Just to start some controversy...

It looks to me like the MLESS trades have pretty well removed any star players from MLESS rosters.

Prior & Pujols have been traded off MLESS teams as extreme examples.

The idea that #1 rookie picks are more valuable to MLESS teams than stars...even older stars like Bonds (who was also traded from an MLESS team), is something I suggest is just not true.

First, in RT leagues it is not possible for a new owner to even view the draft picks available to him, so they have little value in helping sell an MLESS team to a new RT owner. I suppose once the draft order is set, someone could take the effort to check all the rounds of the draft to find out available draft picks for a team, but until this is posted you can't even do that.

In both RT and TRAD leagues, if a team is not taken over prior to the drafts, then the rookie drafting will be done without the same degree of scrutiny all the other teams will be applying to the draft. It is not unlikely the MLESS team will not draft the best player available to it (nice double negative there).

I'm not suggesting MLESS teams trade away high 1st round rookie picks, just that they not trade away their star players which make them attractive.

I don't have stats, but it wouldn't surprise me to learn that the PB value of MLESS teams has dropped considerably on average since the start of MLESS trades.

Is this a good thing?