[USML Announce] I'm Out

Wed Jul 31 09:24:15 EDT 2013

Jeffrey;  I am sorry you feel the way you do regarding this year's league race.  Here is how I picture Brad Lee spinning it; 

Item: Brats finally decide to cash it for the 2013 campaign by trading away star-studded lineup including Miggy, Shields, Mauer, Cespedes and Anibal Sanchez

Winners: Red Hots, Bombers, Brats.  Red Hots and Bombers grab impactful stars for the heated stretch run while Brats stockpile five and possibly six (Cody Allen) low-priced stars for the future.

Loser:  Berliners.  Once singularly-focused owner intent on ruthlessly grabbing league titles caught flat-footed as trade deadline nears, wrongly assuming that the 800-lb gorilla in the room 30 games out of 1st place would go silently into the night, not bothering to trade any of its high-priced stars.

Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2013 18:02:37 -0500
From: rerobbins at itinker.net
To: announce at usml.net
Subject: Re: [USML Announce] I'm Out

Bring it Bad Lee Brad Lee.

On Tue, Jul 30, 2013 at 5:59 PM, Brad Jansen <bljansen at gmail.com> wrote:

Breathe deeply and relax. Give me a chance to pass you. You will feel better about yourself and so will I.  

On Tue, Jul 30, 2013 at 5:43 PM, Richard Robbins <rerobbins at itinker.net> wrote:

I wish I was as confident as others that this race is done.  Things are so tight that I really think this is still too close to call.  The gains I made are offset by stats of players I need to bench and I suspect, stolen bases that I've given up.  I'm also likely down in wins.  I hope that all who claim it's over are right, but I'm not among them.  Fiddle with the onroto projection toys, look at the categories, allow for a twist of fate here or there, a failure by Peralta to appeal his suspension, who knows -- I sure don't.  I'm not going to argue about the current year delta in value traded vs value received -- that's the nature of these deals.  But when I put pencil to paper in the context of this year's race, I'm not sure the needle has been moved as much as others think.

On Tue, Jul 30, 2013 at 5:34 PM, JOHN FRUIT <jtfruit at msn.com> wrote:

my first reaction is: don't teams that find themselves out of contention try to maximize their chances for following years by dumping?  And yes, it disrupted the balance of power in the league, I'm not unmindful of that-  but since when were dump deals discouraged for sake of league parity?  All the so-called legitimate keepers-  I beg to differ- all very marginal at best and least not Ibanez, who anybody could have for $3 this year with full knowledge he has hit 20 HR's a year for 15 years.  Mauer at $16 Y3?....pass, unless you don't mind the woeful runs, HRs and RBIs total.  Sanchez at $20?  Probably marginal keeper value but I got Cobb $10 cheaper and so was willing to roll the dice.  Infante at $6?  I was debating keeping him last year at that salary, he's like 36 years old and always hurt.  Maybe next year he goes for $8 or something if healthy and with a starting job, both a stretch. But, I digress.....

From: jwinick at harriswinick.com
To: announce at usml.net
Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2013 13:26:24 -0500
Subject: [USML Announce] I'm Out 

Guys,

I’ve spent 48 hours trying to come to terms with the weekend trades involving the Brats.  I can’t.  

The trade with Rich effectively ended what should have been a great finish to the season.  There were 5 teams with at least a shot to win this year in what was the tightest race in the history of the USML.  Now we have a runaway winner crowned not because of great strategy or foresight, but because one team was prepared to turn the season on its head one week before the trading deadline.

Dump trades happen every year and they are always upsetting to one team or another.  And unbalanced trades, even absurdly unbalanced trades happen on occasion.  I get it.  It’s entirely conceivable that a dump trade could have been completed this last weekend that would have put one of the teams in the driver’s seat to win this year.  But when a DUMPING team trades away four legitimate keepers (Joe Mauer ($16), Raul Ibanez ($2), Anibal Sanchez ($20) and Omar Infante ($6)), I’m left to wonder why I’m playing this game.  I am not and I REPEAT, I am not, suggesting that there was any wrongful intent involved in this weekend’s transactions.  But I honestly can’t understand them and I have made a concerted effort to do so.  

I’ve been really angry for 48 hours thinking about these trades.  That’s ridiculous.  I haven’t slept well for two nights because of my frustration about what has now happened to this season.  That’s nuts.  

So I’m going to do the responsible thing and stop subjecting myself to a game that is supposed to make me happy but is instead making me miserable.  I’m out.  I’m not going to dump my team, although I’ve considered it.  Even were it possible (and it isn’t), I’m not going to try to duplicate the type of ridiculously unbalanced trades that just took place.  I’m just essentially going to stop playing this year.  In that way I hope to minimize the impact on the rest of the teams in the league while at the same time moving on from this set of circumstances.

I’m sure that with 4 months to cool down I’ll be ready to give it another go next year.  But in fairness, I’m not presently prepared to make that commitment.

Jeff

Jeffrey H. Winick

Harris | Winick LLP

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