Pirates & Blue Jays swap young money

[Colby]

Call me Mr. Flintstone...

Blue Jays send to Pirates
OF Jackson, Austin, $0.5m (P-n/a)
5-18 TOR (from ARZ)

Pirates send to Blue Jays
OF Buck, Travis, $0.5m (2011)
P Morton, Charlie, $0.5m (P-2010)
P Frasor, Jason, $1m (2011)
4-25 PIT (from CIN from LAA)
4-28 PIT (from CIN from CHW from CIN from MIL)
$5.5m in 2010

I am doing this deal to increase the talent level of my franchise and secure a better third outfielder when it is all said and done going into 2011.  Morton has a lot of promise, but isn't making the starting rotation unless there is an injury.  The cash, lowering of the picks, and Frasor are all dealt in order to obtain Jackson.

[Dan Wood]

What is the money for? So far we have established that you can send money for picks, or with picks to cover the bonus, or with contracts. The bonuses for the picks that are going to Toronto will not cost the money that is being sent. The money here cannot exceed more than 3 mil

[Daniel]

First of all 

Regarding the money, think of it like the money is for the 5th rounder I'm giving. Everything else is for Jackson. We can attach 2m to the contracts I'm receiving and the remaining 3.5 for the pick if you would rather see it that way. Would that be ok?

[Colby]

First of all 

Regarding the money, think of it like the money is for the 5th rounder I'm giving. Everything else is for Jackson. We can attach 2m to the contracts I'm receiving and the remaining 3.5 for the pick if you would rather see it that way. Would that be ok?

It should be okay... the RC has never formally passed anything on how money is balanced in trades.  It is pretty much in the TC's court to see if it is legitimate for the trade or not.

[Dan Wood]

Just to voice my opinion as the Commish, I disagree with this trade. Adding 5.5 million to this trade is not needed, and sets a dangerous precedent. The Pirates are sending 2 mil in contracts and 2 draft picks that should receive each .5 mil in bonuses. That equals up to 3 mil.

I will go back to the Hanley Ramirez trade, that one of the main obstacles with that trade was that money was being sent for nothing. This is the same situation. And if this league turns into a league where you can haphazardly send money from one team to another, I will tender my resignation as commissioner post haste. And that is not a threat to stop this trade from going through. I did not sign up for a league like that. The trade without the money is fair. If you think sending money is all well and good now, wait until teams with 150-200 million dollar payrolls start doing it, and then 28 owners start complaining. It is the quickest way to alienate people. IMHO.

[Daniel]

I have no problem with renegotiating this deal, Dan. However I don't understand why it was ok on the miguel cabrera trade to send 7m in 2011 and 2012 for 4 mid-round draft picks and not ok to send 5.5m. I think we need to clear up the money trading rules before most of these recent trades are processed.

[Dan Wood]

Also...

"Regarding the money, think of it like the money is for the 5th rounder I'm giving. Everything else is for Jackson. We can attach 2m to the contracts I'm receiving and the remaining 3.5 for the pick if you would rather see it that way. Would that be ok?"

You are sending a pick and receiving two in return. Colby can pay for the pick he is receiving from you, yes that is correct, but he is also sending 2 picks to you, therefore that cancels out paying for the pick. Especially since that pick is lower than the picks that are being sent. Therefore the Pirates would be paying 3.5 million to drop in the draft. That makes very little sense from an organizational standpoint. I would like others to chime in on this - the TC, the RC. I also think the time has come to make an definitive ruling on sending cash. Again, IMHO.

[Dan Wood]

I have no problem with renegotiating this deal, Dan. However I don't understand why it was ok on the miguel cabrera trade to send 7m in 2011 and 2012 for 4 mid-round draft picks and not ok to send 5.5m. I think we need to clear up the money trading rules before most of these recent trades are processed.

Like I said in my post for that particular trade, it is up to the TC to decide if those picks were worth it. It is completely legal to pay for picks. Were those picks worth 14 mil - IMO, no they weren't, but that was left up to the TC since the Red Sox were paying for the picks. In this situation, Colby isn't paying for picks, since he is sending lower picks back. That is the difference. And I agree with you, that we need a ruling on sending cash, because the way it is set up, I don't agree with it.

[KDoc09]

I have no problem with sending money to pay players salaries and that includes draft choices. But I do have a problem with all this money beyond committed salaries changing hands. I didn't sign up to be in a league where players are sold, regardless of what else is received in return. If the money is there to pay received draft choices and pick up salary of traded players that's one thing, but more and more over the last few weeks, additional monies have begun to change hands and I think before we go any further this needs to be figured out and set in stone. My opinion... you shouldn't be able to receive money in a trade beyond what you are taking on in salary. That's what I think it should be and until we resolve this issue, I cannot approve any deals where cash changes hands... It's becoming more and more prevalent over the last few weeks and it will only continue to escalate. That's my opinion, and I have been very consistent in my opinion since this became an issue.

[Dan Wood]

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