Winning a fantasy baseball championship is never easy.
Your pre-draft preparation is grueling, the draft itself is intense and your early season waiver wire work is a continuous grind as you navigate through the numerous injuries and position battles.
Now, as we approach the midseason point, your draft is a distant memory, the waiver wire has been picked clean, and you still find yourself in the middle of the pack, desperately seeking any kind of statistical boost. It’s time to hit the trade phones.
Don’t you roll your eyes at me.
Trading is one of the most exciting aspects of the fantasy sports, and those who are good at it are usually the ones celebrating their championships at the end of the year. Those who aren’t are the ones who spend most of their time complaining that no one in their league makes trades or are just plain lazy.
The key to pulling off a successful fantasy trade is to not only get what you want, but to also give your trade partner what they want.
Stop with this “win the trade” nonsense. It’s ridiculous and completely counterproductive.
People spend far too much time trying to dupe their opponents rather than understand the fact that both parties can walk away happy and feel like they’ve improved their roster.
It starts with your initial offer. Don’t be that person who makes a terrible offer and insists that it is just the first step in a negotiation.
Duh. Of course it is, but do you want to start that negotiation six inches apart or six miles?
Making a bad offer is only going to turn off your potential trade partner and immediately put them on the defensive.
They look at the deal, hate it and instantly feel like you don’t respect their game-play or intelligence.
If you’re that person, it is no wonder you can’t pull off any deals, because a bad trade reputation spreads a lot faster than a good one.
You never want to overcomplicate things.
Assess your roster, examine the holes and figure out what you need statistically to make your team better.
You also should see where you may have a surplus — whether it is power, speed, starting pitching or saves. Now go look at the rest of the teams in your league and find the right fit.
If you’re in the top-three in saves but near the bottom in home runs, find the person in your league who needs a closer and has a bat to trade.
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And remember, it doesn’t always have to be a marquee player traded or acquired. Sometimes, the minor-tweak deals end up being the most effective.
The Grateful Dead said it best: “One man gathers what another man spills.”
Fantasy trading falls right in line with that.
Find your overflow and trade it away. There is always someone in your league who has too much of what you need, so find them and see if they need what you’re spilling. It is really that simple.
Howard Bender is the head of content at FantasyAlarm.com. Follow him on X @rotobuzzguy and catch him on the award-winning “Fantasy Alarm Radio Show” on the SiriusXM fantasy sports channel weekdays from 6-8 p.m. Go to FantasyAlarm.com for all your fantasy baseball news and advice.