Be-Trade

Where are all of the trades? We have seen one exchange go down so far this season- a context heavy exchange of top running backs before week one. We're on the eve of week three and that's it. Last year there were three exchanges at this point. Five the year before that and four the year before that. In 2013 there were eight trades before week three! The league is as engaged and competitive as ever... and that is a major reason.

This is the list of trades coming into the year. It is stripped of many essential details- most trades make some sense at the time. The even swap, the preferential exchange is rare. Managers typically prefer their player to another's, and the risk of losing something valuable feels more dangerous than the potential of gaining something more in return. Usually there is a impetus for a move: injury, ineffectiveness, or a lack of depth going into the byes.

Furthermore, players are like stocks, forever trending. The very best players offer a higher floor and ceiling, but even they are rarely consistent for fifteen of sixteen weeks. Buying low, selling high- these are strategies that require a level of confidence fantasy rarely affords. A manager is often not rewarded for knowledge, but certainty. Taking on a volatile asset at the expense of something perceived to be safer is ill advised. Chances are mostly reserved for the waiver wire, where top notch priority is often conserved until a "can't miss" opportunity presents itself, while other teams are content to revolve around the back end of the line, shopping in the discount aisle.

The Larkspur Bowl is as hotly contested as ever, and fortune favors the bold. Playing a nice, safe, stick to the plan tactic could work skillful tinkering and a proper sprinkling of luck. But more likely, the winner will be the player who makes a decisive play and seizes the day against the shuffling horde. Winning by way of your own shrewdness, rather than letting the game break as it will- that is the reward at stake. Find the chance you want to take, pay the price, and reap the rewards.