By The Godfather
League 1
As I sit here today and reflect on my teams, one thought keeps going through my head: “Slow down, it’s April!” I have to remind myself of that fact daily, if not hourly. It’s easy to get nervous three weeks into the season. Is my guy hurt? Can I wait on my player to heat up? Can I pass up this ‘diamond in the rough’ on the waiver wire? Maneuvering this minefield is what separates the “so-called” men from the boys.
They say a league can be won or lost from your draft. Just don’t compound a poor draft by making moves you will regret down the road. Remember that it’s only April and you need to give players time to produce. We have five more months of baseball and statistics left to accumulate, plenty of time to win (or lose) a league. However, at the same time, if you see an opportunity, then make an informed decision and try to improve your team.
Fantasy baseball is a game of strategies, and here is one that I use in April to W.I.N. my leagues …
W — ‘Watch‘ or ‘Work‘ the waiver wire
I — ‘Initiate‘ trades
N — ‘Never‘ give up
The first thing I do in April is get to know my team. Give the pitchers time to get a few starts under their belt and the hitters a chance to grab a couple dozen at-bats. Look at your team position by position and evaluate what is working and what may be a potential problem. Make projections of your mix of players and decide if your “mix” will make the grade or come up short.
If you identify a potential shortfall in a category, the (W) waiver wire is a great place to find ‘diamonds in the rough’, especially early in the season. Unless you’re in a deep mixed league, there should be a mix of quality players, unproven prospects, forgotten veterans, and overlooked future stars on the waiver wire.
As a responsible fantasy owner, you should watch the wire diligently for those “April showers” — the shower of players that hit the wire in April. The moves you make in April may have more effect on the final placement of your team than any other factor after the draft. The players you drop will have had less time to affect your team than those you can acquire for the rest of the season. Just keep in mind that there’s plenty of time; that pitcher you’re dropping may pull it together, and that hitter may find his swing. Don’t make matters worse by dropping a player too soon and giving your opponent those home runs or wins.
Fantasy baseball is a game that’s based on stats; use them to your advantage. You need to know your team’s strengths and weaknesses — and maybe more importantly, those of your opponents. When you have identified a weakness in your team and you just don’t see a viable option on the waiver wire, it’s time for (I) Initiate a trade.
Knowledge is power, and if you know more than your opponent, you should fare well in the high stakes world of trade negotiations. One thing I like to do is talk — I guess it’s the salesman in me. I love the art of closing the deal.
April is a great time to scare other owners. A few home runs, or a few points on batting average, can swing a team from 10th to 2nd in a day, and when you’re sitting with 36 points and the leader has 142, it’s easy to get nervous and make a bad trade. It’s your job to lay the groundwork that makes other owners nervous.
Most leagues have a message board, and it is a great place to talk about players. Just like the “force” in Star Wars, your Jedi ‘mind tricks’ will work on the simple-minded. I love to talk about how well my players are doing. I want people paying top dollar for my players. When one of my players is hot and playing over his head, and I feel it’s time to sell high. I let people know all about my player.
You’re making a sale, so why not talk up your product. Simple sales techniques work fine – like “Feature Benefit.” Johan Santana’s most obvious feature, or attraction, for leagues counting strikeouts is just that, the K. The benefit: Johan Santana can single-handedly make up 100 strikeouts, in comparison to the average pitcher, by the end of the season. In a 12 team league, 100 K’s could easily be worth five points or more.
I also want owners paying top dollar for players I am not after in trade. Simply put, if they are over-paying in another trade that doesn’t involve me, they are more than likely weakening their team overall. Drive down the value of those players not off to a good start in April, and see if you can’t make their owners nervous.
When they ask you why you want them, you don’t need to say that it’s because you believe in career averages or don’t believe in a sophomore slump. Simply tell them that you have the depth or space on your roster to take the gamble. Some owners don’t like it, but if your opponent’s player being shopped has flaws, expose them. Why should you make it easy for that mean, old owner ahead of you in the standings while he tries to shop a lemon on your friends and co-participants in the league? I just couldn’t sleep at night if I didn’t remind them of his recurring back problem or that the hitter has a 30 point higher BA pre All-Star Game than post.
The last thing to remember in April is to (N) Never give up — it’s only April. So if you drafted Curtis Granderson or Scott Kazmir (who are both out with injuries) or you missed the live draft and got stuck with three shortstops - you are just going to have to work a little harder this year. You need to work the waiver wire for replacements and think about trading.
If you’re lucky, you can trade two good players for one great player. Maybe one of your mediocre closers and a 5th OF with speed can get you the closer upgrade that you crave.
You need to maximize your roster daily and remember that, unlike offensive categories that can only be made up by double headers or plugging in players when others have off days, pitching stats are about maximizing every inning. For those of us in a league that has an innings pitched maximum, wouldn’t we all like our pitchers to go as few innings as possible while accumulating the most K’s and the lowest ERA and WHIP? There are only so many wins and saves available.
Having said that, it’s still easier to make up pitching stats than it is to make up hitting stats. Remember the importance of the strikeout rate. Using the strikeout rate, you can make up plenty of ground … ah!, but now we are getting ahead of ourselves. Slow down, it’s only April!