Trade Strategy Reminders

Aim To Fill Holes On Your Roster, And Your Trade Partner’s

In general, trade offers that clearly benefit both teams’ overall value, not just your own, will make a trade partner more cooperative. However, being mindful of depth concerns with all teams involved in a trade will only increase the chance of that cooperation. Be mindful not just of weak positional depth, but a surplus of positional depth, with all your league’s rosters. You might have a shortlist of players you’d love to be able to trade for, but if what you have to offer isn’t what your trade partner needs, your offers will likely fall on deaf ears. Say you’re weak at RB, and have a surplus at WR. Teams that are strong at RB, but weak at WR, are naturally more eager to haggle.

Never Mention The Words “But The Trade Calculator Says”

Charts and calculators are a reference that can help find ideal trades, but they’re not gospel, and trying to make your potential trade partner think otherwise could shut the door on negotiations real quick. Even if your charts/calculators show the trade offer to be in your league mate’s favor, they probably have tools and references of their own, and the next time “But the trade calculator says” changes someone’s mind, may be the first time.

Be Careful How Low-Ball Your Offers Are

Speaking of bad faith, a trade offer that is too clearly in your favor puts you in danger of potential trade partners shutting you out not just for that particular trade negotiation, but any future ones as well. It’s a great feeling to get those kinds of lopsided trade deals, but the ones that are so bad they only go through 1 percent of the time likely aren’t worth hitting the send button to begin with. At their core, fantasy players aren’t complete masochists; they just want to have fun with it, and somebody sending them insulting offers isn’t fun.