By Gabriel Lundeen
Cappo, League 10
EARLY SEASON TRADING ADVICE
Drafts are over, and the 2008 Major League Baseball season is finally underway. In some leagues, the trade offers are already starting to fly. We’re already getting early reports of deals going down in smoky Mafia back rooms across the world.
Don’t you people ever rest? The paint on the new Rays’ logo isn’t even dry! The Nationals haven’t broken in their new park yet! Rich Harden and Ben Sheets have yet to spend time at their vacation homes in DL-Ville!
Seriously, it’s never too early to think about ways to improve your team. Don’t be afraid to get started early. There’s no such thing as too early of a trade.
By Gabriel Lundeen
Cappo, League 10
So it’s draft time, baseball season is breathing down our necks, and we’re still talking keepers? You’re damn right we are!
Today, we’re looking at an off-season body of work instead of a single trade, in an occasional feature I’d like to call ‘Inside the Trader’s Studio’.
By Gabriel Lundeen
Cappo, League 10
The 2007 Arizona Diamondbacks gave up more runs than they scored and yet still managed to win the NL West. How does that happen? Arizona has a great collection of young players and two of the best starting pitchers in baseball, but can the Baby Backs shock the world again and repeat as division champs?
By Gabriel Lundeen
Cappo, League 10
It takes a lot of courage to do what Laura in League 8 did: trade a first-rounder, from your favorite team, before the season even starts. I love that kind of ‘moxie’. It shows an incredible desire to make one’s team better, because I believe you should be prepared to deal any player, at any time, if it will help you win. Laura pulled the trigger, boldly, but was it the right move to make?
By Gabriel Lundeen
Cappo, League 10
When analyzing a trade, the first thing I look for is motive. Why make a deal without a specific goal in mind … no matter how small? Today, we have a bit of a ‘head-scratcher’ out of League 5. Let’s take a look and see if we can make sense of this odd transaction.
By Gabriel Lundeen
Cappo, League 10
The Dodgers are a team with an identity crisis, caught between retooling and rebuilding. After a fourth place finish in the NL West in 2007, the Dodgers hired Joe Torre, added Andruw Jones to anchor their lineup, and signed Japanese starter Hiroki Kuroda … and they have a host of talented young players who could make a difference if they’re not blocked by mediocre veterans with bad contracts. Will it be enough to compete in the resurgent NL West?
By Gabriel Lundeen
Cappo, League 10
We’ve got a big trade out of League 4 this week, with 5 players changing teams. Draft season is closing in, but it’s not too late to work out that big trade and find ways to improve your fantasy squad. Let’s see who got the best of this deal.
By Gabriel Lundeen
Cappo, League 10
The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you’ve got it made. -Groucho Marx
With a weak 2008 free agent class and the realization that money won’t buy championships, the trade is back in vogue with MLB GMs. For fantasy baseball GMs, it never left. We’ve gotten another trade from League 10 this week, and this one’s just a good old fashioned strength for strength deal. Two good players change teams, but who got the best out of the swap?
By Gabriel Lundeen
Cappo, League 10
Billy Beane seems to think that his young squad may surprise people and finish above .500. Don’t count on it. Beane officially showed he’s not messing around with the rebuilding process when he traded Dan Haren and Nick Swisher, two talented stars with manageable contracts whose trade value, in Beane’s view, was at a peak. The last time the A’s rebuilt this extensively was in 1997 when they traded Mark McGwire to St. Louis.
By Gabriel Lundeen
Cappo, League 10
Miguel Cabrera has kept the hot stove lit all winter, both in real baseball and in fantasy. The Tigers acquired one of the best young players in baseball, and, apparently, a lot of fantasy owners are looking to follow suit. How do you trade a superstar player? Do you have to get another first-rounder back, or are two or more solid contributors better than one? How do you know you’re getting enough back in return?