Pondering Early Season Trade Offers

Follow@cimini You’ve programmed your smart phone to receive even more enhancements during the football season. You want to be in-tune to injuries, live games, stats, and the all-important fantasy trade offers that come your way. Fantasy drafts are underway and the furious analytics of teams follow suit. Trade offers are going to come your way early and often. Upgrading now or later is the main question. After all you want to field the most favorable team possible in the small fantasy season of 13 to 14 regular season games. Is it better to listen to offers now and realistically ponder completing them? Or should you take a wait and see approach? That’s a tough spot for a lot of fantasy owners. I hear fantasy sports shows with owners confused on what to do. More than likely if you’re being offered a three to four player swap---the other owner is trying to swindle you and boost his team right before the season. You have to be a conscious fantasy mind or all you’re going to do is weaken the league by giving power to a certain team. If an owner sees that you’ve even considered going down the road of a trade longer than you should, he’ll be right back in your ear in no time. He knows that you’ve waited longer than other owners would pondering a trade of sorts. Similar to chess, your weak decision is going to expose you down the road. Never give another owner the mindset that “you’re thinking about it”. Hold your own and veto or submit a counter offer. Look at his team and see how much your players would benefit his overall team. More importantly you need to know if the players you’ll receive will boost your team in the long run. Anxious owners get sucked in to the hype of a trade. Belief that you’re getting the better end of the stick is a novice idea. Time and time again that early season trade could be the end doing of your season before it even starts. You’ve drafted your roster of fifteen or so players for a reason. Why would you give up three to four players in an alleged mega-deal before the season even starts? Don’t. Instead if you feel your team is lacking in a certain position utilize your league’s tools. All leagues have an area of a trading block where you can notate either player you’re willing to part with, or make owners aware of a position you’re in need of. This will put some thought into the sub-conscious mind-sets of the league owners. Even if they do not pull the trigger on an offer now, they may after the first game or two. Make the league owners have impatience not you. Data from last season is no way to facilitate a trade. On the field results and current data is the way to go. Consider how the NFL does trades before the season. They’re typically minute trades that are beneficial for an area with a key injury or to upgrade depth where they’ve cut a player due to poor performance. Almost never is a blockbuster deal done before the season. So do not do a three to four player swap now It’s no secret that the waiver wire is where the biggest gains of a fantasy season happen. Securing one or two key waiver wire additions can be all the world to a fantasy team. Most of the time a significant impact waiver wire player is someone that’s going to be a top fantasy pick in next year’s draft. Alfred Morris and Robert Griffin the III last season, and Cam Newton the year before are just a few names that ring a bell. I’m not saying not to do trades’ an entire season. It’s beneficial in several ways. There is just a time and place when to dive in on the move.