The Brewster

After taking a season off (sorta), it's that time of year again…the annual BBA Trade Value Series! Inspired by FanGraph's annual MLB Trade Value series, which was inspired by -- if not ripped-off from -- Bill Simmons’ NBA trade value column on ESPN.com back in the day. We've certainly have had a batch of new BBA/UMEBA GMs since the last edition in 2042, so here's the rundown: The concept is to put together a ranking of the most valuable individual assets in the game, which is a different discussion than who the best players in the game are. Age, contract status, salary, injury history, and position scarcity all come into play, not just the numbers on the back of the players' baseball cards.

This year's installment is the sixth edition, and although the 2043 list wasn’t published, last year’s rankings will be listed for those who made it into this year’s Top 50 (and Honorable Mention.) This is an attempt to figure out which players have the most value in the league heading into the upcoming 2044 trade deadline. Essentially, the best way to look at a player’s placement on this list is to ask “Would you be able to trade him, straight up, for any of the guys listed ahead of him?”

In 2042, I rolled out an honorable mention list, a group of fifty players who didn’t quite make the Top 50 but that could certainly help contribute to a championship contender and rebuilding club alike. This year we’re doing it again, so here is, in alphabetical order, those that earned Honorable Mention honors.

A few notes about what you'll see below:

• Ratings (OVERALL/POTENTIAL) and age are as of July 21, 2044

• Players selected in the 2044 First Year Draft were not considered for the list due to lack of professional experience

NAME	TEAM	POS	AGE	OVERALL	POTENTIAL	'43 RANK
Wilson Alomar	Rockville	LF	23	65	65
Kidane Ata	Nashville	CF	27	65	65
Yasir bin Lutfi	Seattle	SP	24	60	70
Frank Boland	Calgary	SP	26	55	55
Jason Bowen	Wichita	C	26	65	65
Aarnoud Budding	Chicago	1B	24	65	65
Mike Campbell	Hawaii	RF	27	65	70
Carlton Casson	Montreal	CL	24	60	70
Fernando Castillo	Vancouver	LF	27	80	80
Juan Cerda	Twin Cities	CL	23	80	80
Manny Collazo	Mexico City	3B	23	60	60
Timo Dooley	Omaha	SP	24	60	70
Wilson Estrada	Omaha	1B	23	65	65
Armando Feliciano	Louisville	SP	24	65	80	30
Raúl Fernández	New Orleans	1B	26	65	75	24
Carlos Flores	Atlantic City	CL	23	80	80
Mal Fountain	New Orleans	3B	23	55	70	47
Francisco Franco	Portland	SP	25	60	70
Andrew Gallagher	Charlotte (AAA)	1B	23	45	70
Ángel González	Vancouver	CF	24	65	65	44
Eduardo González	Montreal	3B	23	70	80
Felipe Guevara	San Fernando	SP	21	55	55
Chandler Hall	Edmonton	SP	25	70	70
Ronnie Hubbard	Hawaii	CF	25	60	60	23
Shawn Huber	Las Vegas	CL	32	70	70
Pedro Huerta	Edmonton	RF	24	65	65	34
Marvin Isworth	Mexico City	2B	23	65	65
Don Jaramillo	Montreal	SP	23	50	65
Renato Lacerda	New Orleans	CL	26	70	70
Quinton Lara	Charm City	C	26	70	70	40
Dave Lee	Yellow Springs	SP	23	50	75
Cornelio Lozano	Long Beach	RP	29	75	75
Luis Mendoza	Louisville	2B	21	60	80
Robert Menzies	Portland	SS	23	75	75	13
Amayas Moelling	Chicago	SP	25	65	80	48
Octávio Moreno	San Antonio	C	23	80	80
Tiernan O'Macken	Yellow Springs	RP	26	75	80	26
Joël Ottoboni	Calgary	CL	24	80	80
Jarred Perkins	Seattle	CL	25	70	70
Carlos Pineda	Yellow Springs	SP	24	80	80
Gusby Pinkerton	Portland	SP	21	50	55
Mitchell Purssell	Chicago	CL	24	80	80
Keijo Reini	Charlotte	CL	26	80	80
Alberto Rodríguez	Nashville	C	24	75	75
Luis Rojas	Charm City	SP	29	65	70
Ron Shiplack	Hawaii	C	23	65	80
Gilberto Sosa	Chicago	CL	25	80	80
Reggie Vargas	San Fernando	LF	24	70	70
Jim Wilkinson	Charm City	SP	24	60	70
Yun Zhang	Rockville	SP	25	55	60

You’ll notice a ton of relievers receiving Honorable Mention nods, as the league has seen dominant bullpen arms who rack up 150+ innings per year become more and more valuable. Amazing this group could be considered the 51st to 100th most valuable assets in the Brewster. And keep in mind that the arbitrary cut off at the Top 50 or Top 100 are just that, arbitrary. You could swap out several players in any list based on your preference of position, age, ratings, performance or contract value. Either way, it’s clear that we’re arguably in the Golden Age of the league’s history, at least of the modern era.

Before we sign off, I did want to highlight two players who did not make the Top 50, nor did they get Honorable Mention recognition. Both are incredibly valuable to their teams, but their value likely doesn't translate well when it comes to the trade market: San Antonio’s pitcher Francisco Cardona and Charm City’s outfielder Dax Norris.

Here are their numbers through press time (7/28/44):

Cardona: 11-5, 2.86 ERA, 1.10 WHIP; on pace for 4.2 WAR
Norris: .288/.340/.568; on pace for 3.5 WAR

Nice production. But what about their salaries?

Cardona: making $650k in 2044, two more years of team control arbitration
Norris: making $800k in 2044, two more years of team control arbitration

Affordable! Good production! What gives?

Cardona: 45 POTENTIAL
Norris: 50 POTENTIAL

You gotta love the unexpected results from middle-of-the-road ratings by scouts. While their very solid seasons and affordable salaries are attractive, their ratings likely hold them back to get equal value of return. And so goes determining what "value" means. It's likely different when you poll every GM. These ratings are just my feelings, but I hope they spur on discussions about rankings, specific players, comparison of multiple players, and just overall general fodder as we approach the trade deadline.

Anyways, here's the remaining schedule for this year's edition:

Friday (10/16) evening - #50-41
Sunday (10/18) morning - #40-21
Monday (10/19) evening - #20-1
Sunday (10/25) evening - Trade Deadline sim
* * * * * * For the uninitiated (or the woefully bored), here is the top lists for all previously published editions:

2042 BBA Trade Value Series: #20-#1
2041 BBA Trade Value Series: #20-#1
2040 BBA Trade Value Series: #20-#1
2039 BBA Trade Value Series: #10-#1

Norris started off the season hot in 2041 (.342/.359/.553 in 10 games) before being crushed with a torn meniscus and two setbacks that kept him out for almost 13 months.

Might I recommend next year by alphabetical team order. Otherwise must disagree with Zhang out of top 50; he’s been absurd this year and has one year left until arbitration.

aaronweiner wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 14, 2020 7:23 pm

Might I recommend next year by alphabetical team order. Otherwise must disagree with Zhang out of top 50; he’s been absurd this year and has one year left until arbitration.

The only thing holding him back from easily being Top 50 (at least in my eyes) is his ratings, however I expect that Stuff to jump to an 8 next year. I would be shocked if he wasn't inside the top twenty-five or so based on his track record and affordability, as well as a subsequent ratings adjustment.

I love this feature.

well I thought vargas might sneak into the top 50 (Guevara had a shot but a lower one IMO), so it looks like I will just be represented by Alex Ramirez this year.

You reminded me i gotta update my WAR/player value viz - great analysis