Trevor Bauer & Trades: The Chronicles of ottoneu

Some ottoneu cats have to look to the future, just like the major league teams. How much more to the future can you look than signing 2011 draftees?

Of course, there’s a lot of attrition between now and then. So you have to focus on the top talent. The beginning of the first round boasted two such top talents, Gerrit Cole and Trevor Bauer. Cole, with super agent Scott Boras puling the strings, hasn’t signed yet. But the third overall pick, Bauer, has signed. How much might you pay for a recently drafted college pitcher? Let’s check in with ottoneu owner and FanGraphs writer Jack Moore, who recently won an auction for Bauer.

In Jack’s own words:

I bid $7 on Bauer, which, honestly, I didn’t think would be enough, but it was a place where I was comfortable paying for him if I got him (I had a ton of money left over from cutting Josh Johnson, who was worthless at $40 to keep). Bauer’s been touted as very similar to Tim Lincecum, but more importantly, he’s supposed to have a chance at reaching the majors as early as this year (very unlikely) or out of camp next year (not so unlikely, especially looking at the starters on the DBacks right now), and with that kind of potential value maybe being realized as early as next season, I had to take the plunge.

Good reasoning, even if $7 ($8 next year if Bauer doesn’t hit the major leagues) seems like a lot of money for an unproven pitcher. Then again, the rumors about his quick ascension have been fairly strong. Maybe we’ll see him soon. Other ottoneu players have spent $5.40 on average to acquire Bauer, so they wanted to spend less.

Other rebuilders are looking to the trade market. Zooming around the (newly viewable) ottoneu league pages, we run into this series of trades. Frankly, it depicts a very strange picture. Death by Bunting is in ninth place in his league, and these are his four most recent trades. Does this look like a rebuilding team? Do you like the players that he has acquired?

Huh. Most of those seem like they should be reversed, don’t they? Everyone’s Grudge took the more traditional route to rebuilding, as that team is in eighth place. Does one of these trades stick out as particularly advantageous to one team?

Here’s the twist: This league was one of the mid-season leagues that just started up, headed by Joel Henard. Not only is it only three weeks old, but Death by Bunting had a ton of cap space. He’s going for it, and he’s not out of it all. Does that change your opinion about any of the trades?

Lastly, ottoneu needs your help. It seems that, with the return of football, the #PickSix hashtag has taken on a new/old meaning. Since we aren’t talking about returning an interception for a touchdown, maybe it’s time for a new Pick Six hashtag for twitter. #PixSix? #Picking6? Any better ideas?