Fantasy Baseball Trade Advice & Strategy (2023)

Trading in fantasy baseball is one of the things that makes the game fun. But receiving lopsided offers is borderline disrespectful and one of the elements of trading that can take some fun away.

Here are a few tips on how to make sure you are being a good trade partner in your league and why you should utilize the trade market to improve your team.

Fantasy Baseball In-Season Management Tips & Advice

Beyond our fantasy baseball content, be sure to check out our award-winning slate of Fantasy Baseball Tools as you navigate your season. From our Trade Analyzer – which allows you to instantly find out if a trade offer benefits you or your opponent – to our Waiver Wire Assistant – that allows you to quickly see which available players will improve your team, and by how much – we’ve got you covered this fantasy baseball season.

Fantasy Baseball Trade Advice

Why Trade?

Trading players should not be done just for the sake of trading. Yes, it is fun to feel like a real general manager and have control over a roster. But just throwing out offers because it is fun can actually hurt your team.

The real purpose of trading is to target players who could improve your team but are too good to be available on waivers. Sometimes your only access to the roster you want is to trade.

Even using the waiver wire is a form of trading – swapping out a player on your roster for another on waivers is a way to make a trade without sacrificing someone you like.

But if there is a particular player you want to target and he is not available on waivers, where do you start?

Start a Discussion

Have a discussion first before sending out an offer. This is incredibly important because random offers are unlikely to be accepted, especially if you send multiple offers all at once. Instead, communicate with the other managers in the league. Reach out and ask if a player is available. Tell them which players you are interested in, and tell them who is available on your team to trade. If you do this, you have an avenue open to find deals that you perhaps thought were not possible.

Even if that discussion did not lead to a successful trade, at least the other manager knows which of their players you have an interest in and vice versa. This leaves the door open for a future deal. It is so important to communicate first before trading.

How Do I Start a Discussion?

What if you are in a league with people you don’t know? Many sites offer chat rooms or message boards that you can use to reach out to the other managers. If there is no message board, contact the league commissioner and see if they can gather everyone’s emails to start an email chain. There are many alternatives to work around those issues. Don’t let the lack of familiarity with the people in your league stop you from making your team better.

Once you have made contact with an opposing manager, how do you get the conversation going?

If you are not sure how to start a discussion with your fellow managers, here are some ideas for conversation starters:

“What will it take to get Player X from your team?”
“Who are some players on my roster that you are interested in acquiring?”
“Players A, B, and C on my team are available. Do you have any interest in any of them?”

These will get the conversation going, will give you a good barometer on what your fellow managers want and don’t want, and will lead to a productive discussion at a minimum.

What Are Some Strategies to Help Me Make Good Trades?

Identify where you have surplus and deficit. Look for teams that have a surplus at a position or scoring statistic that you need. Maybe an opposing manager has three solid first basemen and you need an upgrade at that position. If you have a position or stat that that manager needs, make sure the offer is even, contact them, and offer a trade that makes sense. Pay attention to this throughout the year, because things change and different teams move up and down the standings. By noticing your own and other managers’ surpluses and deficits, you can easily find avenues for trading.

Don’t Send an Insulting Offer

Talking first also limits the chance of sending out a ridiculous trade offer and insulting other managers. Sure, send out Lars Nootbaar for Trea Turner and see what happens.

The person who sent the offer may not intend to offend the recipient, but oftentimes an offer like that is seen as disrespectful. If Manager A sends an offer to Manager B that is clearly one-sided, Manager B may take that as the other manager suggesting he or she doesn’t know what he or she is doing.

Bad offers can alienate managers from the rest of the league, and then nobody will trade with them. You do not want that to happen to you, so TALK FIRST.

Make Sacrifices

You may have to sacrifice a star to get what you want, so do not take anyone off the board. Be open to trading anyone to get what you need. If a manager is asking for your Kyle Tucker, and they offer a package that helps you, you may have to accept that deal.

If you are making a push for first place, but you really need strikeouts and steals to do it, and someone offers you a deal that gets you what you need, at least consider it. Never just shut down a deal before one is offered simply based on who your player is.

Don’t Take Forever to Respond

Do not take forever to respond to trades. It can be annoying when you have had a discussion, you send an offer, and you think it is going to get done, or maybe you need a player involved in the deal to win your matchup, but your trade partner does not accept the deal for days. Whether or not you are going to take a deal, at least respond quickly, if not for your benefit, then for the benefit of the person who offered the deal.

It is a little thing that you can do to be a good trade partner. Imagine you’ve been texting someone for a week and have a date set up, but the day of the date, they ghost you. That feels terrible! This is why you should give quick responses to trades – don’t stand up your trade partner.

Now What?

My philosophy with trading is that it is a fun way for you to improve your team and someone else’s team, where you can access the best players in baseball that would never show up on the waiver wire.

When I trade, I try to follow my own advice, although I am guilty of doing some things I say not to do. I try my best to communicate without being oppressive, I try my best to find deals that make sense for both parties, and I try my best to be open to discussion about every player.

Everyone always wants to “win” a trade, but my goal is for both teams to win. If one side wins, then it was not a fair deal, and that is not fun for anyone. Good luck this season and keep your options open!

If you want to dive deeper into fantasy baseball, be sure to check out our award-winning slate of Fantasy Baseball Tools as you navigate your season. From our Lineup Assistant – which provides your optimal lineup, based on accurate consensus projections – to our Waiver Wire Assistant – that allows you to quickly see which available players will improve your team, and by how much – we’ve got you covered this fantasy baseball season.