{"id":102073,"date":"2025-07-29T12:43:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-29T12:43:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/102073\/"},"modified":"2025-07-29T12:43:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T12:43:11","slug":"4-simple-rules-for-navigating-the-mlb-trade-deadline-without-irking-your-peers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/102073\/","title":{"rendered":"4 simple rules for navigating the MLB trade deadline \u2014 without irking your peers"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is the second in a three-part series exploring how the personalities of MLB executives impact baseball\u2019s trade deadline. Part one explored the various styles of traders.<\/a> Part three is coming Wednesday. The Athletic has live coverage of the\u00a02025 MLB trade deadline<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Congratulations! You just scored your dream job, running the front office of a Major League Baseball team. Perhaps you are the president of baseball operations. Perhaps you are the chief baseball officer. Or perhaps you are merely the general manager. No matter the title, the role carries tremendous responsibility under heightened scrutiny.<\/p>\n

Perhaps you think you\u2019re ready for this. After all, you\u2019ve spent a lifetime taking management courses, studying actuarial tables and playing fantasy baseball. But you are about to enter an elite, exclusive club of 30 decision-makers, and you need to know how to behave yourself.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re here to help.<\/p>\n

As part of a series of stories about how executives navigate interpersonal relationships at the trade deadline, The Athletic asked these decision-makers: When trying to make a trade, what sort of behavior makes you want to throw your phone against a wall? Several executives spoke on condition of anonymity in order to provide an unvarnished look at how their front offices work.<\/p>\n

Most responses began with laughter. Some stuff is obvious: Do not fiddle with a player\u2019s medical records. You will get suspended. In general, deceit is a dead end. \u201cYou get caught not being transparent, lying, you\u2019re done,\u201d Atlanta Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos said. \u201cIt\u2019ll impact your ability to do a deal forever with that person.\u201d<\/p>\n

Outright dishonesty is a rarity, executives said. But you already knew that. You had to be pretty smart to become a POBO\/CBO\/GM.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say the vast majority of executives in the game right now I have found to be good-faith actors,\u201d New York Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said. \u201cThere is real reputational risk to not being one. This is a small enough industry, where you, by definition, can only do deals with 29 other clubs. If you start systematically alienating a subset of those clubs, you\u2019re going to hurt your organization.\u201d<\/p>\n

So here is a four-step guide on how not to do that.<\/p>\n

1. Don\u2019t insult a player \u2014 or the GM\u2019s intelligence<\/p>\n

Early in his tenure as general manager of the Toronto Blue Jays, Anthopoulos was haggling with Kenny Williams, the longstanding head honcho for the Chicago White Sox. They were discussing White Sox utility infielder Jayson Nix. In an attempt to drive down Williams\u2019 asking price, Anthopoulos brought up some of Nix\u2019s shortcomings.<\/p>\n

Williams cut off his youthful counterpart.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf he\u2019s got all these issues,\u201d Williams said, as Anthopoulos recalled, \u201cwhy ask me about him?\u201d<\/p>\n

Anthopoulos pocketed the wisdom. In this business, salesmanship isn\u2019t a skill. It\u2019s actually kind of annoying.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re trading a player, don\u2019t talk up the player,\u201d Anthopoulos said. \u201cIf you\u2019re trading for the player, don\u2019t talk down the player, because you\u2019re asking to acquire him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Every team has its own scouting department, its own analytics wing, its own value system. Your job as an executive is to figure out how those 29 other teams view the sport, and try to find a fit based on your own needs. When making a trade, executives said, your goal should not be to change someone\u2019s mind. You will be wasting your time and trying their patience.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t look at it as though we\u2019re going to convince our peers to do anything that they wouldn\u2019t otherwise do,\u201d said Cleveland Guardians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Cleveland\u2019s Chris Antonetti has earned a reputation for seeking value in trades. He still tries to make the deals make sense for the other team. (Jason Miller \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

That doesn\u2019t mean you can\u2019t make an outrageous proposal. Jerry Dipoto, the prolific deal-maker and president of baseball operations for the Seattle Mariners, has a simple rule for kicking around ideas: I won\u2019t laugh at your proposal if you won\u2019t laugh at mine.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had some proposals that I never would have considered for a moment,\u201d Dipoto said. \u201cBut I never wanted to throw my phone, because what they\u2019re doing is giving you insight into what they\u2019re trying to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

So go ahead. Shoot for the moon. Just try not to be rude, and accept that you might not get anywhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs long as you try to present trade ideas respectfully and not offensively \u2026 \u2018Just a thought, just brainstorming here \u2026 \u2019\u201d Milwaukee Brewers general manager Matt Arnold said. \u201cI like to brainstorm with guys. Especially guys that you have relationships with. I think good things can come out of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

2. Get your crew on the same page<\/p>\n

You won\u2019t be the only person from your front office engaged in trade talks. Most chief executives deputize their assistants to connect with assistants in other organizations. It is a good way for your underlings to network. Because the lieutenants are less pressed for time than you, they might have the freedom to examine more complicated scenarios.<\/p>\n

So, as the kids say, let your gang cook, right?<\/p>\n

One problem.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s an annoying situation outlined by several chief executives: An assistant general manager is engaged with someone from another team. The two have crafted an interesting concept for a trade. Excited by the possibility, the chief executive will ring up his own counterpart \u2014 only to hear that executive say there is no way the other team would do that deal.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat has happened to us a couple of times, where one of our AGMs is like, \u2018Hey, we think we\u2019ve got traction here,\u2019\u201d Minnesota Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey said. \u201cBut then we come to find out later it was a little bit of unsupervised play on the other side.\u201d<\/p>\n

