How to Trade for a Fantasy Baseball Superstar
Unless you had the fortune to draw first overall in your fantasy baseball draft, chances are Los Angeles Angels OF Mike Trout is on an opponent's roster. And trading for him - or any other elite-level talent, for that matter - is a difficult undertaking.
For the sake of simplicity, we'll use Trout as the catch-all, though situations can certainly differ. The common ground is that, while acquiring these players is not impossible, it is not going to be easy.
Trout is singularly phenomenal. Look at the rest of the Angels' batting order. It's mostly the same as 2015 - and that team finished in the bottom 11 in runs scored. Despite that, Trout still scored 104 runs in 2015 and drove in 90 - incredibly impressive for a team with the fifth-worst OBP.
With the variety of thinkpieces dedicated to Trout leaving L.A. for other teams circulating, the conclusions are similar - it will cost. The same holds true in fantasy, though it's going to be a bit different depending on the league.
Redraft Leagues
It will absolutely take the best player on your roster in redraft formats - and that's just a starting point. No individual player in fantasy will wrangle Trout one-for-one. It is also not enough to put together a package of a couple of mid-range players hoping quantity trumps quality.
It might even be a hard sell trading the top two players on any team straight up for Trout. This isn't a simple act of finding a weakness and trying to fill it. Other owners know you don't have their best interests at heart. If Trout's owner is pitching-deficient, it will take elite pitching plus an elite bat to bring him in, if not more. Trading for Trout will indeed be headache-inducing.
Remember, here's what you're trying to buy:
| YEAR | SLASH LINE | R | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | .326/.399/.564 | 129 | 30 | 83 |
| 2013 | .323/.432/.557 | 109 | 27 | 97 |
| 2014 | .287/.377/.561 | 115 | 36 | 111 |
| 2015 | .299/.402/.590 | 104 | 41 | 90 |
| 2016 (32 games) | .314/.401/.559 | 16 | 7 | 23 |
Even with his evaporated base-stealing - he stole just 11 bases in 2015 compared to a career-best 49 swipes in 2012 - he's a four-tool player who consistently fills more categories with top numbers than anyone else.
Trout's owners will not be actively shopping him. If their team is near the top, Trout helped get it there. If the team is losing, Trout is the best bet to dig out of the hole. The onus is on you and you need to blow Trout's owner away.
Since offering your two best players still might not be enough, this is where it would conceivably be easier, and less of an overhaul, to acquire a lesser member of the elite.
Keeper/Dynasty Leagues
It should be easier to acquire Trout in a keeper league, though it depends on a number of caveats. One, if the league is a new auction-based league with salary values attached to players, Trout is undoubtedly expensive. This could make him a valuable trade chip if his owner's team is struggling.
In that scenario, a team making a push to win this season would have to have a litany of cheap, young talent - think SS Carlos Correa, SP Jacob deGrom and maybe OF Michael Conforto - in order to make a dent. No Trout owner is going to just give him away. If the right deal doesn't happen, they'll eat the salary and start fresh or just pay up to keep him.
If it's an older league, one that started before Trout became Trout, the cost to keep him may not be that high, so incentive to trade will be even lower than in redraft leagues. This is the scenario where Trout becomes as close to untouchable as a player can be. It will justifiably cost an arm and a leg, and that still might not be enough.
This kind of trade is still more likely to occur in a keeper league than a redraft format because angles and leverage change more over time. In a one-season redraft league, trading the best player in the world, the one chosen over everyone else, makes little sense.
The same principle applies to players like Houston Astros 2B Jose Altuve or Colorado Rockies 3B Nolan Arenado. What incentive does any fantasy owner truly have to move one of these bats? As an opposing owner, you have to create the package - and don't be surprised if your rival just flat out rejects what seems like a good offer with no feedback attached.
The only thing that would make Trout more difficult to trade for in fantasy is if he actually got traded in reality. If he winds up on a team with better protection, look out.