Last Place is the Best Place

Now I know what you’re thinking. You’re probably an idiot, as last place is the worst. How in the world can you write that? I’ll get to that in a little bit. Have you stopped playing? Are you done searching the waiver wire? Feeling like you can’t get back in it? I’m here to tell you now is the time to step up, get right, and pursue 4th place with a passion. Huh? 4th place? Isn’t the goal to be the best? Yes, it is, and it starts right now.

“Watts the Deal”

I’m in a lot of leagues, some very high-level ones. I see this all the time, even in those leagues; there’s a lack of trying to dig themselves out of the hole they have made or a pursuit of a rebuild. I’m going to write about both.

The Rebuild

I’m personally in last place in an AL-only league. Wait, what? A Dynasty Guru writer in last place? How can that be? I inherited a team that was poorly built—that’s how. Oh, okay, that makes some sense. Couldn’t you have fixed it prior to the season? I did improve the roster prior to the season starting by chatting up the league, proposing trades, and not giving up on a potential deal that made sense for me. But that’s not what I am here to write about. It’s about what you are going to do right now till the end of the season.

Daily add-and-drop check-ups. This requires a minimum of 1 minute of your attention or more. You should be at this moment in a rebuild checking to see who is being dropped and whether that player makes your team better for next season. I picked up Jonathan India for example, in that AL-only league, as he should be a player that will help me win next season. Wait, that doesn’t sound like a player to pick up for a rebuild. In a normal league circumstance, you would be correct. However, in this league, he is eligible at multiple positions, player pool is shallow and he typically gets close to a full season of at-bats. My team has a lot of young prospects, some close to the show, and by next year I am hoping to compete somewhere in the middle or higher. This is something I do daily in most of my leagues, but specifically the ones that I am well behind the eight ball and have room to make moves.

Daily player movement %. This requires a minimum of at least 1 minute or more, depending on league size and scope. If you haven’t been doing this, you have certainly missed out on some real gems in your league. Jordan Walker for example, in many leagues wasn’t rostered unless you were in a deep league. Using % helps you figure out players that might not be on your radar. Denzer Guzman just got the call as of this writing, to the majors for the Angels. I can guarantee you he wasn’t on your radar, as he wasn’t on mine. But he is for my last-place team, just not my teams at the top. Using % can help you find players for your team next year if your league has that tool.

Opponent rosters. This requires more of your time, anywhere between 2 minutes to 6 minutes once a week. Why would I do this? My team sucks. This is where you see whom managers play and what their needs are. Do you have a player that they could use right now to fill a hole on their roster? Then you find players that might not have so much value to them now but will have value for you down the line.

Chatting and trade offers. This requires 5 minutes or more of your time, typically after you have checked your opponent’s rosters. This is where being in last place can be difficult to make trades, as your roster construction might not allow for much movement to contenders unless you have some real value to your opposing league managers, which is exactly why you look at opponent rosters.

Build to rebuild and check once a day. You must ultimately do the work to get yourself out of last place for next season. It shouldn’t take too much of your time to do it. Be persistent with the work needing to be done, so next year you reap the rewards while others sit on the bench letting you grab all the goodies.

4th Place (Re-tooling)

There is no way I can dig my team out of its last-place hole. I should rebuild, right? Well, not exactly. You can re-tool and climb out of the rut potentially, but you must manage your team wisely. Well, what team construct could dig themselves out?

I’ll get to that, but first let’s talk about where you really are in the standings. Have you examined how far back you are in a roto league? In H2H, how much are you really losing categories by? Sometimes last place feels like the worst, but really you might not be that far off from digging yourself out of the hole. You have got to examine where you are in the league by digging into the statistics.

Now, you must do the things above (rebuild), except you are choosing players that help you now instead of players that can help you tomorrow. If a player can do both for you, that’s the best one to grab.

Now that you understand statistically where you are lagging now, it’s time to….

Leverage your best players. For example, a current 12th-place roto team I know has one of the best players in all of fantasy baseball in Juan Soto. He has refused to even look at any offers thrown his way. Why? According to him, he has too many keepers, and he’s waiting for players to bounce back. Seems wild to you, doesn’t it? It does to me, as one Juan Soto trade could potentially bounce you up in the standings. I’ll get back to that in a few paragraphs.

You think you have too many keepers? Have you examined your roster fully? I will showcase just this team’s hitters to give you an idea.

How many keepers do you see for next season? Write your keeper numbers in the comments at the bottom, and I’ll do the same.

When trading a top 5 player in Soto, you need to get a hefty haul back to fill out the holes in your roster. In this case, he has needs at C, 1B, SS, Util, and would want another OF to replace Soto. The only teams that would send a haul are typically in the middle of the standings and up. Don’t forget about those bottom teams though; they may be willing to bottom out for someone like Soto if they have the talent you seek.

What could a Juan Soto trade look like to upgrade this roster? I will use current team roster construction in this very league to give you an idea of some potential options if teams were willing to offer. I will not do every teams possible offers.

11th place team could offer Josh Naylor, Zach Neto, Pete Crow-Armstrong, and Leo De Vries. Big upgrades at 1B, SS, and a very good OF replacement, plus future SS value or another trade piece in De Vries for more win-now pieces. This team is unlikely to do this with their current position.

9th place team could offer Luis Arraez, Trea Turner, Roman Anthony, Kyle Bradish, Cole Ragans, and Connelly Early. Upgrades at 1B, SS, SP, and a big Dynasty Value grab in Roman Anthony while his value is low. He could flip some pieces in this grab to gain even more value. This team has the roster construction to make this offer become a reality.

8th place team could offer Ivan Herrera, Julio Rodriguez, Payton Tolle, and Jesus Made. Big upgrade at C, SP, and great replacement OF. Made could be moved for other win-now pieces (8th place team very unlikely to make an offer like this).

6th place team could offer Aranda, Schwarber, Perdomo, and Cease. Solid upgrade at 1B, 50/50 on SS upgrade, SP upgrade, and very good OF to replace Soto. This is likely the worst option.

5th place team could offer C-Contreras, Chourio, Betts, and Max Clark. Huge upgrade at C, SS, and big-time OF replacement.

You get the idea, but when an owner refuses to listen to offers, you never know what offers might exist. Any one of these offers above improves his overall roster and thus begins the re-tooling out of 12th place. I do know the 9th place team and 6th place team would be willing to make this offer for Soto.

With Soto and Wood, there are two players that can be really leveraged for better overall assets if teams are willing to move enough players to get them. Sitting and waiting does nothing to make your team better.

Having the roster construction of players who can pull 3 or more players in a deal is ideal for a re-tool. You don’t want to trade them all, but you will need to trade a few to help gather enough upgrades to begin the climb. You will also need to relinquish assets that are negative values at the positions you have them at for upgrades on the waiver wire.  Catcher and Util are two spots on that roster above that could be improved just on the current waiver wire. Util could be earmarked for hot hand plays that would improve that spot until Merrill comes around (if he does). Don’t forget to use draft picks in trades.

Finally, manage your team. Don’t let your current position fool you into a rest of year’s sleep. It’s not fun for anyone involved. Show your league that you can still pull your team out of the last-place hole you’re in. Last place is the best place to showcase your managerial skills.

By Chris “Wicky Wicky” Watts