More on "Add Ons"

Please read the original post, here.

While I still believe that the idea of "add ons" is very logical and should be utilized more often, I thought I would take some time out to express why I doubt any bad contracts will be moved during this trading season.

1. The economy
-Everyone knows that the economy is bad and even though we'd like to think that baseball is immune from the economic downturn, we all know that is not the case. Aside from the teams with high payrolls (Yanks, Mets, Red Sox, etc.), I imagine it would be quite difficult for teams with limited payroll flexibility to take on a majority of a bad contract.

2. Bravado
-There is no doubt in my mind that teams are reluctant to trade away their own players with bad contracts because they do not want them to succeed with another team. Of course, this statement only applies if teams are forced to take on a portion of the original contract.

For example, do you think the Diamondbacks want to see Eric Byrnes regain his form with another team if they are paying $5-$6 million of his salary?

And do you think the Mariners want Kenji Johjima to become an all-star caliber player while they fork over $10-$12 million of his salary?

The answer: hell no.

That's why we see trades in baseball that solely involve teams swapping bad contracts for bad contracts (Rolen for Glaus/Mike Hampton trade). Not only is there limited risk in these types of deals, but teams do not have to face the embarrassment of watching a player, who they are paying for, succeed with another team.

While I'm sure #1 has far more to do with these deals not getting done, don't rule out the importance of #2...as strange as it sounds.

Thoughts?