Heading For the Home Stretch
Although it may seem like the All-Star Break was only a few days ago, we really are coming into the home stretch of Head-2-Head leagues. In most leagues, you are finishing the 18th week of competition and there are only 4 more weeks left until the playoffs. They are sooner than you realized! Exactly, so what you should be doing now depends on where you stand in the standings. . .
Securely In Playoffs (Top 1-4) - Okay, good Job! You've accomplished your regular season goal and secured a high seed for the playoffs. Your not done working though. Look at the stats you've won in, the stats you've been neutral, and the couple of stats you have lost. Now, look at your current team. Is it going to keep producing at the same high level? Perhaps you have potential overachievers like Justin Duchscherer and Milton Bradley, who will see their stats regress over the final two months, or have traded away a category-wonder like Willy Taveras recently. In that case, you probably did well in stolen base category over the course of the season, but since the trade have lost the category each week. Even if you averaged 5 steals per week, you must project what your team will do going forward, not what it did in the past. If you no longer have Taveras, adjust your stolen base expectations accordingly.
Entertain offers that you think will improve your team, but understand that if you are dealing with a fringe-playoff team, you are in the position of power in the negotiations and thus should feel absolutely no sense of "I have to get a deal done". Remain skeptical of every offer, but jump on those you see are the act of a desperate team trying to make a desperate push into the playoffs. Overall, enjoy coasting into the playoffs stress-free and keep doing what you've been doing, it has obviously worked so far.
Insecurely In Playoffs (Top 4-6 [7-8 if 8 teams get in]) - Give yourself a pat on the back, you've had a solid fantasy season thus far, but the hardest four weeks have yet to come. Your team probably has plenty of areas it could improve on, so first identify them and second communicate with others in your league and try to get a late deal done. Look at the teams behind you vying for a spot; do you think they are for real or are they simply lucky to be in the mediocre position they are? Based on how secure you feel should determine how aggressively you should try to get a deal done. If you do not feel secure at all, meaning the team or teams behind you appear better than yours (that kind of honestly is better than denial) consider following the more desperate plan I advise fringe teams to follow.
Fringe (out of) Playoffs Team (Top 7-10) - So far your team has not lived up to expectations, but you can still get into the playoffs with a solid last month. Your probably gonna have to play the top team the first week if you get in (unless they get byes) but it will still be worth it. Hellooo upset possibilities! If you are only a few games out, strongly consider doing nothing if your team has underperformed and you feel it will play better in the future. Guys like Alex Rios, Prince Fielder, Jimmy Rollins, Javier Vazquez, and any other returning injurees would be on this team.
If you have review all of your players and feel that your current team most-likely will not make that push into the playoffs, I have a radical strategy for you to consider. I want you to trade away all of your starting pitchers of value. (What?) I want you to either trade them straight-up for hitters, or if you can, get 2-1 deals where you give up the pitcher and a starting hitter for a better hitter at that position. An example trade would be Cole Hamels and Kelly Johnson for Brandon Phillips, with you getting Phillips. Even though without context it appears like you are getting ripped off, and believe me you are, but in the end this trade will help your team.
Do this until you have a stacked lineup and no pitchers left except bad ones and any closers you have. Next, drop all of those bad pitchers you couldn't trade away. With this kind of team, you should expect to win a majority of the hitting categories, lose ERA and WHIP, but win K's, Wins, and possible Saves. If you haven't figured it out yet, you must stream pitchers, so if your in a weekly league your out of luck. Consider adding solid middle relievers like Taylor Buchholz or Chad Gaudin so that you do not have to stream as many pitchers every day. This strategy should net you at least 4 of the 5 hitting categories and 2 of the 5 (maybe 3) pitching categories. The strategy may seem a bit strange and desperate, but it could propel you into the playoffs, and it actually works frustratingly well. I have salvaged a season this way twice in my fantasy career. It may not be pretty, but it can get the job done with a mediocre team. Try it, but only if you need to.
