provides a good example of a situation where the transaction costs are so high that it suffocates the market. The costs that come to my mind are:

1. draft - people have a hard time disregarding draft position no matter how hard they try no matter how late in the season
2. staring at your roster so long you become dilusional about how great they are - this is my main problem
3. generally not understanding fantasy baseball - i.e. failing to see how your team would benefit from a certain trade even when it's obvious - i bet the very experienced leagues trade a lot more than those leagues comprised of competive novices
4. lack of interest in real baseball - and thus basing their trade decisions solely on things like yahoo o-rankings and the name of a player

any other explanations for this amazing phenomena???

This was actually one of the more interesting posts i've read in a while. Numbers 1 and 2 are definately the biggest problems people have. Draft position always gets brought up in my league as an argument for or against a trade and seriously it has ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with a players actual value, just simply how the market gaged his value at the time. Also i definately stare at my roster too much and start thinking things like oh yeah Ted Lily is gonna be Cy Young this year. Possible? Probably not.

[pokeyjoe]

Everyone thinks their players are the best. That's just the way it is.

[Ender]

Our 14 team league generally has 10-15 trades a year and about 60% of them are good for both teams. Most of them are trades for needs like I traded Escobar, O. Hudson, ARam for Carlos Lee and Bill Hall. I had extra pitching and a lot of depth and I wanted more top end talent and to free up a roster slot so I can grab Braun when he comes up with my #1 waiver.

I have noticed a lot of people get tied to o-rank and draft results though. Constantly hear people say a trade isn't good because its a 5th round guy for a 7th round guy etc.

[Snakes Gould]

i disagree...several years ago, when my league (which still has its same core 6-8 members) used to make trades all the time. every week there would be 3-4 trades. the more competitive our leagues got the better managers/owners/gms whatever you want to call it, all got better. whether everyone got more knowledgable when it comes to trades, i dont know, but ive noticed theres been FAR less trades. one theory i came across is this:

many of the same people either win our leagues, or finish very high, and most people know who these 2-3 people are. they acknowledge that the knowledge of these guys (me included ) are higher than theirs. they're always hesistant to pull a trade with this small group of people because they have seem to think we know something they might not.

[pokerplaya]

My keeper league probably sees between 10-20 trades in a given year. I think that is about right.

[chipper]

they're always hesistant to pull a trade with this small group of people because they have seem to think we know something they might not.

Yup. Right there is the biggest reason a lot of trades don't happen.
People are scared that they're getting ripped off even when it's a fair deal or even to their advantage. Every year I try overpaying to one of the lower ranked teams, just because I've picked up a lot of guys along the way, and don't mind trading a few pretty good guys for one awesome one (esspecially if the guy I'm trading won't be a factor in the end).