2012 NL-Only Fantasy Baseball, The Franchise: Rules of the Trade
It has been a little over a month since I have shared with you, and for that I apologize. Things like jobs, family, and baseball cards have kept me too busy. But I am back and re-committed to letting you peer into the world of my NL-only team the Franchise – and its success.
As I mentioned above, my team has been pretty successful since mid-May when I talked about how to spend FAAB. Swapping spots with the first place team (currently in second) over the past couple weeks shows my team has some promise for the end of the season.
Some notable roster moves were adding Nathan Eovaldi, James Russell and Brad Lincoln while activating Jordan Pacheco from my reserve roster. I also made a trade. Two weeks after picking up Christian Friedrich for three bucks of FAAB I flipped him for Carlos Marmol. A trade I loved this trade for a few reasons.
First, Friedrich was almost a “freebie”. I got a few good starts out of him and he cost me minimal. Second, Marmol has struggled this year, and of course is not currently the Cubs closer, but with the “sell, sell, sell” mentality Theo Epstein currently has for the franchise he will be put back into that role to increase his trade value. After my two draft day closers Javy Guerra and Sean Marshall lost their jobs I am really scraping for saves. Finally, starting pitching is a strength of mine, and everyone knows one should deal from their strength to improve a weakness, which is true, but you should never deal from your strength if it makes your strength turn into a weakness.
I know, not very zen when you say it out loud, but it is something many owners don’t realize they are doing because they are so excited about filling the hole that they have.
For instance, all of my corner infield spots are tremendous holes on my team by my own accord. (I knew this going into the draft) Slotting in Jordan Pacheco, Pedro Alvarez, and John Mayberry Jr. into the three positions leaves a lot to be desired. I had an offer to improve at that position, but it meant giving up R.A. Dickey (who I have been very high on since February) for Yonder Alonso.
On the surface this looks perfect right? Getting a hitter for a pitcher is usually a desirable trade. Starting pitching is a strength of mine, also good. But how much better is an unproven Alonso going to be over my other options? Sure the ceiling is there, but when it comes to trades I usually like to consider a players “basement” when figuring value. This trade would have hurt my pitching stats far more than improve my hitting stats.
So be careful out there, especially in deeper leagues where there is a huge gap in the value of most waiver wire options to players already owned. When you are getting better at a spot via trade, you must make sure it will help your team overall in the standings, or it is a bad trade.
As I mentioned above, my team has been pretty successful since mid-May when I talked about how to spend FAAB. Swapping spots with the first place team (currently in second) over the past couple weeks shows my team has some promise for the end of the season.
Some notable roster moves were adding Nathan Eovaldi, James Russell and Brad Lincoln while activating Jordan Pacheco from my reserve roster. I also made a trade. Two weeks after picking up Christian Friedrich for three bucks of FAAB I flipped him for Carlos Marmol. A trade I loved this trade for a few reasons.
First, Friedrich was almost a “freebie”. I got a few good starts out of him and he cost me minimal. Second, Marmol has struggled this year, and of course is not currently the Cubs closer, but with the “sell, sell, sell” mentality Theo Epstein currently has for the franchise he will be put back into that role to increase his trade value. After my two draft day closers Javy Guerra and Sean Marshall lost their jobs I am really scraping for saves. Finally, starting pitching is a strength of mine, and everyone knows one should deal from their strength to improve a weakness, which is true, but you should never deal from your strength if it makes your strength turn into a weakness.
I know, not very zen when you say it out loud, but it is something many owners don’t realize they are doing because they are so excited about filling the hole that they have.
For instance, all of my corner infield spots are tremendous holes on my team by my own accord. (I knew this going into the draft) Slotting in Jordan Pacheco, Pedro Alvarez, and John Mayberry Jr. into the three positions leaves a lot to be desired. I had an offer to improve at that position, but it meant giving up R.A. Dickey (who I have been very high on since February) for Yonder Alonso.
On the surface this looks perfect right? Getting a hitter for a pitcher is usually a desirable trade. Starting pitching is a strength of mine, also good. But how much better is an unproven Alonso going to be over my other options? Sure the ceiling is there, but when it comes to trades I usually like to consider a players “basement” when figuring value. This trade would have hurt my pitching stats far more than improve my hitting stats.
So be careful out there, especially in deeper leagues where there is a huge gap in the value of most waiver wire options to players already owned. When you are getting better at a spot via trade, you must make sure it will help your team overall in the standings, or it is a bad trade.
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Written by Nate Springfield exclusively for TheFantasyFix.com. Check back weekly for Nate’s NL-Only expertise, and follow him on his journey for a title of the State House League in 2012.
Follow Nate on Twitter @NateSpringfield
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