Trades in fantasy baseball can get a team out of the gutter and into a playoff berth, or elevate them from a contender to championship status. While using RotoWire's exhaustive fantasy baseball draft kit is critical for acquiring core pieces, the reality is your roster on the final day of the season will look much different than the one you draft.
But trades are an art, not a science. It takes two teams to complete a deal, and it's not as simple as looking at which players are higher in the current fantasy baseball rankings and going after them. Your proposals need to benefit the other side in some way, you need to know which stats you're going after, and you need to be thinking long term before pulling the trigger on anything.
Why Trading is One of Fantasy Baseball's Most Underutilized Tools
Many fantasy baseball teams are scared to trade because it's a considerable risk compared to simply plucking players off the waiver wire and hoping for the best. But the top fantasy baseball managers are active in trade discussions and aren't afraid to take that risk.
You'll need to give something to get something, but you can improve your team all the same if you know what to look for and target the right players (while offloading the ones you don't believe in at the same time).
How to Identify What Your Fellow Managers Actually Need
Competitive leagues are more difficult to trade in, but it's not fun to just rip off your league mates and use trading like a second waiver wire. Communication is key with fellow managers, but it's also good to look at standings and rosters to have a starting point to kick off trade discussions.
Examples include your team being strong in starting pitching and another team losing their ace to injury, or your team getting a batter back from the injured list and trading another batter to a team that is weak in offensive categories. It's often a good idea to determine what your surpluses are and then find a team in need of those stats (assuming they have something good to give in return).
How to Assess Fair Trade Value Without Getting Burned
It's impossible to know whether you're going to win a trade. That's life in fantasy baseball. But that's why it's so important to have an understanding of players you're targeting and players you want to ship out. You can start by following RotoWire's fantasy baseball experts who provide analysis within their fantasy baseball news updates.
It's also important to stay on top of MLB projections to see who might be off to a hot start that's worth dealing or a cold start and is worth buying low on. Know what you stand to get in return in the trade and see how it fits with the rest of your roster. Context will always matter which is why you need to go beyond the stats you see from a player. RotoWire's experts and projections can help you do just that.
Timing Your Trades: When to Buy Low and When to Sell High
Timing is everything when it comes to trading. Wait too long and a window could close. Go too early and you may not have the chance to see that the hot player you traded was for real and not a flash in the pan. This is easier said than done, of course, and it may require a good amount of gut feeling and intuition.
In general, check to see if a player who has started slow has a track record of doing so and then turning it around in the summer. For players who have started out hotter than expected, check underlying metrics like xWOBA and BABIP to see if they're legitimate or just getting lucky. The same goes for pitchers; xFIP can show you if a pitcher is benefiting from a great defense (and some luck) or really pitching well.
How to Close Deals and Avoid Common Negotiation Mistakes
If you get a reputation for offering unfair trades, it could turn into The Boy Who Cried Wolf, where fellow managers won't even consider the good trades you send over. Don't try to pull a fast one on another team; it'll do more harm than good. It's also important to not try and do too much talking to convince the other side that a deal is a good one for them. You'll sound like a used car salesman.
The offer should stand on its own, and you should be ready for a counter offer in many cases. It's OK to start with an offer that tilts in your direction (you want to win the trade, after all), but make sure it's not so lopsided that you get a straight rejection without the chance for a counter.
