Dynasty Team Rebuilding: Trade Dynamics

  Posted 7/27 by Tony Borbely, Exclusive to Footballguys.com

The ability to build and maintain a championship caliber dynasty team requires careful planning, knowledge, sound strategies, and other various managing skills. One of the best ways to improve your team is by making quality trades. There are several factors that are used to determine the type of trades that are needed to give your team the best chance for success. A lot depends on the current state of your team. Are you a contender looking for that final piece of the puzzle to put you over the top? Are you rebuilding? Can you make enough moves to turn a middle of the road team into a contender? The answer to these and other questions will determine the type of trades you want to focus your attention on.

This article is going to focus on making trades that can help you rebuild a bad dynasty team. Many of us have played in dynasty leagues where circumstances have caused the team to go from contender to pretender in a short period of time. It doesn't take much for a good team to quickly turn bad in dynasty leagues. A perfect example was the sudden retirement of Tiki Barber after the 2006 season. When he retired, he left a gaping hole in the roster of many fantasy owners, and unless you had a lot of depth, you are likely still scrambling to replace him.

The first thing you must do is to objectively analyze your roster. This is easier said than done. Most of us think our teams are better than they really are. The biggest mistake I see being made is a fantasy owner overvaluing his team, and thus making trades that are good in the short term only. If your team is in a rebuilding mode and you make trades that have no long-term value, you just set yourself back even more than you already were. A good way to analyze your team is to compare it to the best teams in your league. After doing this, you will know if you only need a couple of pieces, or if you are a year or two away from being a serious contender to win a championship. The goal should be to win the league, and build a solid long term core, not to be a borderline playoff team.

Players To Trade Away

Here is a list of the kind of players I am looking to trade away when rebuilding.

• Older players: It is obvious that a rebuilding team should be looking to move the older players who will not be a part of the championship core. I generally will look to move players who I believe have two years or less as viable fantasy players. Examples are players like Joey Galloway and Ahman Green. It is unlikely that players like this will be fantasy factors two years from now, but for a contender, they have a lot of value.



• Handcuffs: If you have the backup to a player that is not on your roster, and you don't believe he will be a future starter, then you should think about trading them. A contender will feel comfortable having the handcuff to their stud, especially if the stud has a history of injury problems. You want to keep talented handcuffs like Michael Turner, because he likely will be starting next year.



• Starters with a short leash: There are always some starters who are in danger of losing their jobs, either now, or in the future. There are several reasons a player could lose his job, including below average performance, a young player waiting in the wings behind him, expiring contracts, and a recent change in coaches. You may also want to take a look at coaches who are on the hot seat, and take a look at some questionable starters on that particular team.



• Players whose value has peaked: This requires some forward thinking, but if you can find some players that you believe had a career year, and are unlikely to repeat it, then you should be looking to move them. This is actually a good trade strategy in any situation, but in a rebuild, it's more important.

Players To Trade For

The following is what I am looking to acquire in a trade when rebuilding.

• Current and future draft picks: It is no secret that a great way to upgrade the young talent on your roster is by acquiring current or future draft picks. This is especially true if you can get some by trading players who have no value to you, and only minimal value to anyone. You can either acquire picks or upgrade current ones. One great example is making a minor trade in which you trade a player and a draft pick for a higher pick. The higher pick, even if it is a mid round pick, will result in increased value not only in the draft, but also in making future trades.



• Second year players who struggled in their rookie years: There are often players who come out of college highly regarded, but struggle in their rookie years. You should be targeting players like this if you are still high on them. In many cases, you can get them for next to nothing.



• Young backups with upside: These players are a little more difficult to acquire, but in some cases, owners who have a championship caliber team will trade players like this if the player they acquire in the deal can put them over the top.



• Undervalued veterans: There are a number of players who are drastically undervalued due to their age, but are still young enough to play at their current level for three or four years. Even though you are rebuilding, you should look to acquire players like this, not only because they could help you win in the future, but also because it gives you more players with trade value.

In concluding, the rebuilding of a bad or below average fantasy team takes a lot of work, and even more important, PATIENCE. The old expression "Rome wasn't built in a day" applies here. There are several ways to improve your team and I have given you some of the specific things that I have done to turn a bad team into a long-term contender. I feel that your goal should be to build a solid core that will contend for many years to come. I think patching holes to turn a bad team to an average team is a waste of time and usually sets you back even more than you are right now. If you can successfully and objectively analyze your team and come up with a long-term plan, before you know it, your team will be contending for your league championship.

I want to wish everyone the best of luck in your rebuilding efforts.