I appreciate that. But the difference is in this first line:
"Me: Hey there, was just checking out your trade block and I'm somewhat interested in player X. Would any combination of players in my trade block be of interest to you in a deal for X?"
You asked about a player and added that info about your own trade block. That is the context I'd like to hear from the other manager, instead of just 'what do you want for player x?'. Sure that manager has a trade block, but it's not always a 'look at my block vs look at your block and see what fits'. There are always other options so I would appreciate if the enquiring manager would offer up some info with the initial message. I'm not going to assume that those players on his block are the only ones available.
Case in point, in a recent discussion (which instigated this thread) this manager first just asked the question: what do you want for player x? In response I gave him a bit of context (though no exact players) and said you can make an offer. Shortly thereafter, I decided to enquire about player y, which he said no for specific reasons. Then he ended up offering player z, who is not on his block, which wasn't enough. So, I had no idea who he would be willing to deal, nor did I know what his situation/focus/context is to help with formulating a deal. If he started with 'I'd be looking to part with this type of player or this is my situation' and asked then I'd have something to go by and probably could have avoided those two attempts.
Well there are ways blocks ideally work but depending on the rest of the league you really don't know how people use them. Also, I've just joined this league so I don't know most of the managers and their tendencies etc yet. Most people just add to a block and that's it, little or no context. So when I start getting enquiries, that context is important. My block has some context, so in future I should expect a bit more info coming back. Not all managers are this way, though. Some are better than others so it'll be a feeling out process.