The first weekend of the fantasy season is in the books. How are you feeling this morning? Did you start drafts with Gerrit Cole (6.75 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and 3 Ks), Corbin Burnes (5.40 ERA, 1.40 WHIP and 4 Ks) or Brandon Woodruff (17.18 ERA, 2.45 WHIP and 2 Ks). Maybe you drew the #1 pick and drafted a 5-tool player in Trea Turner (.231 AVE, 0 HR, 0 SB, 0 R and 1 RBI) who opened the season at Coors Field. If either of these situations applies to you, there’s a good chance you spent Monday morning picking through the medicine cabinet for antacid. We’ve all been there. Some of us are right there with you now. Don’t sweat it. Put the bottle down and call your Fantasy 911 operator whenever you need to hear a calming voice.
The best advice I can give right now is to be careful how you navigate the fantasy waters in the coming days. Every league is full of sharks. Every single one! Whether you’re playing in high-profile leagues against the top fantasy baseball minds in the business or your neighborhood home league with Bob down the street, the one thing you will always find are sharks. Today, the sharks are patrolling your team pages, sniffing for blood. You may have even received trade offers already from one of your league sharks. Trust me, they are prowling for the owners who may be panicking over these slow starts. They are looking for you!
The Tiger Sharks
The tiger sharks out there, especially those who want to think of themselves as great white sharks, are aggressive and tend to offer quantity over quality. They’re coming for Burnes or Woodruff by offering a package of a decent pitcher on a good team off to a strong start, like Kyle Gibson (0.00 ERA, 0.45 WHIP, 1 W, 10 Ks) or Framber Valdez (0.00 ERA, 0.29 WHIP, 1 W, 6 Ks), paired with a name like Jean Segura (.364 AVE, 2 HR, 3 R and 2 RBI) or Ian Happ (.714 AVE, 0 HR, 3 R and 4 RBI). The more aggressive tiger sharks will even provide a narrative as to why this deal is good for you. These sharks are generally easy to identify but still can be dangerous.
The Great White Sharks
The true great white sharks may not be as aggressive but come stronger than the tiger sharks. They will offer a deal that makes you want to call into a fantasy radio show or seek out the industry experts on Twitter and ask for advice. Instead of Gibson or Valdez, you’ll see names like Sean Manaea (0.00 ERA, 0.14 WHIP, 1 W, 7 Ks) or Chris Bassitt (0.00 ERA, 0.67 WHIP, 1 W, 8 Ks) on the pitching side and Paul Goldschmidt (.333 AVE, 0 HR, 5 R and 1 SB) or Anthony Rizzo (.300 AVE, 2 HR, 3 R and 6 RBI) on the offensive side. These players have more of a proven record and on paper may look very attractive. These are the most dangerous waters to navigate because the deals may truly appear to be win-wins for both sides.
The common theme in all these scenarios? You will be required to trade the best player in the deal. Some experts say NEVER be the one trading the best player. Your Fantasy 911 operator is here to say that advice is crap. Sometimes you will need to trade “the better player” to make your team better.
If you take only one nugget from this article, the one piece of advice to put up on your wall, even call it your “Believe” statement…the ultimate goal is to win the league, not the trade. Sure, it makes your stomach turn when trading one of the cornerstone pieces of the squad but if that’s what it takes to make your team better, DO IT! Just promise me this…before you accept the deal take a deep breath, do a little homework, perhaps even seek some outside advice (Fantasy 911 is here for you) but never be afraid to shake things up. You may want to wait until May or June to make the bold move but never stop working the wires. Lesser deals are always there if you are willing to do the work. With so many categories at play and team composition scenarios to consider, it may take some time to get it right but hey, if fantasy baseball was easy, we’d call it fantasy football!
Now that I’ve helped you off the meds, I’ve got one last bit of advice for you. If you are the owner in the league RECEIVING these offers rather than MAKING these offers, look in the mirror at the league tuna. As Herm Edwards is famous for saying, with emphasis, “YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME”! You only become a shark if you learn to swim with them. Get off the beach and start swimming! You’ll thank me in September. Happy hunting my friends!
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