Fantasy owners love to overreact. And nobody is more excited for Opening Day than the fantasy baseball community. Why not take advantage and buy low on superstars who are dealing with mild injuries or have horrible performances on Opening Day?
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Take Clayton Kershaw for example. He was the first pitcher selected in almost every fantasy league this season, and rightfully so. He posted a ridiculous 1.83 ERA, 0.91 WHIP and 232 Ks over 236 innings last season.
But Kershaw is on the DL with a mid-back issue and his owners are extremely worried. If a second-tier pitcher such as James Shields throw a complete-game shutout tomorrow, go ahead and offer him for the injured Kershaw. The Kershaw owner could panic and hit accept. Yu Darvish is another great target. Offer a Gerrit Cole-type for Darvish and see what happens. Why not? Don't you want to win you league? Winning takes guts.
In addition, if a proven ace, such as Justin Verlander, gets lit up on Opening Day, his fantasy owner could overreact and accept a trade that wouldn’t look fair under normal circumstances. If Verlander, King Felix, Chris Sale or Jose Fernandez get bombed in their debut… use it to your advantage and make a low-ball offer. What’s the worst thing that could happen?
This strategy takes a little longer with hitters, as nobody is going to worry about Mike Trout if he goes hitless on Opening Day. But if a star, such as Robinson Cano, is only hitting .200 after a few weeks the smart move is to make a low-ball offer and hope the Cano owner is nervous that leaving New York will diminish his statistics.
Don’t be afraid to play mind games and take advantage of nervous owners in your league.
Questions? Hit me on Twitter @briansflood
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