Fantasy Baseball: Would I Make This Deal?

Brock for Broglio has an interview up with Shawn Hoffman of Squawking Baseball. I’ll ‘fess up right away: before reading this interview, I’d never heard of Hoffman or his site, but I’ll be paying closer attention going forward.

Here’s some sage advice for the fantasy players out there:

With good trading partners, try to look for depth on their team, and your own. That’s the easiest way to make a deal that benefits both sides. Usually these trades can get done pretty quickly, since you both have done your homework. With bad trading partners, exploit their weaknesses. What players are they misevaluating? What information are they not aware of? These are also usually the owners that make trades just to make trades.

I’ve been playing some form of fantasy baseball since 1984, and I couldn’t agree more with Hoffman’s riff on doing one’s homework. Come to the table prepared to meet your trade partner’s needs (and your own, of course), and you’ll generally do okay. Always ask yourself, “If our sides were reversed, would I make this deal?”

Aside from the obvious short-term benefits, if you trade well with your fellow owners now, they will remember to call you the next time they’re ready to make a deal.

This isn’t rocket science. Then again, I’ve seen some interesting trade proposals in my day…