Nash,
It’s the time of year when the big league teams start deciding if they should be buyers or sellers, what about us fantasy owners?
Phillip
Well Phillip, this really depends on your league, position in the standings and of course the difference in points.
For instance, if you are in a few leagues you should probably turn your primary focus on to one. Some guys have the capacity for multiple leagues, some do not. Clave for instance is dominating three leagues right now (all first places, and trust me he is making sure we all know it…)
Dixon is right up there in top five of our four leagues. I am starting to show signs of life in the leagues but am in sixth in a couple, fifth in one, and third in another.
And no, we are not out of work weirdoes that live with our mothers and only play fantasy sports and World of Warcraft. We just love fantasy baseball and multiple leagues don’t slow us down much across the board. Although the jury is still out on me at this point.
If I decide on just one or maybe two leagues to focus on you’d think the one where I am third would be a logical one to choose. However that is not necessarily true. The point differentials in that league are going to be tougher to attack AND it is a 5×5 league, so there are fewer points to get. Also the league is a one-year league and it makes it VERY hard to be a buyer when guys have no keeper incentives.
Now, one is a head-to-head style league, which tends to be the easiest to make up ground in, depending on moves limits and standings. Right now I am the last seed in the playoffs and close enough to get the fourth pretty easily. So that one is one I would go after. Also it is a money league and of course I want to win money so I can take my wonderful fiancee out to a fancy dinner. Or buy a new golf club (don’t tell her I said that!)
With that said I will give you a few general keys to buying and selling. Selling is easier, so let’s start there:
If you are in a league that limits how many guys you can keep, then you need to get the best 3-5-7 (however many you can keep) as possible.
So let’s say you only can keep three guys and you have six guys that are pretty good keepers. You need to spin a few of the excess good ones to get three great keepers:
You have Shin-Soo Choo, Tommy Hanson, Jimmy Rollins, Ben Zobrist, Jordan Zimmermann and Paul Konerko.
Try to find a team that has a lesser player at one of those positions, maybe they have Dee Gordon at SS but Madison Bumgarner as a pitcher. Send them Rollins and Hanson for Bum and Gordon. Bumgarner is a rising Ace and will be a VERY sweet keeper.
Selling is also nice if your league has a keeper years max. If you have guys that you cannot keep next year, there’s no use in holding on to them until the end of the season if you are selling.
Buying can be a little tricky because you need to find a seller, and most guys at this point of the season don’t want to admit they are out of the running to win. Once you find a seller though, make sure you maximize your trade because you may only get one.
The best friend of a buyer is a keeper year max, because then you can go after “rentals” and you may be able to score big to make a run. Say a bottom tier team has a struggling star like Adrian Gonzalez, who also can’t be kept next year. Perhaps you have Nelson Cruz as a guy that you won’t keep because you have better keepers. Maybe you can swing Cruz for Gonzo and if Gonzo finds his groove you could be competing until the very end!
Of course there is the chance that Gonzo doesn’t figure things out this year, much like Carl Crawford last year. Buying is a high-risk, high-reward scenario.
Phillip, I hope this was helpful. Actually I think we may just have to go more in depth into buying and selling as trade deadlines approach!
Thanks again for the great question.
