By Robby Wellington – Staff Writer
Take a look at which teams in your league have made the most transactions and which have made the least. Now compare that to your current standings. Notice a correlation? If you don’t yet, wait until the end of the season when the teams with the most transactions rise to the top, while the teams of complacent owners settle near the bottom. Of course, there are going to be aberrations; considering that somewhere between 50 percent to 80 percent of the final standings is determined by the draft (depending on trading and transaction activity of the given league), it’s not far-fetched that someone can draft a dominant team and coast to a league title. However, it’s far more likely that your league champ will relentlessly buy and sell players, either via trade or the waiver wire, on the road to a title.
While trading is the most drastic way to improve your team, you can only hoodwink lesser owners in your league so many times. The waiver wire, on the other hand, is a constantly shifting landscape. Odds are there are at least a few guys out there who can help your team immediately. I have always advocated having at least one spot on your roster to serve as a revolving door, giving your team flexibility to add a spot starter or an extra bat on a day with less than a full slate of games. Let’s look at the three types of players that you should be looking to pluck off the waiver wire.
1. Spot Starters – I’ve already discussed this group. You should be able to milk a couple of quality starts out of free agent pitchers with favorable matchups.
2. Hot Bats – There are usually a couple of free agents who are hitting the cover off the ball. If one of your usual starters is ice cold, sort hitters by last week’s stats and see if there is anyone worthy of riding until they cool off (like I did with Pedro Feliz last week).
3. Middle Relievers – Can’t find a worthy spot starter and don’t need an extra bat? Go ahead and add a good middle reliever, and hopefully you can steal a win or a save here and there. At least they should help with your ratios.
There is no reason that you should have someone languishing on your bench who isn’t going to contribute to your team’s success. Cut bait and add someone who can help, even if it’s only for a day. The more active you are and the more you take advantage of your league’s waiver wire, the better chance you’ll have of coming out on top in October.
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