RADIO
The Art of Trading
It’s now June, meaning one-third of the fantasy baseball season is in the books. By now you've got a solid idea of your (and your competition's) strengths and weaknesses. Those deficiencies that you wrote off as minor scuffles entering May (e.g. dragging a bit in steals) are now becoming intimidating issues that probably require more than a waiver wire Band-Aid. Or perhaps you simply have a huge margin in homers and could use a starting pitcher. That means it's time to hit the market, but how to best approach it?
You consider yourself a fair and rational individual, so you analyze your team’s needs and enter the marketplace with the best of intentions. Those intentions being to come away with a good deal, with a squad that has a better chance of winning than before. Let’s start with what that means.
What Constitutes a Good Deal
A good deal is one that addresses a need, ideally from a position of strength (those excess homers have diminishing returns and won’t help you past a certain point). Mix in the obvious caveat of including a little common sense, and that’s it. That is to say, you don’t trade Mike Trout for Aroldis Chapman because you’re hurting in saves. If you’re in need of bullpen assistance, trading a guy who is ranked ~100 for a closer ranked ~125 can still be a “win” for you (the rankings merely help get the point across, more on being too attached to ranks in a bit).
The idea here is that needs align to form a “win-win” for both sides (meaning you’ve also looked at their team’s needs). This makes for a smooth transaction while also laying the groundwork for future deals. On the other hand, if I have a healthy lead in homers and you offer me Giancarlo Stanton for Max Scherzer, then you’ve not only wasted my time but you’ve also shown me that you didn’t consider my needs. That sounds like a hilarious cliche out of a rom-com, but it holds true. This all swirls together into your “league persona”.
Building Your Brand
Laying a healthy groundwork for your persona is extremely important, it's your brand, and your reputation can be the difference between a deal and a dismissal. You want to be the first thought when someone is looking to trade, or at least neutral, versus being seen as “difficult”. When someone thinks about trading, the headache of dealing with a certain owner is usually a factor. If you communicate, listen, and actually trade value for value without doing any of the following:
- Lowballing them three times before arriving at a decent offer.
- Ragging on them for having a worse team.
- Over-leveraging that they might be in a vulnerable position.
- Asserting that you are more intelligent with your knowledge of the game/stats.
Avoid these, and people will most likely then be receptive to you. If you enjoy being a jerk more than actually trading, then feel free to keep it up, but know that it’s an uphill climb to regain trust.
Use Your Words
It also goes a long way to explain your rationale to give them some point of reference. Feel free to be crafty or a little off-base to not give away your entire process, but give context. Only reveal what you want them to see, but it goes a lot to build a base. Rejecting a trade with zero commentary kills the talks, but a rejection with a why keeps the ball rolling.
Remember that you are forming a trade partnership, a relationship. Communication is vital, which means listening to the other party and talking with them as opposed to talking at them. Most who have conversed with someone else know the difference. If someone says they aren't interested in acquiring a certain player, position, or stat...listen. If you give them a platform, your potential trade partners will reveal their preferences that you can utilize. Just like with real relationships, two perfectly nice people can simply be a poor fit, don't force it just for the sake of trading.
It Takes Two to Tango
Here’s another bugaboo, don’t put the onus of the trade entirely on the other party. It’s totally acceptable to reach out and say, “Hey, are you interested in Player X?” and then actively go from there. Suppose I responded yes, don’t just say, “Alright, well what will you give me for him?” Please bring something to the table other than an initial name drop before folding your arms and leaning back with expectant eyes.
You also should try to be timely in your negotiations. Few things are as annoying as someone saying they're interested in a deal, only to receive intermittent texts from them over the next few days that lead nowhere. They will also invariably complain later when you work out another deal, saying that they would've given you better if you had just worked with them. Someone who doesn't reciprocate effort makes for a dead-end trader (I swear I'm not writing this as a romantic advice column), and time is a key factor in fantasy sports.
Being Nice ≠ Being a Good Person
None of this is saying that you shouldn’t pounce if someone is desperate and can be taken advantage of, as being polite and tactful places no restrictions on being timely and direct. If anything, it means that you’ll be able to swiftly close a deal, effectively closing the window that your competition has to step in.
Of course, buying low and selling high is always an effective move, but don’t be the one who offered Jeremy Hazelbaker for Carlos Gonzalez. You will be shamed and be branded as “that guy”. Offering up legitimately valuable players makes you a desirable vendor, but dumping fairly obvious flash-in-the-pan types on the entire league is going to tarnish your reputation.
You’re not only competing in the standings, but also the psychological poker game behind the scenes. You don’t have to like your leaguemates, you can even have horrible intentions, but at least make them think you’re a good person. They should be fully aware that you're looking out for #1 anyway. If you want to betray them later and have them whimpering, “et tu, Brute?” then so be it, but you need to gain their trust first and you better make that bridge-burning count with a championship pennant.
Rankings Aren't Everything
Lastly, don’t be a rankings slave. People who immediately dismiss a deal, or even a conversation, solely based on saying that “Player X is ranked Y” make for aggravating traders. Objectively, at least I’ve learned that you value that player very highly and are unlikely to trade them, as well as gaining a manual on how to speak your language. That said, it’s still obnoxious have every single thread of conversation come back to me needing to give up someone ranked higher in order to make something happen.
In the end every league is different. Trades that look foolish in one league may be incredibly fair in another. Being a strong-armed jerk might actually work with some owners. Some league probably exists where there was a Hazelbaker-for-Gonzalez trade. We’re speaking with broad strokes here. The bottom line is that being an approachable trade partner is an unheralded factor in being a successful fantasy owner, and we like success.
