Quid Pro Quo – Cash Exchanges and Texting

Q – This question came up when a few of us were discussing the Chris Duncan-Julio Lugo trade.  Apparently, the Red Sox agreed to pay (almost) all of Lugo’s salary over the next year and two months.  Do the Sox have to pay that money immediately as a lump sum or do they pay it every two weeks on the payroll cycle?  In theory, if they received a lump sum they could use that money to help pay for Holliday’s salary this season.

Also, the A’s threw in a reported $1.5M in the Holliday trade.  Would that be a lump sum or is that negotiated as part of the trade? When these payments are made, are they done as wire transfers team-to-team, or do teams maintain “central accounts” with MLB?

Finally, what role does the Commissioner’s Office play in a trade like the Lugo one?  (There were reports that the trade announcement had been delayed because the team’s were waiting for approval from the Commissioner’s Office.)  Can they really nix a deal like that?
- JD

A – Good questions – I’ll start with the last one and go from there. The Commissioner’s Office has to approve every trade with over one million dollars changing hands as part of the agreement. The purpose for this rule is to avoid players being bought and sold. So – Yes the commish could nix a deal under these circumstances.

When cash does exchange hands, the parties must agree on the payment schedule. It’s either paid as a lump sum or in a couple of installments during the year(s) the dollars are to be delivered to the player. There is no “Paypal” system, it’s usually sent by cheque.

Q – Are DL’d players ineligible to be traded? I have recollections of DL’d players getting moved as PTBNLs (like Matt Harrison in the Texiera deal, Homer Bush in the San Diego / Yankees deal) and remember hearing it was because DLd players couldn’t be dealt. Of course, these might not have been reliable sources and / or my memory is not to be trusted (generally speaking, it’s really not). It’s equally possible that those situations were because the destination team simply wanted to make sure they were healthy first.

So, misconceptions and mis-memories from my days of yore, or is this another scenario where a PTBNL is required?
- Spifficus

A – You either have a poor memory or were misled Spiff. Probably the latter as this is a common misconception. Players on the DL can be traded. The last I can remember was Chris Denorfia going from the Reds to the A’s while on the 60-Day DL.

Q – How do GMs normally go about contacting each other these days? Will it actually be a phone call from GM to GM with interest in a player, or is it e-mail, Blackberry? Might be interesting to know how word spreads around the executive ranks in the MLB these days.
- Peter

A – As you can imagine it depends on the comfort level the GM has with technology. In recent years as GM’s have got younger there has been several deals negotiated via email and now even texting. I think Ken Williams was the first GM to text JP Ricciardi about a trade. When I was working on potential deals with other AGM’s I used both email and texting at times. Although sometimes I wish more was done via the telephone. I don’t think any deals have been consummated on Twitter yet.

Q – Hey Bart, when teams on the road play in the homes of their players (like Wells in Texas), then have an off-day, are the players allowed to spend extra time with their families, and travel separately from the team? Or is that considered bad team-etiquette (since not everyone gets that chance throughout the season)?
- Richard

A – As far as I know, every team will allow players the opportunity to stay with their families when possible. The organization may have a rule pertaining to the arrival time in the next city – which can be limiting. However, players like Vernon Wells can charter a plane to make pretty much any schedule work.