The Art of the Trade

I thought I'd take a break this week to talk about a crucial part of fantasy football. This is the perfect time to honestly evaluate your team, try to find those second half studs and make sure you get as many on your team as possible. The best way to do that at this point is through a trade. This starts way back at the draft. I try and touch base with each team and gauge their opinion of their team. Then throughout the year I'll send them an email to see how things are going. If I'm facing them on a given week I'll wish them luck or comment on the play of one of their players...just to see where they are. This builds a relationship with that person and gives you some insight on how they value their players. Now it's time to act.

The first thing you have to consider is your team's needs. Where are you struggling and where can you improve? Are you waiting for that struggling star to rebound? For the most part it's time to move on and get production.

The next thing to look at is your depth. Do you have 4 starting RBs? Do you have 3 quality QBs? Even if you have 2 QBs, can you trade one and pick up a capable back up off of the wire? It's time to move some of that depth to upgrade your starters.

The last evaluation is to see where you are in the standings. Do you need to make a drastic move to get into the playoff hunt? Are you sitting good and just need to tweak things? You know your league and know what it'll take to make a run.

Now that you're done looking at your own team, take a look at each roster in your league. I usually start with the struggling teams. They are usually the most desperate and might be more willing to shake things up. Are they starting Kevin Faulk at RB or Bryant Johnson at WR week in and week out? Have then been hurt by injuries or suspensions? Now's the time to swoop in and make an offer.

You should also make a list of those guys you think will be the second half studs. How different will the top 5 at each position look at the end of the year? Who has a soft schedule down the stretch? Who will be returning from injury soon? Who has a chance to take over as a starter? Making this list will give you players to target or at least teams to target.

The first rule of negotiations is not to start out with your best offer. You do need to consider how much you're willing to pay and what your ultimate goal of the trade is. You have to make sure any deal will help or improve your team more than hurting it in a different area. Once you do that, it's time to make first contact. I usually don't make an official offer, but contact the person to gauge interest in any kind of trade. If they're open, I let them know what I'm looking for and then some possible guys I'd be interested in. From there I see how they respond and go to an official offer.

You have to give value to get value. The trick is to buy low and sell high when you can. It's ok to lose a trade if it fills a need for your team and especially if you're dealing from depth and won't hurt yourself in the long run.

Well, that's a quick run down on how I approach trades. Every league is different and every owner approaches trading differently. Get to know your league and the owners. It'll give you an advantage when it comes to trading. Good luck.