Playing in a keeper league means you’re in it for the long haul. The moves you make today can have implications that last for years. Let’s look at four key attributes that make a successful keeper-league GM.
Have A Plan
First, you need to figure out what your ultimate goals are. Are you hoping to compete this season, or are you rebuilding? If you’re rebuilding, how long do you estimate the rebuild will take? Also, are you trying to build a perennial contender, or do your players’ contracts shape up such that you need to go for broke and play to win or bust in a specific season? To really know these things, you need to analyze your roster. Last week I talked about figuring out next year’s keepers today and going from there. Whether competing or rebuilding this season, you should always keep one eye on your keeper list and be thinking about how today’s decisions will affect your team going forward. Before you can do that, you need to know what your keeper list looks like right now. Sit down and spend some time with your roster. Project out a little.
You can take this a step farther by looking ahead and deciding which players might be keepable for multiple seasons. You may have a core of solid keepers who will be with you for 2-3 more seasons. If those core players are all due to hit free agency after, say, 2023, you’ll know that you have a deadline–compete by 2023 or end up rebuilding again in 2024 without a title in your pocket. You have two years to rebuild and stock up on keepers for a title run in 2023.
Doing this little exercise will in many instances lead you to a certain plan and help with some of the decisions needed to implement that plan. If you’re aiming to win or go bust in 2023, for instance, you need minor leaguers who are in position to help you sooner rather than later. You don’t need the toolsy 16-year-old who’s getting his first at-bats in rookie ball. You need the guy in double-A who will be ready to contribute during your competitive window. Knowing your goals and your timeline will also help with trading and other decisions involving contracts. No use trading for a player whose walk year is 2022 if you’re not going to be competitive until 2023.
Another good exercise in planning, especially for a rebuilding team, is to take all your league rosters, and find the top three keepers at each position (so six if your league has two catchers, 15 for a five-man outfield, etc.). This will help you with finding potential trade targets, and just as important, will keep you from trading valuable resources for a player who is only the sixth-best keeper at a particular position when the #3 keeper might be available for the same price. Conversely, if you’re in a position to compete this year, take some time and find the top three studs you’d like to have at each position. This will help focus your search for impact players to trade for.
Patience, Grasshopper
Just like when you first join a keeper league and take over a bad team, coming up with a plan you’re excited about can be dangerous. There is a pull to start making moves to implement your plan right away. There’s nothing inherently wrong with this, but keep in mind that you have plenty of time to implement your plan. You don’t have to make five trades in April, and you don’t have to grab the first free agent available for in-season bidding. Be patient. Implement your plan over time. This will not only help you avoid rushing and making bad moves, but over time your plan will become more refined and targeted, so the moves you make can be more efficient.
Along these lines, you also don’t want to tinker too much. You don’t have to make a roster move or a free agent signing every day or week. Sometimes it’s best to wait for a better opportunity rather than make the move that’s in front of you right now, even if that current move would be helpful in some way. Be patient. Let the game come to you a little.
Pay Attention
This might go without saying, but whether competing or rebuilding you absolutely cannot afford to fall asleep at the switch. You need to continually be aware of free agents available for FAAB bidding, guys available on the waiver wire, and so on. Keepers often emerge from nowhere. You want to be able to grab some of them when they become available. Be attentive throughout the season. If you can manage it, keep an eye on baseball year-round, even during the offseason. A lot of interesting things happen over the winter, and it’s a good time to learn things that other people who aren’t paying attention won’t know come spring.
Keep An Open Mind
Be flexible with your goal setting, your plan, and your strategies. If you have several young players who emerge as stars, perhaps you can compete a year earlier than you originally thought. Likewise, if you lose quality keepers to injury or trade to the other league, it can set you back. Always be reassessing your goals and your strategy to achieve them.
Now, this isn’t a license to be indecisive or wishy-washy. The last thing you want to do is to be changing plans all the time–that will cause poor decisions at every turn. But when some significant event happens, it’s always a good idea to stop and think. Do your goals and plans need to change, or should you go on as before?
It’s also important to keep an open mind about the players themselves. Players are in a constant state of flux. The stud of today is the bum of tomorrow, and vice versa. Keep track, not just of your own players, but all the players in the league as best you can. Check the who’s hot/who’s not lists, MLB stat leaders, online columns about free agent pickups or players to target…basically collect as much information as you can. Surprising and impactful things happen constantly in baseball.
Your fellow GMs are always in a state of flux as well. Don’t write off potential trade partners because they seemed unreasonable, unfriendly or whatever the last time you dealt with them. Give out second (and third) chances freely. People get attached to specific players and have bad days (or weeks). The guy who comes across rude once in trade talks might be the perfect fit for one of the players you’re trying to move. You’ll never know unless you ask.
So, have a plan, be patient, pay attention, and be flexible. These are key attributes for any fantasy GM. Going without them can cost you a lot of time, frustration, and championships.
