Those who play trade off to get spade, we hear? (9)
I believe the answer is:
castrated
'get spade we hear?' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'those who play trade off' is the wordplay.
'those who play' becomes 'cast' (people playing parts).
'off' indicates an anagram.
'trade' anagrammed gives 'rated'.
'cast'+'rated'='CASTRATED'
'to' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for castrated that I've seen before include "Like bullocks" , "fixed" .)