If you're a fantasy football commissioner, you'll see it eventually. You may be lucky for a year or two, or maybe even more, but some day your luck will run out. One day, just when your league seems to be running smoothly, it will happen to you.

Eventually, you'll have to deal with The Bad Trade.

You'll get the phone call or e-mail, informing you of a pending trade. You'll take a look at the names involved, then need to pause and read them again. Your stomach will drop as you realize the trade is horribly unbalanced. And that's when the other owners will start to chirp.

"That trade is a rip-off," says one. "He just handed that team a championship," says another. And finally, the inevitable: "Commish, you have to do something about this!"

It goes without saying that the best way to deal with any lopsided trade is to have a detailed league constitution to refer to in any dispute. An in-depth set of rules and policies can end disputes before they start (although some owners will always look for a loophole). However, many leagues don't have a detailed constitution, for various reasons. For one, they can take a lot of work to create. And in less-hardcore leagues, a multi-page rules manifesto can seem out of place (right up until you really need it).

Here's a sample of some of the types of bad trades you may see, with advice on how to deal with them.

The "Loophole" trade
The situation: In this deal, owners attempt to justify a seemingly lopsided deal by including some other consideration such as money, future draft picks, or even the infamous "future considerations". When you point out that the league rules don't say anything about allowing these sorts of deals, they point out that the league rules don't say anything about not allowing them either.

How to deal with it: If the owners involved have been clear about what's involved in the deal, your job is limited to deciding whether or not to approve the deal. There's no reason to punish the owners for being honest. However, that doesn't mean you shouldn't reverse the trade if it's clearly out of bounds. In most leagues, any considerations other than cash or future draft picks shouldn't be allowed, and even those are up for debate.

If the constitution doesn't specifically address the situation (or you don't have one at all), you're in a tough spot. It's not easy to enforce a new rule that you're introducing on the spot, so use your best judgment and do what's in the best interests of the league.

The "Collusion" trade
The situation: This is the worst of the bad trades, the evil brother of the "Loophole" deal. Owner A gets a few stud players, and Owner B gets some sort of hidden consideration. Often, it's cash. Sometimes it could be other factors (you'd be amazed how often a trade will be tied to another deal is a different league).
They'll try to keep the details under-the-table, claiming that their lopsided deal is completely legitimate. The accusations will fly, leaving you with the job of conducting an investigation. These sorts of situations can often see the owners involved leave the league (or be kicked out). In the worst-case scenario, these deals can tear apart a league, so take the, seriously.

How to deal with it: If efforts have been made to cover up their shady dealings, you'll have no choice but to scrap the deal and should probably seriously consider removing the owners involved from the league. Under-the-table trades are arguably the worst sin in fantasy sports, and should be dealt with accordingly.

The "I didn't know he was hurt" trade
The situation: In this deal, Owner A makes Owner B an offer that's too good to be true. And it is, because Owner B doesn't realize that the stud he's acquiring has just gone on the injured list. This type of deal is slightly different from the others on the list, since one of the owners involved in the deal is the one pushing hardest for it to be reversed.

How to deal with it: This one really depends on the type of league you have. If it's a shark league, with a cutthroat"every man for himself" attitude, your decision is simple: the trade stands.

If it's a more casual league, you might consider a reversal. As a rule of thumb, look at how widespread the information about the injury was. If it was breaking news that hadn't hit the wire yet, you may want to give Owner B a mulligan. If it was common knowledge that Owner B really should have known, you'll probably want to let it stand. In either case, it would be a good time to remind your owners not to take advantage of each other.

The "Looking to Next Year" trade
The situation: This one is unique to keeper and dynasty leagues. This is the deal where top contender Owner A sends a collection of younger rookies and benchwarmers to Owner B (who's 2-7 and already looking ahead to next year) in exchange for one or two aging studs.

Very often, Owner B is committing the rookie mistake of overvaluing youth in keeper leagues (for example, dealing Eric Moulds for Charles Rogers). But in many cases, the trade really will make sense for both teams. That's not much consolation for the other contenders in the league, however, who will no doubt howl about how they might as well hand Owner A the trophy now.

How to deal with it: Making youth-for-veterans deals is part of the strategy in keeper/dynasty leagues, as is knowing when to rebuild. Unless the deal is so lopsided that Owner B's team may never recover, let the deal stand.

The "Just Plain Bad" trade
The situation: This is the garden variety bad deal. Owner A is just plain ripping off Owner B, plain and simple. There's no hidden considerations, no inside information, just an owner who doesn't know any better making a bad deal.

To complicate things, in many cases Owner B will ask for the deal to be reversed once he realizes he was hosed (or more likely, once he gets tired of all the other owners making fun of him).

How to deal with it: Unless there are special circumstances (such as Owner B being a first-time owner in a casual league), let the deal stand. It's just too difficult to determine an objective standard of fairness, and once you overturn one deal you can bet on being asked to overturn more.

Besides, commissioners who have been down this road before will tell you that more often than not, Owner B ends up getting a much better deal in hindsight than anyone expected at the time.

Final tips

• Invest the time to create a written, easy-to-understand trade policy. You don't need to go into excruciating detail, but you should at least cover the most common situations. Make sure owners understand the rules, and the circumstances under which deals can be overturned. The time it takes you to create the rules now could save you countless headaches down the road.



• Make sure your league rules are clear about whether cash, future draft picks or other considerations can be included in a trade.



• If you decide to institute a rule that lets all owners vote on disputed trades, makes sure the threshold of votes need to overturn a deal is fairly high. You don't want a handful of owners to have the power to veto deals; a clear majority should be required.



• Regardless of whether a deal stands or not, make a note of which owners were involved. If one owner seems to be at the center of every shady deal, you may want to consider whether he's worth the trouble.



• In any disputed trade situation, there will always be one owner who threatens to quit the league if he doesn't get his way. Ignore this guy. He's usually bluffing, and if he actually does take his ball and go home, you're better off without him.



• When in doubt, let the deal stand. Trades should only be reversed when there are clear reasons for doing so.