| 23 October 2009
If your leagues are like my leagues than your free agent availability has pretty much dried up. Yes, there's a guy or two who had one good week recently, but I think we all know by now that a player like that won't help you win your league. Hopefully you have worked the waiver wire correctly during the season and built up a decent looking squad. The problem is that it's not about having the best overall squad, but it's about having the best starting lineup every week. It's nice to have a couple players like Ahmad Bradshaw, Ricky Williams, or Donald Brown on your bench, but deciding which one to play in hopes of getting 10-15 points isn't really what you're shooting for. This is why it's a crucial time to go for a solid trade. I've talked about it before that you always want to buy low and sell hi, but times they are a changing and now you will need to trade package deals for a single player. Most players are pretty much established and we know the values; now you will want to go after a player or two who will substantially improve your team. Make sure when you make a trade that you are getting at least three points extra per week in your starting lineup. You can trade away two running backs that are average 10-12 points a game if you can get back a running back that is getting 15 or more points a game. To really get what you want you will have to bait and trade. Here's what you do.
1. Know what your final offer for a trade is going to be. If you want to trade two solid players for one than keep that trade offer in the back of your mind.
2. Offer one of those players and a lesser value player to another team in hopes that the owner will like that trade. This is where you will see what the other owner is thinking and if you have a shot at the trade. If it goes through than great, if he counters that's good, and if he rejects than walk away.
3. If he counters than you know that he is willing to part with the player you want and you can make your final offer of what you thought of initially. The rule of thumb is to always get the best player back in the trade and that's what you're doing by trading two solid guys for one great guy.
So work the trades to your advantage and don't give in on anything. There are a lot of owners and a lot of players that you can try to work a trade to your advantage and pulling the bait and trade is the best way to do so.
