Building for Next Season
November 16th, 2002
Despite your best efforts, your dynasty or keeper league team just hasn't caught a break in 2002. Perhaps you kept David Boston from last season - then he scored one whole touchdown in the first half of the season, before blowing out his Patella tendon and going on IR. Maybe you were convinced that 2002 would be another Pro Bowl season for Kordell Stewart (how couldn't he excel with all the talent the Steelers have at wide receiver?), and made a blockbuster 3 for 1 trade for him back in June. Anyway, for whatever reason, your franchise is sitting at 1-9 or 2-8 - eliminated from playoff contention. What now?
Build for 2003. I'm not suggesting you trade away all your best players, but you just might be able to parlay your top player into two promising rookies and a solid veteran for next year's club, if you trade with one of the teams currently locked in a four-way tie for home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. Most leagues have anti-collusion rules, so make sure that you're getting value for that top-notch guy - otherwise, the trade will get vetoed (and you'll make the other owners angry with you!).
Another way to go about building for the future is to carefully consider the young talent that may be laying around on the waiver wire, dropped by disgruntled owners - players who were hyped for this season, but didn't ever really break through (Reche Caldwell of the Chargers, or Antwaan Randle-El of the Steelers, for example). If you have guys like Chris Doering or Darnay Scott cluttering up your bench, dump them before the transaction deadline and replace them with the young prospects - guys like Caldwell and Randle-El have more upside and could be huge after they get a year of experience under their belts.
Finally, go through your whole roster and compare the 2002 performance (and 2003 prospects) of each player on your squad vs. the available free agents at the various positions your league features. There may be players who are significantly better than the guys currently on your bench available on the cheap - players you'd have to pay more for next year when everybody gets a new allowance of "league-bucks" to blow. A league-buck saved is a league-buck earned.
If the NFL has taught us anything in the last few years, it's that the gap from worst to first isn't tough to bridge - if you make the right moves. Managing a struggling fantasy team is just part of the fun in the keeper or dynasty-style formats. Act now to lay the foundations for winning big in 2003!
Good Luck!
Mark Wimer
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