By Robby Wellington – Staff Writer
Below are some general thoughts and tips regarding trading. Some may seem pretty obvious, but hopefully there are a few new things to think about. . .
Less is More
As a general rule of trading, the team that acquires the fewer number of players in a trade usually gets the better deal. Not that I am saying that you should systematically avoid trading away a player or two for a few more guys, but you should definitely be wary of making these deals.
On the other hand, the 2-for-1 trade is a staple of top fantasy teams. Not only do you improve your top star talent with such deals, but you also free up the end-of-bench roster spots to remain active on the waiver wires and hopefully grab more guys who you can then use to lure even more star talent to your team.
Don’t Get Caught up in “Buy Low and Sell High”
Two weeks ago I had just nabbed Corey Patterson off waivers in a somewhat shallow league and was trying desperately to package him in one of the aforementioned 2-for-1 trades, angling to get an upgrade at any position, no matter how slight. Well, after his recent stolen base binge, Patterson is ranked ninth among fantasy outfielders (seventh if you discount Soriano and Cabrera) in Yahoo’s admittedly dubious scoring system, and I still don’t think that I can command fair value for the guy.
In a nutshell, the whole “buy low and sell high” mentality can sometimes create the opposite effect, where overachieving players are in fact undervalued because no one wants to be the guy stuck with a player who immediately cools off. Sometimes you just need to stick with the hot “overachieving” player and hope he can keep it up.
Always Make a Counter Offer and Use the Message Feature
If someone makes you an offer, don’t just simply reject it (or worse, let it sit there), make a counter offer, even if it will probably get rejected. Also, if your league allows messages to accompany trade offers, be sure to use that feature to better specify what you want.
(Almost) Never Make Your Final Offer Your First Offer
This varies from manager to manager. Obviously, you aren’t going to offer a good friend or a respectable player a laughably bad deal, but if you’re willing to give up your third best outfielder in a trade, go ahead and see if they’ll take your fourth best guy first. Then, when you later sweeten the deal, they’ll be more inclined to bite.
Exploit Those Who Make Bad Trades
If someone in your league makes a bad trade, go after any worthwhile players on their team as soon as possible. Why complain about a firesale when you can take part in it?
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