Making The Trade in Fantasy Sports

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Introduction:
When proposing or considering taking a trade there are few factors to keep in mind.

Ah, yes. Fantasy Sports. Gotta love that feeling you get from winning after all you did was point, click and drag your mouse. Of course, in the efforts of trying to better your team in the post-draft time frame, inevitably comes a time where you propose (or get proposed) a trade.

I've been playing fantasy sports for a few years now and the most successful trades for any team have been when certain circumstances have shown themselves to be productive. It is when these things come into play that a trade is most beneficial. Sadly, for some reason, for trades to be accepted they have to be between star player on both teams. Seriously. When have you given up a 13th round pick and gotten a 3rd round pick? Exactly. There are, however, a few things that could tilt the trade balance in your favor. It all starts with the draft.

Too much of a good thing

One strategy that has served it's purpose over time for me has been drafting the best and greatest players of a SINGLE position. In order for this to work, however, you need to grab the best players out of a short-order position. For example, in Fantasy Basketball, awesome Centers and Point Guards are few and hard to come by. In MLB, Catchers, and so on. So, what I do, is load up on one of these positions. Why? This will give me AWESOME trading power down the road. What I try to do is make my first pick the awesome-est player of that position. After which, every other pick, for the next four or so rounds, will be for the targeted position. At first, you won't have a balanced team, but that's why the fantasy gods created trades. If you pick out a team that is well-balanced from the beginning, any trade will upset that balance and could have dire consequences. That's apart from the fact that you might not be willing to trade in the first place. I have been known to have five or six players for a single position. Trust me, the trade offers will come on their own. Then you can have your pick of players/positions you want. You'll never be giving up "too much" because you already have "too much" to begin with. It's never bad to have too much of a good thing - fantasy sports-wise.

Be objective about what your team needs

Most people want to go after the star players and, sometimes, it's not necessary. Depending on the strategy you're using, focus on what you need and what you want to strengthen. For example, if your team is fantastic in one category, you could probably spare players to trade in order to strengthen a second category. Don't waste your trades trying to save categories that you never win anyway. Strenghten those categories that you are always contending in or usually win by a narrow margin. Don't go after a star player unless you really need him.

Subtle manipulation - the art of proposing a trade

When making a trade, make sure you check out the opponent's team first. If you see someone you like and need, that's when you need to be objective. Think about the deficiencies of that team and see if you have any players that can help that team in that area. Obviously, don't strengthen the areas the team's already stong in. Appeal to the categories that he never wins. You shouldn't fall for this, but since he didn't read this article, he should be punished for it. However, make sure that you are strong in that area. For example (in fantasy basketball), if I'm contending in the Assists area all the time and I have excellent rebounders, I'm going to seek out a team with sucky rebounders and good point guards. I can provide him with a good source of rebounds (even though he still might lose the category), while I get a needed boost in ASTs. A common mistake is to go after a well-balanced team. These guys are less likely to trade unless you're willing to give up more than what you get. And nobody does that. No one in their right minds, anyway. Another mistake is to trade to the opposing team a platyer that will help a category that the team's already contending in. Remember, you'll be facing this team at some point and you don't want your trades to bite you in the rear when you do. Using the example above (assists and rebounds), it'd be like me trying to trade a good rebounder into a decent rebounding team. Not good.

Fairness - the art of accepting a trade

For some reason, the fact that I'm a girl inspires in the minds of the dumber sex that I'll accept ANY trade. I've been offered things you wouldn't believe. When accepting a trade, do NOT think about the upside of it first. Think of the cons. Look at the average stats for the season. Is the player injury prone? Does the recent trade affect his performance? What will my team look like? What are the categories that I'm giving up? Am I strong in these categories? Will I get stronger in these categories with the trade? What will the OTHER team look like? Will the other team have a "way-too-deadly" combination if I accept? Things like these should flood your mind as soon as a trade is offered. Think of the bad things first. If the good things outweigh the bad - even if it's by a slight margin - you should pull the trigger.

I'm just going to add this here: MOST of the time, when you are proposed a trade, you'll be logging on to RootZoo and making a thread about it. Taking this things into consideration, you should always post your team along with your trade offer. This will be very helpful in the determination of what your team needs and the fairness of the trade.

The Art of Negotiation - Making a counteroffer

Making a counter offer is great. Mostly because you already know that the opposing owner is willing to trade with you. Every time you are counter offering, you need to keep in mind what is it he wants from you: which categories/players. My suggestion is to try and work with the players HE already offered, all you have to do is tweak the players you're giving away. If you choose OTHER players in the opposing owner's roster, then he might no be as willing to trade. So, try to make a counteroffer using the players he's already proposed and keeping the integrity of the original deal - only twisting it SLIGHTLY to your favor.

Well, I hope these pointers will help you out in future dealings and will help your team reach the championship this year! Unless, of course, you're competing against me! lol!