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It’s the first week of Period 4, everyone has a clean slate. Nine Golden Tickets have been awarded, three more are on the line the next four weeks. Here are some of the choices the Touts are counting on for a place in the Finals.

Dan Strafford (FNTSY Radio, @DanStrafford)

Pitcher: Max Scherzer – While his price point may be a tad prohibitive, it’s hard to see a pitcher in a better spot than Mad Max tonight. It is true that the Marlins are simply middle of the pack when it comes to K% against RHP on the year, but Scherzer sports a 38.9% K rate against right hand batters. The Marlins could potentially run out eight right handers in their lineup tonight. For cash games, a Scherzer/Bumgarner pairing may be pretty popular.

Hitter: Aaron Hicks – If we’re paying up for Scherzer, we’re going to have to find some cheaper bats to chase homeruns with on this slate. While Hicks isn’t a bargain, at 4k he represents one of the cheaper Yankees options on the night. Over his career, Clayton Richard has yielded 1.27 homeruns per nine to right handed batters. New York has an implied total of 7.3 runs. Hicks has sufficient power from the right side against left handed batters and should see the underbelly of the Jays bullpen early.

Todd Zola (Mastersball, @toddzola)

Pitcher: Madison Bumgarner – Chalkier than a batter’s box before the game starts but I don’t care. The Rox have struggled on the road versus LHP for the past several seasons.

Hitter: Franmil Reyes – Today’s DFS is all about the homer, so is the Orioles pitching staff. Reyes is reasonable priced from the five-hole.

Jeff Boggis (Fantasy Football Empire, @JeffBoggis)

Pitcher: Madison Bumgarner – There are a couple of expensive starting pitchers tonight, that I would love to roster, but struggle to complete an entire lineup that I feel comfortable with. That being said, I’m starting Madison Bumgarner (SF): $8,200 vs. COL. He’s at home and facing a Colorado team that is a lot worse on the road than at home when facing left-handed pitchers. The rockies have a 30.0% strikeout rate versus lefties on the road, which is the 2nd worse in MLB.

Hitter: Giancarlo Stanton – Giancarlo Stanton is back and hit his first home run of the season last night. He faces lefty Clayton Richard tonight and Stanton owns a lifetime .500 BA against him. Only $4,600 tonight. Yes please.

Ray Murphy (BaseballHQ, @RayHQ)

Pitcher: Andrew Heaney – Pretty nice spot for Heaney at home for the Reds, will take a shot at him re-discovering the high-K form he flashed in his first couple of starts off the DL.

Hitter: Francisco Mejia – I really like the SD stack in general, but Mejia at 3300 in Camden (vs crappy O’s pitching) is a true gift.

Jeff Erickson (Rotowire, @Jeff_Erickson)

Pitcher: Madison Bumgarner – Joining the heard on MadBum. Struggling with my choice as the second pitcher – I’ve switched my choice there multiple times, but I’m trying to find someone cheap so that I can afford as many Yankees as possible.

Hitter: Aaron Judge – Judge hasn’t homered yet since his return, but it’s Clayton Richard at home, and he’s underpriced at $4,700.

Anthony Aniano (Rotoballer, @AAnianoFantasy)

Pitcher: Shane Bieber – Bieber has 116 Ks in 91IP including 20 strikeouts in his last 2 starts. Kansas City is 25th in runs per game and OPS and averages 8.6 strikeouts per game.

Hitter: Jose Altuve – For $3,900 he faces Trevor Williams who allowed 7 runs in his last start. Altuve has 7 hits over his last 4 games including a home run and 2 doubles.

Steve Gardner (USAToday Fantasy Sports, @SteveAGardner)

Pitcher: Jake Arrieta – Arrieta has been hit-or-miss all season, but I’ve heard some “bad stuff ’bout the Mets” lately so I’m all-in on a Philly rout tonight.

Hitter: Jose Altuve – Just off the IL and just $3900, I like Altuve and the Astros against Pittsburgh’s Trevor Williams. The former AL MVP has seven hits in his last four games, including a homer on Sunday.

This week’s question revolves around some of the young arms making their debut recently.

Several young pitchers have debuted recently including Adbert Alzolay, Zac Gallen, Logan Allen and Jordan Yamamoto. Who of this group interests you the most and are there any other young hurlers to keep tabs on?

Mike Podhorzer (Fangraphs, @MikePodhorzer): Neither of the four really excite me enough to consider adding in 12-team mixed leagues or shallower. But Gallen is the most interesting solely because his strikeout rate spiked at Triple-A this year and it was fully supported by a surge in SwStrk%. That validates the legitimacy of the 30%+ strikeout rate, as it’s unlikely driven by good fortune, or a heavy reliance on called or foul strikes. Still, his pre-2019 metrics were pedestrian enough that I’d only consider investing in 15-team mixed and deeper. Otherwise, he’s really no better than your cookie cutter streaming option that’s seemingly always available in shallower formats.

