It is Fantasy Baseball trading season. We are now entering the halfway point in the season, and standings are beginning to take shape. Depending on the depth of your league, the waiver wire might be thinned out. If so, it is trade season. For me, it is always trading season. I enjoy the conversations with league mates and trying to find ways to make both teams better. That should be the goal in Fantasy Baseball trading. Finding a way to make both teams better. Today, I want to help you become a better trade partner in Fantasy Baseball and just Fantasy sports in general.
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Fantasy Baseball Trading Tips
Know Your Team
This sounds really simple, but it makes a huge difference. Know your roster and know your needs. It will save you a ton of time when thinking about negotiating a deal. You also need to know about a player’s value to your team. If your league only has three outfield spots and Joey Gallo is your fourth-best outfielder, you may be able to address another need on your team by moving him. Gallo may be more valuable to someone else, and you can address a different position of need. There is no point in having a surplus at a position if you leave good players on your bench.
Consider The Other Teams Needs
After considering your own roster and needs, it is important to make sure you know your opponent’s roster too. If you are trying to trade a high-caliber shortstop for an ace, it would not make sense to try and make that trade with someone who already has Fernando Tatís Jr as their starting shortstop.
A better idea would be to find a team with a glaring need that you have the depth to help them without hurting your team. Let’s say you have Trea Turner and Tim Anderson, while your opponent has Gleyber Torres as their starting SS. You could easily sell either of your SS to that team and acquire someone who can benefit your lineup or a position of need.
Know The Standings
Don’t just know where your team sits in the overall standings. Know the specifics of your league standings. At this point in the season especially, you need to know where your team sits in every category of a roto league. It is important to know your exact team needs based on statistical categories and where you can gain, and where you can afford to lose.
It does not matter if you win a category by one run or 100 runs. You will get the same amount of points toward the standings for your team. You will not get bonus points if you have 100 more home runs than the next person in the standings. If you are running away with a certain category at this point of the season, it may be worth looking to see if you can move a player who provides surplus in that area to try and catch up in a different category. If you are at the bottom of the saves category and you own one closer, it is worth moving that player.
Now is the time to figure out which categories you can make up ground in. Formulate a plan on how you can get there. Right now is the perfect time to make the moves that can help vault you up the standings.
Make It Known a Player is Available VIA Trade
Often, a big trade goes down in a league, and no one knew that said player was available. If you are looking to trade a high-profile player, you can maximize your return by letting the league said player is available. I cannot express the countless times a trade has gone down in one of my leagues, and no one knew that the team manager was interested in moving that high-profile player.
Utilize your league’s trade block, and be sure to post in a league group chat that you are interested in moving a certain player. You will likely end up getting more and better offers than you likely would have otherwise.
COMMUNICATE
This goes a long way and something that really bothers me. People do not like to communicate when discussing trades. I so often get blind trade offers with no note attached. I will message the owner and try to discuss the potential options and never hear anything back. If the owner sends a respectable blind offer, I will try to send a counter and message to that owner. But far too often, the blind offers I get are crap. If you send an offer of three bench players for Ronald Acuña Jr., it is an instant rejection, and I will not counter the offer.
The best Fantasy Baseball trading deals are often ones that I have a conversation with the manager and find a deal that fits both teams. Whether it be on the phone, through text, or DMs, deals come together much easier than blind offers back and forth. I cannot stress enough how important communication is when making a trade.
Buy Low and Sell High
It may seem obvious, and it may be harder to do in today’s environment than ever. If you picked up and flipped Yermin Mercedes early in the season, you could have gotten a great return on investment. Meanwhile, if you bought low on Kyle Tucker early on, you are looking really good right now. Fantasy Baseball trading success has a lot to do with buying and selling at the proper time.
Buying and selling at the appropriate time is a huge part of playing Fantasy Baseball. It is almost as if you are playing the stock market. You can make a serious return on your investment if you buy a player at their lowest value. It would be best if you also cashed out on a clear sell high candidate when the price is right. Figuring out when those times are, however, is the million-dollar question.
Don’t Send Insulting Offers
This is a huge one for me. I cannot stand getting a terrible offer that clearly someone has no interest in negotiating. In one league, I have gotten offer after offer from someone who wants me to trade them Ronald Acuña Jr. The problem is they offer me the three worst players on their roster. It was instant reject after instant rejects for me until I have just gotten fed up with it. I have begun countering with their 5 best players for my worst. Maybe they will take the hint.
It is not hard to send a respectable offer, even if the first offer is not your best. Your first offer should never be your best one. Send something reasonable that you can work off of.
Dynasty Tip: Don’t Be Afraid To Sell Prospects
If you are in contention in a dynasty league and need another piece or two to compete, do not be afraid to sell your prospects. It is so easy to get attached to prospects and dream on the what-ifs. We have gotten far too spoiled with the Ronald Acuña Jr’s, Fernando Tatís Jr’s, and Juan Soto’s coming up and lighting the world on fire. They are rare exceptions. You have seen this season, the top two prospects in baseball in Wander Franco and Jarred Kelenic come up and struggle. It takes time for many players to develop. If you are in contention right now, don’t hold so tight to the prospects if they stand between you and a championship. Flags fly forever!
I hope you find these Fantasy Baseball trading tips helpful, and you can propel yourself to a championship. It is trade season, go out and make some moves. In the meantime, check out all our other great content on FantraxHQ.
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