Why Loading One Position for Fantasy Baseball is a Risky Strategy

The idea behind stocking your team at one position, say SS, is that you can deny your opponents the ability to get a top SS, and then trade with them while you hold the advantage. It's a great strategy if, and it's a huge if, your opponents are dumb enough to trade with you. If nobody will trade with you, your season is over. The more sophisticated your fellow owners are, the less likely it is they will trade with you.

Two years ago in a money head-to-head league I play in, one of the owners drafted 2 top shortstops within his first 5 picks, even though Derek Jeter was one of his keepers. When a couple people commented on it, the owner said he was drafting the best available talent, regardless of position. Because he had shrunk the talent pool at shortstop so quickly, I just wrote off the position and ended up taking Russ Adams with my last pick in the draft.

As soon as the draft was over, I began getting trade offers from the SS loaded owner. Because I had nothing at SS, he was demanding a king's ransom, at one point asking for Pedro and Carlos Lee for one of his SS. I refused all offers and started the year with Adams. By the end of the first week, it was clear Adams wasn't even playing every game, so I reverted to shortstop by committee, plugging in the best available SS each week.

Another owner was playing Alex Gonzalez at SS, and he kept getting the same types of ridiculous trade offers from the SS loaded owner, which we joked about. Once Felipe Lopez started hitting, I put in a claim for him, but the Alex Gonzalez owner had a worse record than me and got him. With some of his leverage gone, the SS loaded owner started making fair trade offers. If it had been a for fun league I probably would have traded, but in a money league there was no way I was going to make a trade with him, especially since my team kept winning most weeks, and his team kept losing.

The next waiver claim I made was for Johnny Peralta, and as he kept hitting, the SS loaded owner lost all leverage and was dead in the water with his 3 top shortstops and nobody to trade with, though he kept trying. My team cruised into the playoffs (and an early exit), while the SS loaded owner ended up with the worst record in the league.

It was no coincidence that he ended up with the worst record. By drafting at a position he already had a great player for, he effectivley ruined his team. While he was drafting shortstops, he left Carlos Lee and Jim Edmonds on the table, whom I took. He also left many other top players at other positions on the board for other owners. By taking the shortstops, he made his team weak at other positions. The only way for him to fix that problem was to make a trade. When he was unable to do that, his team was crippled and he could not win.

Why the Strategy is Flawed

If no one will trade with you, you have ruined your team in any number of ways.

1) You have allowed your opponents to draft better players you left in the pool while you took your shortstops.

2) You cannot play 3 shortstops, so at least one and maybe two SS are on your bench. (You might get away with playing a SS at utility position in Roto, but in head-to-head, if your playing a SS there, your going to have a losing record almost every time)

3) You do not want to cut a top SS, so you keep them on the bench and ruin your team's flexability. While other owners are making waiver claims, your hampered in the flexability to do that. When the next Bobby Jenks starts closing out games, you don't have the room to claim him, unless you cut a top SS.

So, if your thinking about stockpiling players at a position like SS, be aware of the risks. And if someone in your league tries that strategy, think twice about trading with them. If you do trade with them, just remember your bailing them out, and not the other way around.