Doug Dennis (BaseballHQ, @dougdennis41): These are good questions for NL-only 12 team leagues. I am in leagues where I have lost Kyle Hendricks and Pablo Lopez in the last week and innings are of course at a premium. In leagues like that, owners replacing starters must take a flyer on pitchers like Gallen, who have had terrific Triple-A metrics this season. Yamamoto is no slouch, either and I certainly did snap him up the week before and am hoping for the best. Logan Allen came into 2019 as the one you would take from this list, and his is probably already on reserve lists in these deeper leagues. Allen might have the most staying power as well. Finally, I do not have any confidence that Alzolay can hold the job because the Cubs are trying to win now and have a veteran group, so once Kyle Hendricks comes back, Alzolay will almost certainly go back.

Tim McCullough (Baseball Prospectus, @TimsTenz): None of the four really excite me in shallow leagues (12-teams or less) but I’d consider adding Gallen and perhaps Yamamoto in 15-team leagues. Gallen in particular has the skill set that I look for in a fantasy pitcher. At the very least I’d like to see more. The young arm I’m still waiting on is Jesus Luzardo. Once he’s healthy I’m expecting a top 5 pitcher to emerge.

Phil Hertz (BaseballHQ, @prhz50): I’m with Tim on shallow leagues. In an NL-only, I might go with Allen as my top choice.

Perry Van Hook (Mastersball, @): I am going to disagree with my Tout brethren about these young pitcher being added in 15 team leagues – Having seen Yamamoto pitch in the Arizona Fall League and watched his progress, I was all in on him last week in the Tout Mixed Draft League. Unfortunately I lost my bid for him in my home NL only league, but I will try again for Gallen this week. BTW Gallen was one of the best pitchers in the minor leagues to date this year and his first outing was fine. Sure their W potentials on the Marlins is not great but a look at free agent pitcher lists in 15 team mixed will not give you many better choices.

Todd Zola (Mastersball, @toddzola): I side with Perry. We old fogies may not like it, but today’s fantasy game isn’t designed to wait and see. Someone will take the chance. Conservative gets you middle of the pack. It’s unclear if Allen will stay up, but at some point he will be and it’s worth being aggressive. It’s worth being aggressive on Gallen right now. I don’t see the whiffs from Yamamoto so he’s third for me. Other than the obvious Luzardo, Forrest Whitley and Dylan Cease, I’m monitoring Justus Sheffield as the Mariners are pot-committed to give him a chance (he’s still struggling at Double-A) and my longshot is 26-year old southpaw Kyle Hart, a Red Sox farmhand. Hart isn’t dominant, but he’s done well in Double-A and now with Pawtucket. He’s old for the levels, but if Brian Johnson struggles, I can see Hart getting a shot, especially if Nate Eovaldi has another setback.

Glenn Colton (Fantasy Alarm, @GlennColton1): Gallen for me. 1.77 ERA and 12:1 K/BB in PCL. And now he gets to pitch in a pitcher’s park. Sign me up.

Tim McLeod (PattonandCo, @TimothyLMc): I’m with Perry and Todd. A quick look at the Free Agent pool of available SP in 15-team Mixed Leagues and it becomes apparent that these kids simply can’t be ignored. Allen and Gallen are my preferred choices with Yamamoto just slightly below those two. Alzolay will be heading back to Triple-A when Hendricks returns, so minimal interest. Jesus Luzardo, Dylan Cease, and even Brendan McKay have my attention for the second half. I know McKay is a Ray, which normally means we don’t see him early, but in a close race they might need that arm in September.

Charlie Wiegert (CDM Sports, @GFFantasySports): Yamamoto was impressive in two starts against the Cardinals. I’ll be interested in seeing how he does against the Phillies Sunday . If he shuts them down also, he could be major league ready. There is hesitation , as he ( as Gallen) pitch for the offensively challenged Marlin, whose bullpen is also less than desirable.

Patrick Davitt (BaseballHQ, @patrickdavitt): I like Gallen of the four. MiLB 2019: 1.77/0.71 in 91.1 innings, .153 BAA, 112 K against 17 walks, all in the PCL. I’m especially positive here because he bumped his K/9 from around 9 K/9 pre-2019 to 11.0, cut his walks from 2.4 bb/9 to 1.7, and as a result saw his Command Ratio leap from 3.8 to 6.6. I’m starting to get the feeling that MIA might be onto something in drafting and developing pitchers. I’ve seen analysis noting that Allen’s awful 5.15/1.44 decimals were inflated by two horrendous starts to open the year, which was true (11 earnies and 18 baserunners in 5.0 innings (19.80/3.60); since then: 3.84/1.26). But here’s the thing: In those nine subsequent starts, he had two more stinkers (5.1 combined innings, 11 hits, a walk, 5 HR), making him seem risky from a consistency perspective.