No Chance Teams - You've looked at how many games you are back and realize it's basically impossible to get into the playoffs. Go sign up for a football league and read more of my advice next year.
Securely In Playoffs (Top 1-4) - Okay, good Job! You've accomplished your regular season goal and secured a high seed for the playoffs. Your not done working though. Look at the stats you've won in, the stats you've been neutral, and the couple of stats you have lost. Now, look at your current team. Is it going to keep producing at the same high level? Perhaps you have potential overachievers like Justin Duchscherer and Milton Bradley, who will see their stats regress over the final two months, or have traded away a category-wonder like Willy Taveras recently. In that case, you probably did well in stolen base category over the course of the season, but since the trade have lost the category each week. Even if you averaged 5 steals per week, you must project what your team will do going forward, not what it did in the past. If you no longer have Taveras, adjust your stolen base expectations accordingly.
Entertain offers that you think will improve your team, but understand that if you are dealing with a fringe-playoff team, you are in the position of power in the negotiations and thus should feel absolutely no sense of "I have to get a deal done". Remain skeptical of every offer, but jump on those you see are the act of a desperate team trying to make a desperate push into the playoffs. Overall, enjoy coasting into the playoffs stress-free and keep doing what you've been doing, it has obviously worked so far.
Insecurely In Playoffs (Top 4-6 [7-8 if 8 teams get in]) - Give yourself a pat on the back, you've had a solid fantasy season thus far, but the hardest four weeks have yet to come. Your team probably has plenty of areas it could improve on, so first identify them and second communicate with others in your league and try to get a late deal done. Look at the teams behind you vying for a spot; do you think they are for real or are they simply lucky to be in the mediocre position they are? Based on how secure you feel should determine how aggressively you should try to get a deal done. If you do not feel secure at all, meaning the team or teams behind you appear better than yours (that kind of honestly is better than denial) consider following the more desperate plan I advise fringe teams to follow.
Fringe (out of) Playoffs Team (Top 7-10) - So far your team has not lived up to expectations, but you can still get into the playoffs with a solid last month. Your probably gonna have to play the top team the first week if you get in (unless they get byes) but it will still be worth it. Hellooo upset possibilities! If you are only a few games out, strongly consider doing nothing if your team has underperformed and you feel it will play better in the future. Guys like Alex Rios, Prince Fielder, Jimmy Rollins, Javier Vazquez, and any other returning injurees would be on this team.
If you have review all of your players and feel that your current team most-likely will not make that push into the playoffs, I have a radical strategy for you to consider. I want you to trade away all of your starting pitchers of value. (What?) I want you to either trade them straight-up for hitters, or if you can, get 2-1 deals where you give up the pitcher and a starting hitter for a better hitter at that position. An example trade would be Cole Hamels and Kelly Johnson for Brandon Phillips, with you getting Phillips. Even though without context it appears like you are getting ripped off, and believe me you are, but in the end this trade will help your team.
Do this until you have a stacked lineup and no pitchers left except bad ones and any closers you have. Next, drop all of those bad pitchers you couldn't trade away. With this kind of team, you should expect to win a majority of the hitting categories, lose ERA and WHIP, but win K's, Wins, and possible Saves. If you haven't figured it out yet, you must stream pitchers, so if your in a weekly league your out of luck. Consider adding solid middle relievers like Taylor Buchholz or Chad Gaudin so that you do not have to stream as many pitchers every day. This strategy should net you at least 4 of the 5 hitting categories and 2 of the 5 (maybe 3) pitching categories. The strategy may seem a bit strange and desperate, but it could propel you into the playoffs, and it actually works frustratingly well. I have salvaged a season this way twice in my fantasy career. It may not be pretty, but it can get the job done with a mediocre team. Try it, but only if you need to.
No Chance Teams - You've looked at how many games you are back and realize it's basically impossible to get into the playoffs. Go sign up for a football league and read more of my advice next year.
