Better Trades

Better Trades Sports believes that one team can improve itself by exchanging one of its members for a player on another team is unique to any other business model. Imagine what would happen if IBM wanted to trade its director of global sales to Delta Air Lines in exchange for its director of marketing? But the same idea is accepted and embraced when it comes to sports. Teams have been searching for more adept moves since the first competitive leagues were formed before the turn of the 19th century.

Every professional team has made its share of trades, from the original Cincinnati Reds to the fledgling Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Trades occur in every sport and have even included managers and radio broadcasters. A minor league baseball team even traded a player for a bag of bats. One baseball player was even traded for himself! Trades are just a part of the landscape.

The idea of making a better trades helps keep fans interested in the team. It provides fodder for radio talk show hosts around the country. It's a constant topic among the millions involved with fantasy sports teams.

Good trades are fondly remembered by fans for years to come. The St. Louis baseball fans continue to brag about the lopsided deal that brought them Hall of Fame outfielder Lou Brock. Baltimore Orioles fans still talk about the swap that got them outfielder Frank Robinson, who Cincinnati deemed to be too old; Robinson won the Triple Crown and helped the Orioles win the World Series in 1966. Atlanta basketball fans still complain about the trade that sent hoop legend Dominique Wilkins in exchange for Danny Manning, who stayed only three months and made little contribution.

And while teams brag about one-upping the competition, none of the player movement would be possible without the consent of agents. These are the people who have control on whether a player can actually be traded. Agents structure many of the contracts to prevent their clients from being traded to a non-competitive environment. Or, in order to get their client to approve a trade, clubs may often be asked to give a player a financial incentive. It's the sort of thing that never would have happened a hundred years ago.

Trading cards continue to be a popular fixture in American culture. The cards first became popular in the early 1900s and have been bought and swapped by kids for decades since. Many of the cards have great financial value and can be included in the alternative asset portion of an individual's portfolio. Too many times fortunes have been lost over the years because "my mom threw out my baseball card collection." That refrain doesn't hold much water; most of the cards are worth less than 10 cents and hold more emotional value than financial worth. But there's no doubt that more than a few Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays cards have sadly been incinerated over the years.

Please take the time to read about the interesting trades that have been made over the year. Some are better than others, but they'll always produce an interesting conversation.