Do you find yourself trading less..., ...as you get more experienced? Options

[ciderjack6]

Today is the trading deadline and I have made 0 trades. I probably made like 10 trades in my first year.

[TBarber21]

Today is the trading deadline and I have made 0 trades. I probably made like 10 trades in my first year.

I know I have traded less over the years. In my opinion, as you get more experienced with fantasy and really get to know your leagues scoring system, owners, etc... you tend to have better drafts each year and have less holes on your team to fill. However, I can also see how experienced guys know how to spot a weakness in their team and go out and make a deal...

On a side note, I remember my first year of fantasy, I traded three guys after the first week, and go figure, that turned out to haunt me. I traded Jerome Bettis and Hines Ward for Deuce Staley and some scrub. What an idiot!

This post has been edited by TBarber21: Nov 20 2009, 04:31 PM

[lovethejuice]

Yeah, I mean the fantasy football season is so short, and if you draft even reasonably well and make one or two key FA/waiver pickups along the way, you should be able to get by just fine.

I dunno, I've always been a fairly low key trader. 4-5 times a year in fantasy baseball, maybe once or twice a year in football. Only trade I made this year was moving Michael Turner for Andre Johnson straight up, and two weeks into that it looked like the worst deal I've ever made. Now, not so much I guess.

[fredth3cat]

Nah, I think I've gotten more aggressive with selling high/buying low. I've definitely learned not to sell low early in the season, though.

[Furcal15]

Nah, I think I've gotten more aggressive with selling high/buying low. I've definitely learned not to sell low early in the season, though.

This is my 4th year and I've always have been active the week of the trade deadline. And too Fred, I agree 100%. I gave up DeAngelo Williams and Thomas Jones and they exploded the week after I traded them both and they did not slow down. It was a very long season. Some players just need to get back into the groove and some take half a season too do it.

The other dude talked about trading less as you gain draft experience. You're draft experience means nothing. Players breakout or disappear ala Eddie Royal, Marion Barber, Brandon Jacobs, Matt Forte. Darren Sproles and Fred Jackson each have more points than Barber, and Jacobs.

Maybe the trade deadline isn't the time to sit around. Sit down, check out your match-ups for the rest of your season, he's been consistent who hasn't. Where am I week at? Player name must sound nice, but could you get something better for him?

For instance, I traded Tim Hightower and Fred Jackson for Cedric Benson and Larry Johnson. I dropped LJ to get Scott. Benson will be fine next week and has a tasty schedule. I then traded for Beanie Wells because Tim Hightower was the declining ARZ back and Beanie is clearing taking over. I made a few other small trades as well, Jonathan Stewart being the biggest name in the trade.

If you really care about your team, go over some things. Maybe your team isn't perfect after all....If it is then kudos to you.

[BB68]

I trade less now but any trade I do is going to make my team a lot better.  I used to make trades all the time because I was impatient and got worried when my big players didn't put up huge numbers week in and week out.  Now with much more experience, I'm extremely patient and know how to spot weakness in other teams lineups and take advantage of it.  This year my best trade was Deshaun Jackson and Rashard Mendenhall for Fitz(team in sig).  I worked on that trade for 3 weeks and actually brought down my initial offer of Deshaun and Pierre Thomas.  

[Shock6822]

No, because it all depends on the league, owners, and your draft. Sometimes you're forced to make trades, other times there are people more willing to sell low or buy high than others. That said, I have made less trades this year than any other year, but that's mainly because all my drafts except 1 have put me in playoff position, and that 1 league is a dynasty, so I'm not too worried (thanks Eddie Royal and Dwayne Bowe!)

[Hero202]

I'm always looking for possibilities to sell high/buy low or win-win trades.

This year I was able to sell high on Fred Jackson early in the season (Which at the time improved my WR position which was my weakest after the draft, however all 3 of my WRs have been busts).

Couple weeks later, the guy that owned McCoy (I own Westbrook) traded away Witten in a separate trade and was left without a TE. I Had Heath Miller on my team to cover for Gates' bye week. After I used Miller in week 5 I traded him for McCoy. It was a win-win trade and perfect timing since Miller was coming off 2 great games, and could possibly save my season with Westbrook being out.

