Moonlight Graham's Fantasy Baseball Forecast: The Trading Deadline

While Major League Baseball marks its trade deadline tomorrow afternoon at 4 PM, many Fantasy Baseball owners have a little more time to digest the MLB moves and act accordingly. In the Hausier’s Krowedum Fantasy Baseball League, owners have until August 5^th before trades are no longer an option for improvement. The deals started last week as players like Roy Halladay, Alex Rodriguez and Ryan Howard turned up on the rosters of the teams at the top, acquired from those out of the running. With many fantasy leagues facing deadlines over the next few weeks, it seems like a good time to discuss trade strategy and protocol from both sides of the transaction.

Contenders should always target statistical categories when making a trade and factor potential monetary gains into a player’s valuation. For instance, if you find that there is potential for a bump of three points in a tightly bunched ERA category and the prize for winning your league is $500, you should give up significantly more for Joel Pineiro or Jarrod Washburn than you would have back in April or May. They may not be players worthy of a high draft pick or stud keeper under normal circumstances but they are when you can win. Don’t underbid.

Be alert for peripheral deals that can help you by hurting your opposition. Earlier this week in the HK League, Bobby Carr found his Skippy Shakes looking up at the Shady Gradys. Carr saw that he had a big lead in HR and was locked into 6^th place in SB; 20 behind and 20 ahead of his closest rivals. The Gradys however had a slim 2 SB lead over the Four Horsemen. As Carr is just 6 points behind the second place Gradys in the overall standings, he sent Alex Rios to the Horsemen, hoping the addition would vault the Horsemen to the top of the category and take a valuable point away from a rival. A deal like this can be more valuable to you than an acquisition.

For more trade advice as well as Moonlight's Buy Low, Sell High lists, visit Fantasysportsdirt.com.