I received an e-mail from a frequent reader this morning. He has been in regular contact of late while he attempts to strengthen his team via trade. The trade he was being offered was a fair one. It was a pretty good outfielder and a pretty good starter for his closer. On the surface this was a good deal for him because dollar for dollar he would win the deal and the names involved probably made it look even better. I advised him to pass on the trade.
There are lots of owners out there obsessed with the idea of winning trades and fair deals. This is not the goal of a good fantasy trade. The object of a trade in fantasy leagues should be to bring yor team closer to winning the championship. In the example above the reader in question had a strong outfield already. He admits that the pretty good outfielder he received would be sitting on his bench. From what I know of his roster he was looking at the starter as a short term fill-in for a couple of better starters presently on the disabled list with short term injuries. For this he was thinking of trading his only true closer.
When making trades owners should hold out for or design trades that will result in a climb up the standings. Worry less about perception and fairness and concentrate on your league standings. I usually make projections of the rest of the season for any players I am thinking of acquiring and calculate how much the trade will help me in the standings.
What is your process when making deals?
I take the same approach - the deal has to help me move up in the league, and since my league is a 5x5, 14-man, keeper roto, that means it has to help me in the right categories. And all trades have to involve categories in which I have a surplus. It doesn't make sense to give up one category to get another unless I have the points to give.
ReplyDeleteI try to prioritize my trade strategy like this:
1. Upgrade in multiple categories
2. Upgrade in a category in which I'm in the bottom third of the league (and so have the most room to move up)
3. Upgrade at position (this is a priority only if the position is particularly thin; I don't get caught up in big names)
4. Don't help those ahead of me in the standings (I never, ever trade with the league leader unless I think the trade is enormously in my favor.)
5. Capitalize on an opportunity to sell high
6. Acquire potential keeper I can stash
I don't offer blatantly unfair trades to inexperienced managers. We all know that few leagues are adequately policed, and unfair trades that victimize the league chump go through all the time. But otherwise, I don't worry about fairness all that much. We're all grown-ups and have access to the same info.