IMO, drafting is separate from trading because things are so unpredictable in Fantasy Football. Fred Jackson was a good pick for me considering where I got him in the draft and helped me his first 3 weeks, but after that he would have been useless on my bench. While he could have still gone on to have a good year, no one really knew what the Bills coaching staff was going to do with that situation, so I got rid of him while I could. Trading for McCoy made up for a stupid draft pick (Westbrook).

Good drafting could also result in a need to trade as well. I'm sure there were a lot of guys who drafted Big Ben/Brett Favre as a backup QB, and after seeing the season they are having were able to trade away their QB1 for upgrades to other areas, or sell high on their backups. I think it would be wasteful for guys that drafted QBs like Manning, Rivers, Rodgers etc to keep drafted backups like Big Ben or Favre on the bench, it would be stupid not to trade them (unless your QB1 is a high injury risk)

This post has been edited by Hero202: Nov 20 2009, 09:15 PM

[MrArmageddon]

I may trade less, but I am looking harder for buy lows/sell highs.

[rye]

I'm trading more but that has more to do with changes in the culture of the league. Most of the league is the same but in the past 2 years there have been a few new owners. I've noticed that these new owners have been more likely to trade than some of the more experienced owners. Because of this, more trades have taken place. I'm also the league's most frequent trader. I draft heavily in the RB position with as many high-upside mid to late rounders that I can. The reason I do this is two-fold. First, I get lots of chances to hit on Ray Rice, Matt Forte, Chris Johnson, Adrian Peterson, type runners before they're next year's first rounders. This method almost always provide me with 2 RB1's (including a "safe" first round RB pick). Secondly, if I happen to hit on more than one, I've got perfect trade bait to sure up other weaker postions. I can almost always turn an RB2 + WR2 for a 2nd round WR1 or a nice starting QB.

[tonyg000]

Today is the trading deadline and I have made 0 trades. I probably made like 10 trades in my first year.

I agree. I only made 1 trade this year and it has worked out great for me. In week 4, I traded Chad Johnson for Ricky Williams, Nate Washington and JerMichael Finley.

[RyanP421]

This is my 4th year and I've always have been active the week of the trade deadline. And too Fred, I agree 100%. I gave up DeAngelo Williams and Thomas Jones and they exploded the week after I traded them both and they did not slow down. It was a very long season. Some players just need to get back into the groove and some take half a season too do it.

The other dude talked about trading less as you gain draft experience. You're draft experience means nothing. Players breakout or disappear ala Eddie Royal, Marion Barber, Brandon Jacobs, Matt Forte. Darren Sproles and Fred Jackson each have more points than Barber, and Jacobs.

Maybe the trade deadline isn't the time to sit around. Sit down, check out your match-ups for the rest of your season, he's been consistent who hasn't. Where am I week at? Player name must sound nice, but could you get something better for him?

For instance, I traded Tim Hightower and Fred Jackson for Cedric Benson and Larry Johnson. I dropped LJ to get Scott. Benson will be fine next week and has a tasty schedule. I then traded for Beanie Wells because Tim Hightower was the declining ARZ back and Beanie is clearing taking over. I made a few other small trades as well, Jonathan Stewart being the biggest name in the trade.

If you really care about your team, go over some things. Maybe your team isn't perfect after all....If it is then kudos to you.

What joker traded you Benson for Fred Jackson and Hightower? I want to play in some of the kiddie leagues I see some of you guys talk about!

[sillybombs]

I've only made 2 trades between the 2 leagues I'm in... mainly because I stress over it way too much. It takes a good chunk of the day to come up with decent offers, looking at all the stats and angles you can find. Then it gets rejected and you just wasted your time.

[dsmoke1986]

I'm a dealer, anytime I can improve a starting spot on my team, I go for it...I usually make the most deals in our leagues, and almost always make the playoffs, and take a run at the title...If you draft well and make a couple key acquisitions, you can really distance yourself from the competition.