So do yourself a favor. In the weeks leading up to the deadline, gather your crew. Provide clear instructions on who you are willing and unwilling to trade. Take advantage of the group\u2019s enthusiasm. But don\u2019t let them freelance. That drives other teams bonkers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe more you work down the hierarchy, the more excited people are to be involved in a trade,\u201d said one executive, \u201cAs long as it\u2019s f\u2014ing real.\u201d<\/p>\n

The behavior of a front office reflects on the boss. A haphazard approach can irritate other clubs. And it can make them less willing to engage with you, all because you let one of your assistants cook without providing the proper recipe.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you don\u2019t like the way a club operates,\u201d Philadelphia Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said, \u201cyou may have a tendency to not make as many deals with them.\u201d<\/p>\n

3. Try to avoid cold feet<\/p>\n

Executives often like to remind themselves: A trade isn\u2019t a trade until it\u2019s logged in eBIS, the electronic Baseball Information System, which MLB uses to record every roster move.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou never go in expecting a transaction to happen,\u201d said Tampa Bay Rays president of baseball operations Erik Neander.<\/p>\n

The discussions can last weeks or longer. Sometimes it can represent the culmination of a concept floated months before. The Dodgers spent several years trying to pry Tommy Edman from the St. Louis Cardinals before swinging a three-team deal that included him last summer. You need to practice patience.<\/p>\n

Because there are so many things that can go wrong along the way. The players can get injured. Your owner might squash the move. Your lineup might ignite a wild-card push, or a sudden bullpen collapse might turn you into a seller. All of those are understandable.<\/p>\n

What is less easy to swallow, executives said, is when the deal derails for no good reason.<\/p>\n

\u201cGetting you to the two-yard line, and then when nothing about the situation has changed, backing off,\u201d Stearns said. \u201cThat\u2019s where executives can run the risk of alienating their counterparts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sometimes that can represent a true change of heart. Sometimes it can represent a concern that you\u2019re getting swindled.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of it is just cold feet,\u201d Chicago White Sox general manager Chris Getz said. \u201cAnd, let\u2019s be honest, there\u2019s some clubs that have a history of doing a lot better than others in deals. So maybe therefore [the other club] shies away, like, \u2018What are we missing here?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Or sometimes it can represent a lack of conviction in your prior negotiations. And that can damage your reputation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you feel that somebody has told you that they\u2019d make a deal for X and then you offer them X, and then they don\u2019t make the deal \u2014 I would say that would be something that would probably frustrate me,\u201d Dombrowski said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Whatever Dave Dombrowski and Andrew Friedman are discussing, they are probably doing it without wasting anyone\u2019s time or suffering from cold feet. (Brian Rothmuller \/ Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)4. Don\u2019t waste someone\u2019s time<\/p>\n

This might be the most common grievance of all. And there are so many ways to do it.<\/p>\n

You can do it on the front end, by holding your cards too close to the vest. \u201cSome teams will just not even give you names,\u201d said one executive. \u201cIt drives me crazy. You don\u2019t have to commit to anything. Just tell me who are some guys you like, so I have some idea where this might be going.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is not unusual for less experienced executives to adopt this pose. Los Angeles Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman became the Rays general manager at 28. He did not want to make a misstep and he thought there was value in fighting for every scrap of transactional value. He soon discovered \u201cthere\u2019s a real fatiguing effect to the inefficient approach, that just isn\u2019t that sustainable,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI used to be more guarded,\u201d Friedman added, \u201cand I\u2019m way less so now.\u201d He added,\u00a0\u201cIt wasn\u2019t necessarily as worthwhile as I made it out to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you ask for what you want, you\u2019ll have better luck.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy thought is we\u2019re not really in the espionage industry,\u201d Dipoto said. \u201cWe\u2019re just trying to put together good baseball teams.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are also ways to waste time in the middle of discussions.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing that\u2019s interesting is the non-offer offer,\u201d Falvey said. \u201cWhere it\u2019s like, \u2018Hey, if you guys would do this \u2026\u2019 and then they make an offer. \u2018Let us know and we\u2019ll put it on the board and then get back to you.\u2019 So they can evaluate it. So it\u2019s like, \u2018Hold on. You just offered us a subset of players for this deal. And you want to know if I\u2019m going to say \u2018Yes,\u2019 so you can go back to the board to decide if you guys are a \u2018Yes\u2019?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I\u2019ll admit: There have been times where teams have done it to us, where I\u2019m just like, \u2018Alright, we\u2019ll do it back.\u2019 It\u2019s a little bit of,\u00a0\u2018Alright, if you\u2019re going to play that game \u2026\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

You can waste time near the completion of a deal by dragging your feet.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s living out a scene from the movie \u2018Groundhog Day,\u2019 where you have a conversation that is promising, and then the next day, you talk again, and it\u2019s as if that conversation never happened,\u201d Friedman said. \u201cThat is difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perhaps the silliest way to waste an executive\u2019s time is simply being unresponsive. It\u2019s common courtesy \u2014 and also common sense.<\/p>\n

Got all that? Don\u2019t try to be too slick. Don\u2019t try to browbeat your rivals into making a trade. And whatever you do, respond to all your messages.<\/p>\n

Because the last thing you want is to live out the nightmare shared by your 29 peers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s one thing every GM will tell you,\u201d Anthopoulos said. \u201cYou don\u2019t want to wake up one day and say, \u2018I can\u2019t believe so-and-so was available and I didn\u2019t know about it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

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