It's now or never for owners looking to acquire Phillies second baseman Chase Utley. He is on the verge of busting out and it could come this weekend.

NL Burners and Turners Week 3:
Three tips for better trading experiences

Trading is the trickiest part of fantasy baseball.

Selecting a weekly lineup and panning for hot prospects from the free agency pool can be fickle, but trades can be simply deceptive. We often get drunk on big names and do not actually evaluate the entire package.  Proposals are the beer goggles of the fantasy world.

For example, trading Chase Utley for Miguel Cabrera would seem like a great deal for an Utley owner but if that owner already has David Wright at 3B he will be taking a big hit at 2B just to make a positional upgrade at third and corner infield.

It is easy to get swayed by the big names when taking trade, but good owners are visionaries and fireworks and infatuation are better left to the young and innocent. Understanding the big picture is more important than perfecting one portion of the scope. Cut down on the man crushes and play the game using your y chromosome, and if you lack the y chromosome then just play it with your proportionally larger and smarter lady brain.

There are a few things you can do in order to assure that you are actually improving your team.

Know the Roster- Know the other owner’s roster as well as you know your own.  You should be able to answer a counter offer without referencing the rosters on the website. The successful owners do just this

Use the Phone- If you are in a league with people you know personally and you still conduct all of your fantasy business via email you are obviously a socially awkward shut-in.  The amount of time it takes to send a trade proposal, receive a rejection, and make a counter offer could be the difference of a few valuable fantasy points.  If you are in a social league you need to utilize as much verbal communication as possible.  A person is always a more effective barterer when they are not stripped of a voice and personality. It also makes sense to initially clear deals through interpersonal contact because you never have to have that moment of regret that comes after sending out a bad trade offer.  This moment is often followed by hours of prayer and voodoo targeted at making sure the other owner does not accept the proposal.

Build Momentum- When you are offering a trade, you are basically trying to make a sale. The product you are selling is an idea.  You are not trying to sell players because a good trade should always be equal, thus there is no need to sell its equality.  You are selling the idea that an owner that his team would be better with fantasy hitter x rather than fantasy pitcher y.  The proper method of persuasion is to start off with your weakest idea and build up to your strongest. Before you sit down to talk to an owner you should have four or five possible trades worked out. Start off with the one that you think is the least likely to happen and work your way to the best. Be sure not to act like a trader clown.

Why?

Because it works.

Always offer quality trades, just make sure your first quality trade makes little sense with the other owners given roster (i.e. the example of Utley and Cabrera above.) 

Burners are players that can be had on the cheap. They represent value over cost. They are the type of player you want to add to your roster. 

Turners are players that are sell high candidates.  They represent cost over value. These are the players that allow an owner to continue building a strong roster base.  

BURNERS – The Ageless, Underappreciated the Unknown and the Fire waiting to happen.

Moises Alou, OF, NY Mets -   Even at 40-years-of-age his contributions in the

Covet those who will get 500 at-bats in the Mets lineup

categories of batting average and home runs have upside.  Alou is a career .301 hitter and has 319 homers over the course of 17 Major League seasons.  There is risk with Alou. His age brings injury concerns but hitting in the middle of arguably the best offensive lineup in the ‘Bigs” make for a productive summer.

Orlando Hudson, 2B, Arizona--If an owner is willing to part with possibly the best hitter in the Diamondback lineup then find a way to get the deal done; within reason of course. He continues to improve and mature, and the switch to the National League resulted in the highest batting average of his career at .287. He also drove in a career high 67 RBIs , 87 Runs, and 15 HR in 2006.

Eric Gagne, RP, Texas - Since returning Gagne has received little work. He is high risk in the injury deptartment but take advantage any frustrated owner, and believe us, Gagne owners are frusted and questioning his value. He will never be the pitcher he once was, but 35 saves for an improved Rangers team is well worth the effort 

Chase Utley, 2B, Philadelphia – The Phillies second baseman will be a tough acquisition, but one well worth fighting for.  There is not better time than the present to make an attempt at the services of the best second baseman in the league.

TURNERS – The Overrated, the Fast and the Injured.

Ryan Zimmerman, 3B, Washington-  Zimmerman may one day be a good major league hitter, but the current Nationals lineup doesn’t offer him much offensive potential this season. The lack of protection in the order won’t offer Zimmerman many Matzo Balls moving forward. His strong rookie campaign and his prospect status before reaching the parent club created a fervor that just wouldn’t go away. Put all of these factors with the fact that Zimmerman plays a position with great depth in the NL and you have little to no reason not to trade him.

Juan Pierre, OF, LA Dodgers- Pierre showed long ago he runs hot and cold and depends too much on his legs to be an across the board stud. His ability to steal bases has always resulted in his overvalued ROTO status. Pierre entered Week 3 hitting.186 with a .409 OPS.  He has a chance to break out of his mire this week with a favorable schedule and if he does start getting a grasp of his market value. Owners who can afford to lose Pierre’s stole bases should move him after a solid statistical week.   

Chris Carpenter, SP, St. Louis- The St.Louis organization did their best to keep their ace’s injury on the hush, but the latest on Carpenter is he will miss as much as a month, maybe more, and it’s unlikely he produce ace numbers this season without extended rest. His current DL status is reported caused by a bone spur, most likely located on the olecranon process in the elbow.  Why is this important? If Carpenter cannot reduce the swelling then he will likely have to undergo surgery sometime in May. There is a chance of a full and quick recovery, Johan Santana had the surgery before the 2004 season and still had a quality yea, but the risk is greater than the return. Find an owner that is flush at a specific position and broaden the depth of your roster by offering up the Cardinals right-hander.