Trading can be one of the more frustrating endeavors in fantasy sports. Ridiculous trade offers seem to outnumber the reasonable by about a 10:1 ratio.
There are a few explanations for this: Some people in our leagues are just dumb or selfish. Others are too busy to put much thought into an offer or buried in the standings and not trying in fighting back into it. Many are scared to “lose” the deal or won’t even look at your roster to see what might actually help you. It’s just his Jon Gray for your Ozzie Albies. End of discussion.
The only thing we can do is type a few expletives into the response email to make ourselves feel better, then delete them before sending it because we might need to get this dumbass on the hook sometime in the future.
Still, trading should be part of every fantasy player’s repertoire, and we’re entering a good time to audit the landscape — halfway through the season and one month before the MLB trade deadline.
In considering a trade I made this week in a competitive 12-team 7×7 innings-capped Yahoo league, I realized a couple keys I’ve used over the years to get deals done.
Here’s how the negotiation went down:
I had my eye on Madison Bumgarner, but decided to open with an offer of Eduardo Escobar (ranked 70th year-to-date) for his Jose Berrios (ranked 41st). My trading partner needed offense and was weak at both 2B and 3B.
Counter offer: Berrios for Francisco Lindor. (Come on, man!)
I rejected it with no counter, planning to see what MadBum might cost but not sure my partner was acting in good faith here. A few minutes later I received an offer of Berrios for Eddie Rosario (13th-ranked player year-to-date). (Hmm. )
Here’s the thing: I am a full believer in Rosario. On May 11 I advocated for the pickup in this space and have enjoyed the production ever since. Since then he’s gone .335/.387/.593 with 10 home runs, 25 RBI, 31 runs and two steals over 181 plate appearances. Here’s his line over the past calendar year: .306/.344/.552 with 34 home runs, 104 RBI, 100 runs and 13 bags. I didn’t want to trade him!
But how else do you nab a top 10 starter?
With Max Muncy and Brandon Nimmo both on my roster and looking like breakouts, I pulled the trigger. Now it’s back to the waiver wire to find another hitter to rebuild the depth I dipped into.
This trade checked one of two common boxes in my experience dealing with the dodos in a home league: We have to either give up the higher-ranked player or the bigger name player — the guy who was drafted higher, usually.
Which brings up an important point: We don’t have to get 100 cents on the dollar in every trade. We’re trying to move up in the standings, and expanding your lead in an offensive category or two thanks to Rosario isn’t going to get you out of fifth place if your pitching sucks. It’s OK to fall a couple points in average if it means moving up five points in ERA.
Being willing to “lose” a trade on paper is critical to making deals. People are really suckers for superstars, so consider going two- or three-for-one with one of your early picks. I asked for Mike Trout as a third-player throw-in during his rookie season, then won the league — memories last a lifetime. In The Great Fantasy Baseball Invitational, I’m considering putting feelers out for Eugenio Suarez with hope of getting some steals and saves back — neither player will be of Suarez’s caliber, but the right combo will move me up in the standings.
At the end of the day, we’re trying to win leagues. It doesn’t matter if losing a trade drops us from fifth to seventh place by the end of the year. The right trade can catapult us to the top — and these types of deals don’t come free.
Follow Danny @_dannycross_.