IMO, trading is really where you can show your skills, by buying low on the right guys, or selling high on the right guys...You can really turn your team into an elite team, and these are in competitive 12 team leagues.

[GWSPi]

This year I've made about 3-4 trades. I love selling big name guys for 2 good players. With experience, my drafting has gotten better, but I won't hesitate to move guys for other players with a better playoff schedule. I also like to prey on desperate teams early in the season.

Alot of people have man crushes and it makes me cringe when theyre willing to hold onto that player even when theyre 2-5, getting into a critical part of the season. In one league I offered Forte/Megatron for Andre Johnson and some scrub. The guy was 2-5 at the time, and was starting a combination of Nate Washington & Hakeen Nicks as a flex. He is now 2-8 and I'm 8-2.

On a side note, I've made one bad trade this year, it was Ricky Williams for Brent Celek. I was deep in RB at the time (right before Ronnie got hurt) and needed a TE I could rely on.

[bandito]

I had only ever played in a league with two keepers before, and did not trade a lot. Last year I moved to a league with six keepers, and find myself trading more. Granted, I started in a position of disadvantage as a new guy to the league, and had to make some trades just to find respectability. But I find I've become more aggressive, often overpaying, to secure the best starting lineup.

Experience has made me pretty good at securing high-upside guys late in the draft. After they make their mark (ex. Eddie Royal and Desean Jackson last year), I often offer 2-for-1 deals where the two I give up are both good players. But it's all about the long-term goal of building the best starting lineup. I came out of my draft last year with starting RBs of Ryan Grant and Earnest Graham. Two trades (where I gave up Warner, Welker and three other startable players) later, I have MJD and Chris Johnson.

I would think that my experience is probably fairly common, where the more keepers you have, the more you try to wheel and deal. The prospect of building a dominant core that you can hold together for multiple years almost begs that you deal whenever you have the opportunity.

This post has been edited by bandito: Nov 21 2009, 06:30 PM

[Hokie79]

I'm always looking for possibilities to sell high/buy low or win-win trades.

This year I was able to sell high on Fred Jackson early in the season (Which at the time improved my WR position which was my weakest after the draft, however all 3 of my WRs have been busts).

Couple weeks later, the guy that owned McCoy (I own Westbrook) traded away Witten in a separate trade and was left without a TE. I Had Heath Miller on my team to cover for Gates' bye week. After I used Miller in week 5 I traded him for McCoy. It was a win-win trade and perfect timing since Miller was coming off 2 great games, and could possibly save my season with Westbrook being out.

IMO, drafting is separate from trading because things are so unpredictable in Fantasy Football. Fred Jackson was a good pick for me considering where I got him in the draft and helped me his first 3 weeks, but after that he would have been useless on my bench. While he could have still gone on to have a good year, no one really knew what the Bills coaching staff was going to do with that situation, so I got rid of him while I could. Trading for McCoy made up for a stupid draft pick (Westbrook).

Good drafting could also result in a need to trade as well. I'm sure there were a lot of guys who drafted Big Ben/Brett Favre as a backup QB, and after seeing the season they are having were able to trade away their QB1 for upgrades to other areas, or sell high on their backups. I think it would be wasteful for guys that drafted QBs like Manning, Rivers, Rodgers etc to keep drafted backups like Big Ben or Favre on the bench, it would be stupid not to trade them (unless your QB1 is a high injury risk)

Frequency of trading often depends on how many idiots you have in your league. No owners in my league dumb enough to give anything of significant value up for Fred Jackson after this first 3 good games, knowing Marshawn was coming back and the situation was gonna be a mess. Thus I haven't traded much.

[drevil1084]

from my team you see below the only original players i have are my 2 starting qbs deshaun jackson and my kicker. The only bad trade i made was getting rid of Ray Rice but it did bring me back Gore. Sometimes you gotta shake things up if they arent going your way and see what happens....

[rms141]

I haven't made any trades, but that's mainly because the people in my leagues seem to be disinclined to make deals. I'm in four leagues and I've seen a grand total of two accepted trades.

[djbigf]

Nah, I think I've gotten more aggressive with selling high/buying low.

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