Trading for Aaron Nola. Go do it, like yesterday. Pay the cost, if you want to win your league. I had him on exactly zero rosters (of my many Dynasty teams) heading into 2022, but made him a target, and just this week acquired him on another team for the stretch run. If you know me or read my Dynasty advice (thank you!), I abhor rebuilding or major prospecting, so if I see the opportunity to acquire established vets for said prospects, I do it. Going into this season, Nola was ranked in the top-10 on most fantasy sites, so it is not like I was going out on a limb ranking him #6 on our internal TDG rankings, when our overall consensus rankings had Nola at #10.

Nola suffered from a poor ERA last season, a putrid 4.63, and every league I am in uses ERA as a category, so that could not be dismissed. But he had not posted an ERA that bad since his second season, and his advanced stats, xERA, FIP, and xFIP, were 3.35, 3.37, and 3.37, respectively. His BB/9 were the best of his career (1.94). Fellow writer Ben Sanders even wrote Nola up for our Phillies Triple Play last August, telling us to keep the faith, and I believed him. Without further ado, here are the three trades for, and one drafting of, Mr. Aaron Nola I did in preseason 2021 and 2022 thus far (there are still leagues I don’t have him, so, if my league mates in those leagues are reading…trade him to me!).

First trade: 16-team H2H, 65-man rosters (trade date: December 27, 2021)

Traded: Ke’Bryan Hayes, Reid Detmers, and Jose Miranda

Obviously in the long run this trade may come back to bite me…hard. But for now, Detmers, while he has that no-no and our own Bob Cyphers just wrote him up positively for our recent Triple Play, is never going to be Nola. Hayes I was never a big fan of, and was happy to get some value for him while it remained high. It can be argued at a shallow position like 3B Hayes can be a top-10 third baseman, but that says more about the position than Hayes. Miranda came out of virtually nowhere to produce very well in the high minors last season, and I tried to capitalize on the hype surrounding him. He may end up being the best of the three, but I’m still happy with the deal.

2022 New Dynasty league Draft: Points League, 14-team H2H, 55-man rosters: Drafted third round, overall pick 33 (draft date: early days of January 2022)

This was my first points league, invited and commished by fellow TDG writer Kyle Brown. I started with only roto leagues for my first 15 years playing fantasy baseball, then added a few H2H leagues the last five years, and finally dove into points leagues this year. I did my research on strategies, and, as with any league, knowing the scoring system is key to doing well. Pitchers are typically kings in points leagues, and this one is no different. With the ability to rack up 20-30 point games (and if the schedule breaks right, twice in one week), having a lot of SPs is a sound strategy.

So, after Shohei Ohtani, the pitcher and hitter, inexplicably dropped to me at the sixth overall pick (he should be first overall in most points leagues), I made Nola’s Phillies teammate Zach Wheeler my second-round pick, followed by Nola, followed by Max Fried. I even screwed up my next three picks (in retrospect) drafting Kris Bryant, Bryan Reynolds, and Yoan Moncada. Even with those mistakes, I made pitching a priority the rest of the way. The proof is in the pudding, as I sit 14-0 at the All-Star Break with 500 more points than my next closest competitor, much to the chagrin of the many Mikes, but only one Matt, in the league (hi boys!).

Second Trade: 16 team, H2H, 40-man rosters (trade date: June 13, 2022)

Traded: Kyle Wright + 2023 First round FYPD pick

I like Kyle Wright a lot, and added him on a bunch of teams in the early going of 2022, but the chance to acquire Nola was too great, and I expect that pick to be at the back end of the first round. The team acquiring Wright is rebuilding, the manager put Nola on the block, and I pounced.

Third Trade: 16 team, H2H, 40-man rosters (trade date: July 19, 2022)

Traded: Lucas Giolito, Kyle Muller, and Vaughn Grissom

Many might think that Giolito is not that much below Nola in rankings, but based on this season alone he has fallen back. If I have to choose between an NL or AL pitcher, even with the DH now in the NL, I still take the NL pitcher. The AL Central has some bad teams, but so does the NL East, so that’s a wash. Grissom is a great prospect and will be on a lot of top-100 lists after the season, and a lot at mid-season ones as well, and I am a huge fan. But there is no reward without risk. The manager I traded with has made many a deal with me in the past, and I actually acquired Mueller from him, so I knew he was a fan. If Muller, who is pitching quite well at Triple-A this season, put the deal over the top, then it was a risk I had to take to try and win this season.

What is the lesson here, you ask? That I love Aaron Nola? Obviously. That it helps to strike when the iron is hot? Of course. That pitching is key in Points leagues? Absolutely. A couple of other guys I targeted and acquired on teams were Drew Rasmussen, Nestor Cortes, Luis Urias, and Tanner Houck. Urias has not worked out well, and Houck I was hoping to be a starter, but Rasmussen looks like a future SP2 and Cortes has especially worked out.

TL;DR

Do your research, believe in your guys, and do what it takes to acquire them. Even if you send out an offer in pre-season, and it gets rejected, you can always follow up later, as the seed has been planted. At the very least you know you did all you could to make your Dynasty teams better. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but you try, try, and try again.