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Today’s topic comes from Charley Paek. He wanted me to write about trading.
A little background. I play in a league with Charley. It’s called the Crack League, and I’ve been a “Crackhead” for over 10 years. The league has been in existence for almost 20 years I believe. Since I’ve been in the league, Charley has won five ‘ships (four in a row from 2004-2007). Impressive stuff.
You are probably going:
This is not a pansy league. It’s a 12-team, PPR, super-flex league, which has evolved to include three keepers. We have an offline draft every year. I truly believe having an offline draft makes a league so much more enjoyable and changes the dynamic. I digress. It’s a cutthroat league where owners will sacrifice their first born to hoist the trophy at the end of the year.
I will never forget my first year in the league. Cadillac Williams had just rumbled for 148, 128 and 158 yards in his first three games in the NFL. The commissioner, who I played hoops with for many years and thought was cool with me, sold me on the fact that Cadillac was the greatest thing since sliced bread. Had I ever heard of Barry Sanders? I could get in on the ground floor. He didn’t even have the decency to take me to dinner. The next four games, Cadillac rushed for 13, 20, 29 and 20 yards. Welcome to the Crack League.
Back to Charley. One of the reasons that he’s been so successful over the years is his trading acumen. He is the “trade king” of our league, but he doesn’t trade just to trade. He always has a plan and gets very creative. I won’t delve into having a plan when trading because that’s assumed right? At least I hope so.
YOU DON’T HAVE TO WIN THE TRADE
When I used to trade stocks for my own account, every transaction was win or lose. Did I make money or lose money? There was no gray area. When I was a market maker for a firm, things were not so black and white. Sometimes I would put on a trade to ascertain information. Other times I would try to fake out my competitors. When working an order for a customer, there would be times when I would have to lose money in the short-term to get the best price for them. By doing so, I would get rewarded by the customer on the back-end and end up making more money in the long-term.
In fantasy football, trading should be viewed through the prism of improving your team. That may require you to “lose” the trade. There are so many sites out there that have trade calculators. Don’t get me wrong. They are great tools and very helpful. The problem is that they only assess value in a vacuum. They usually do not take into account league and team specifics.
An example of a trade Charley did last year at the draft. He was slated to pick No. 5 and wanted to move up to the No. 3 spot to select Aaron Rodgers. It’s a super-flex league. He swapped first and third round picks and offered Le’Veon Bell (keeper in the fifth round). He probably gave up too much, especially since Bell was a stud, but that didn’t stop him from doing what he felt was best for his team.
DON’T BE SCARED
We live in a culture that promotes the need to be right. You think that has anything to do with the hatred and violence?
Psychologically, many of us have difficulty pulling the trigger. Not to get all Freudian on everyone, but these are issues that you need to address with your local therapist. I’m just a fantasy football blabber mouth.
Ask that pretty girl out. I’ve heard that attractive women get frustrated because guys are too scared to approach them. You in sales? Ask for the order! What’s the worst thing that could happen? They say no and your ego gets hurt. Boo hoo…
Most of you are probably Type-A personalities with models hanging on both arms. For you, I apologize for this section. For the rest of us peasants…
TO GET ACTION, YOU NEED TO GIVE ACTION
This is one axiom I learned from playing poker. I used to be the stingiest player on Earth. I would literally only play AA or AK. People aren’t idiots. When I would play a pot, I’d either make the minimum or get busted. Since everyone knew what I had, I would never be able to make money on my AAs. If someone did keep playing, I would always get busted because they would have a set or make their hand.
How does this translate to fantasy football? If you are a tight wad, people will not be receptive to your trade offers. They will know that you are only offering a trade that is heavily skewed in your favor. If you are a true scumbag, then maybe you are offering a player that just got injured.
Back to Charley. Because he’s a “trade whore,” everyone is receptive to his offers. He gives action and gets action in return. He’s developed relationships with many of the owners so that wheeling and dealing has become a lot smoother and easier for future transactions.
DON’T TAKE IT PERSONAL
We’ve all been there. Some guy or girl sends a trade offer offering Reggie Bush for Aaron Rodgers. I used to get so heated.
Thanks, SpongeBob.
As ridiculous as the offer is, don’t let it get to you. Just view it as an opening bid. I like to offer fair trades, but I always like to see how low I can go. Why pay full price for something you can get at a discount? What makes the world interesting is the divergent perspectives and values that we all have. How boring would it be if everything was priced efficiently? The value of art is subject to the price someone is willing to pay for it. While algorithms have flooded the stock market, the pricing of stocks will never become fully efficient because of the human element.
View any and all offers as an opportunity to begin dialogue and hopefully consummate a trade that helps both parties.
EVERYONE HAS A PRICE
No player should be untouchable. If someone is willing to pay a king’s ransom for a player, let them! Every player has a price. This ties into always asking. While you may think something is ridiculous, you never know what the other side is thinking. They may be in panic mode because of an injury, or they may be drunk. Whatever the case may be…
TRADING DEPTH
This is probably not advised early in the season, but if you can acquire a superstar player, then I’m all for it. I always believe in acquiring superstars. As the season goes on, you should start exploring this option. Because football is such a brutal game, depth is key for the inevitable injuries that occur. Once you get into money time, you want the most diesel starting lineup you can field.
CONCLUSION
The players that win ‘ships draft well, scour the waiver wire and trade to improve their teams. Charley won four years in a row. The first year may have been lucky. The second one? Possibly. A broken clock is correct twice a day, unless you have a digital one. By the third one, you probably have to give him his props. On the fourth one, you should just bow down and brings gifts of myrrh and incense.
The one constant that makes Charley a force every year is his willingness to improve his roster by any means necessary.
Trading is difficult as it requires creativity and social skills. Some may be inherently better at it than others, but it’s a skill that can be developed with practice.
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Stan Son is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from Stan, check out his archive and follow him @Stan_Son.