We’re heading into June, and Memorial Day is upon us…to all the Veterans out there, thank you for your service. To all who have lost a loved one, God bless you. Memorial Day is a day of remembrance for many, a day of hot dogs and hamburgers for others…and a day of baseball for others.
The National Pastime is important on Memorial Day. It is nostalgic, reminding us of a more innocent time. Memorial Day is a day of reflection. Is there a more reflective sport than baseball?
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Memorial Day is an important day for baseball for other reasons. Historically, Memorial Day is the quarterpole of the baseball season. There is enough of a sample size to know what your team is. GM’s like to say that it takes the first part of the season to figure out what you are and where your flaws are, the next part is to work on making the necessary improvements to fix those problems and shortcomings, and then to watch them perform to make a run towards the postseason.
Memorial Day is the first marker point to make those assessments and take stock in what you are…and then take the months of June and July to fix the issues, leading up to the trade deadline at the end of July.
At this moment there about 20 MLB teams that are still legitimately in the race for the postseason, and should be buyers. The entire American League has a surprise team at the top of their divisions. There is no way you’d believe me if I told you that on Memorial Day the Tampa Bay Rays, Cleveland Guardians, and Las Vegas A’s would be in first place. In the NL, you’d be a little surprised with the Brewers and Braves at the top of their divisions. The only team in first place that isn’t a surprise is the Dodgers, in the NL West. And if I told you that teams like the Red Sox, Tigers, and Mets would be sellers, you’d laugh at, and mock me.
Throughout the world of fantasy baseball, league owners are making the same determinations. This is mostly for owners in keeper or dynasty leagues. If you are in a re-draft league, you only have two options, try to improve your team, or start working on your NFL depth charts.
In a keeper or dynasty league, you have real choices…go for it, or sell off pieces for the future. If you out of it and have a player in the last year of his fantasy contract, you may consider trading him to a contender. It can be a real dilemma for teams in limbo. And, if you don’t excel in either hitting or pitching it can be really tough.
I’ll use my keeper league as an example. It’s a 10-team AL-only league. For the past five weeks seven teams have been bunched up, with only 10pts separating first to seventh place. And, from third place, only 4.5pts separate those five teams. I have hovered in this range during this time. Depending on the league your in, you may be competing for the same players with a larger pool of teams. When there are only a few teams playing for tomorrow, it is imperative you win out on acquiring the players your need. One, it will help your team; and two, you’ll be keeping those players away from your competition.
Also, look at your competitors. You may have an edge if you are more proficient in either hitting or pitching. You may be able to trade from strength. If you are sitting on the 30’s in both hitting and pitching, you may be at a disadvantage compared to a team in the 40’s in one and 20’s in the other…sometimes having a balanced team can be a negative.
Also, depending on who is on your team with regards to their fantasy contract, can either be an advantage or disadvantage. Again, I’ll use me team as the example. Last season I identified I couldn’t win, and traded for Aaron Judge, who had one year of eligibility left. This season I am in the mix, but could get a boatload for Judge in a trade. Whenever you have a chance at a title you must take it, but especially in a keeper or dynasty league, you always have to have an eye on tomorrow. Trading Judge would most likely eliminate a chance at a title, but could guarantee a spot in the money, which is the top three.
These are the quandries every team owner has to make. Then there are the tweaks teams make leading up to this time of year. I knew going in that my offense would be at or near the top of the league, and that throughout the year i would be trading off offense for pitching. I traded Cody Bellinger straight up for Logan Gilbert two starts ago, and Gilbert has been hot garbage for me. Sometimes the blueprint and gameplan can backfire.
For seamheads, we don’t want baseball to end on Memorial Day…do whatever you can and need to do, to keep the MLB season relevant. The next major marker point is the Fourth of July. Do whatever you have to do to keep it interesting for you until then, and reassess again. You never know when an unexpected injury or call-up can help your team or hurt your opponent’s team.
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