Kicking Rocks: Micromanagement

Maybe the reference is lost on some here as the movie dates back to 1977, but during the original Bad News Bears movies, the second installment “Breaking Training”, the boys find themselves playing against some Texas Little League team at the old Astrodome. But the game gets called due to time constraints and little foul-mouthed Tanner, in protest, refuses to leave the field. The umpires chase him around in some Keystone Kop-like silliness while the entire stadium chants, “Let them play” until the higher ups finally acquiesce and the boys are allowed to finish their ballgame. I bring this up here because I am that Astrodome crowd. You are those higher ups. And your fantasy team is running around the field right now, cuttin’ and runnin’ and flinging bases at you just trying to finish the game.

They say that idle hands are the devil’s playthings and that couldn’t be any more true as it is in fantasy baseball. Owners become so obsessed with playing the waiver wire and swinging deals that they simply are incapable of just letting their team play for a few weeks and seeing how it goes. But are they really helping their team with all of this player movement? Some may be. But a lot of times, they’re just spinning their wheels and in some cases, actually doing their team a disservice.

Fantasy Owner X sends me an email and says that he is in need of starting pitching. His offense is stacked, but could really use some help in strikeouts, wins and maybe even some help with his ratios. He has a trade on the table that would send Josh Hamilton to a rival owner in exchange for Matt Cain and Josh Johnson. There was some other filler in there as well, but this was the crux of the deal. He linked me to his team, I saw where he was in the standings and it all looked good for him. So he made the deal. Good, right? Well no more than a week later he emails me and says that he was offered…and accepted….a deal where he trades Gio Gonzalez for Adam Dunn.

I’m stupefied. Did you not just say that you needed pitching help? Did you not just say that your offense was stacked? Is it that you have so much confidence in Cain and Johnson that you can rid yourself of a starter having a breakout, career year? Or is it the buyer’s remorse setting in that you fear your offense will lag too much without Hamilton? Whatever the rationale is, it’s probably wrong. You’ve come pretty close to going back to square one with your pitching and while you’ve probably gotten back most of what you lost in home runs and RBI, you’ve just started to slowly bleed points in batting average.

Or how about the guy who just can’t stopping making add/drops? It seems like each and every day he’s picking up this part-time closer or that new A’s first baseman. It goes beyond simple player streaming here. We’re talking borderline OCD. If you already have four closers on your roster, then who cares if Tom Wilhelmsen just got the nod over Brandon League? Is Juan Oviedo worth a look in a Miami?  Sure, if you HAVE NO CLOSERS! If you have four established ones, then no.  If your team is strong and there’s no real reason to make a move, then don’t.  There’s a difference between grabbing a guy you don’t necessarily need in order to block a rival owner and then there’s just making moves for the sake of making moves. And at some point, when you’re screwing around with this senseless player carousel, you’re going to make a mistake.  You’re going to think you’re being savvy and pick up some guy because you just read some post on Rotoworld claiming he was going to see an increase in PT and because you don’t have room on your roster, you’re going to end up dropping someone that you shouldn’t and another owner, like me, is going to swoop on in and reap the benefits. That’s how I ended up with both Ian Desmond and Rafael Soriano this year.

Don’t get me wrong here, though.  I applaud the active owner.  I love seeing people get into their team so much that it becomes a way of life.  That’s what this game needs.  But show some patience, people. If you need to make a deal to improve your team, make the deal and let them play. Give it some time to see if it’s working for you. If you pick up a guy from the waiver wire, do it with purpose. Make your pick-up and let him play. It’s not always good to micromanage. In a time when everyone is so quick to pull the “small sample size” card when discussing a player’s performance, you have to give them some time before deciding whether they are right for your team or not. Don’t be those higher ups stifling the youth of today. Be that little, foul-mouthed kid running around the field and fight the urge of the quick hook. You brought these guys onto your team for a reason. Now let them play.