Trades with the Injured

The beautiful part of spring much like real baseball teams in fantasy baseball is that there is new hope. Could this be the year? If the young players produce, if the breakout candidates have the breakout year, if the one key player stays health...

Well tough luck. Mark Prior, out. Ben Sheets, at least the ear is ok. Kerry Wood - come on what did you expect? Eric Gagne, gonyay. So in comes the offer from that one guy in your league who just wishes you to have a "mouse fumble" where you hit accept on the Pujols for Polanco deal by accident. Obviously these deals (usually offered by Matt) are rejected, but there is no doubt that everyone from the frequent traders to the stingy traders has interest in these guys. What is most interesting about the injuries is that when trades take place for the wounded which guy got the best of the deal cannot be decided until much later after the trade.

So what does one do if he holds one of the injured? First of all hold on to them. They do have value to everyone in the league although it is often difficult to gage the value. If you are starting to have a crowded DL roster or have an inkling that the player on the DL will not recover post a message stating your interest in making a trade. I would highly advise holding onto Sheets and Prior specifically. When these guys come back they have the potential (appologies for using the word potential when it is the only thing ever discussed with Prior these days) to be a number 1 fantasy pitcher and compare with Peavy, Zambrano, or Oswalt.

If you don't own one of them this is the best time to take a chance. Last year I took a chance on Barry Bonds in the middle of April. He never came back but Jamie Moyer and Preston Wilson were not exactly missed. Some fantasy owners could be pressing already especially if the free agent pool appears dry to addressing their weaknesses. Just be careful of two things. One, if you already have a player on the DL (Julio Lugo, Armando Benitez, Noah Lowry) you don't want to over crowd your team with DL players. Two, be sure not to give talent equal to the potential if the injured player has a history of injury or possibility of further injury.
Happy Fantasy,
Mark Schruender