Tristan H. Cockcroft (ESPN, @SultanofStat): Zac Gallen seems to be the consensus choice and it’s one that makes sense: He’s got a wide-open path to a rest-of-year rotation spot, he’ll call one of the most pitching-friendly environments his home, and he could probably double his current innings total (majors and minors) before the Marlins think about shutting him down. Sign me up, including for Logan Allen if I’m ranking them. As for “what’s next,” I don’t think Jesus Luzardo is getting enough attention. Had he not gotten hurt, he’d have made the A’s out of spring training, and the Frankie Montas suspension does open up a spot for Luzardo as soon as he’s healthy.

Scott Engel (Rotoballer, @scotteTheKing): I like Yamomoto. He has some really good movement on his pitches and he is not easy for opponents to pick up. Allen was impressive as well and while he works in a pitcher’s park, I want to see more before I commit to backing him

Nando Di FIno (The Athletic, @nandodifino): I am very much on board with Zac Gallen. I think the strikeout breakthrough is real and he’s exhibited nice enough control through the minors for me to feel safe in him translating that to MLB. But what stands out to me most is his 1.77 ERA this season in the PCL. The ERAs in the PCL are insane right now, and meanwhile here’s Gallen with a sub-2 ERA. I don’t think you can ignore that. When everyone else is getting completely pounded to cartoonish levels, you have a pitcher who is an extreme outlier now coming into a home park that should play to his strengths. As far as anyone else to watch? I would’ve said Elieser Hernández, but he’s also up. Maybe J.P. Feyereisen, if the Yankees make a deal and he’s part of the package that goes to a team without a closer?

Jeff Boggis (Fantasy Football Empire, @JeffBoggis): Jordan Yamamoto is my click to pick. He now has won his first 3 games he’s piched in at the major league level this season. Impressive victories over the Cardinals twice, and now the Phillies.

Scott Swanay (FantasyBaseballSherpa, @fantasy_sherpa): Alzolay and Allen interest me more than Gallen and Yamamoto. However, there are a number of other options who could be returning from the IL or minors at some point this summer who’d also interest me – e.g. – Manaea, Reyes, De Leon, Lamet, Luzardo, and Puk. All else being equal I’d rather have a pitcher who hasn’t missed an extended period of time due to injury, but I feel the ceiling of the pitchers in the second group generally exceeds the ceiling of the pitchers in the first group, and at this point in the season, the ceiling concerns me more than the expected projection.

Anthony Aniano (Rotoballer, @AAnianoFantasy): Of the group mentioned Zac Gallen intriques me the most. In AAA he averaged over 11 K/s per 9 and less than two walks per nine innings. However the most impressive stat is less than 1 home run allowed per 9 innings. Anthony Kay of the Mets is someone I am monitoring. The dysfunction continues and players like Vargas and Wheeler could possibly be traded by mid-July and Kay is the Mets best pitching prospect.He dominated AA this season and has struggled a bit in 5 AAA innings but as he adjusts the lefty with high strikeout potential could receive a late season call-up.

Vlad Sedler (Fantasy Guru Elite, @rotogut): As far as fantasy relevance for this season, I’d rank them Gallen, Yamamoto, Alzolay, Allen. Gallen is the clear favorite of the group because of his pedigree and domination in Triple-A thus far. He’s the guy most likely to be an SP2 and top-100 overall pick in your fantasy drafts two years from now. Yamamoto has certainly dazzled through his first couple starts, but these final rotation spots are competitive and he’ll have to keep cruising in order to keep it. Alzolay and Allen are talented but are much more likely to be demoted – Allen likely first since he could still use some more seasoning in the minors and Dinelson Lamet should be back in the rotation soon.

The Fantasy Sports and Gaming Association announced Lawr Michaels as the 2019 inductee into the Fantasy Sports Hall of Fame. The ceremony will take place on Friday, June 28 in New York City at the 2019 FSGA Summer Conference.

Tout Wars own Glenn Colton and Rick Wolf will commemorate the announcement this Tuesday night, June 25 on Colton and the Wolfman, heard on Sirius XM Fantasy Radio from 9 PM – 11 PM ET. Several special guests will share memories of Lawr in advance of this well deserved honor.

It’s the last week of Period 3 with three more Golden Tickets in the balance. Here’s who the Touts are counting on to get them into the Championship Tournament.

Gene McCaffrey (The Athletic, @WiseGuyGene)

Pitcher: Brandon Woodruff – I have him as the best pitcher tonight regardless of price, against the compulsively whiffing Padres.

Hitter: Robinson Cano – Healthy and hitting, a super-bargain at $3100.

Anthony Aniano (Rotoballer, @AAnianoFantasy)

Pitcher: Brandon Woodruff – He’s striking out 29% of the batters he’s facing and goes against a Padres team that is 21st in runs per game and 27th in strikeouts per game with 9.77.

Hitter: Ramon Laureano – Laureano leads an Oakland stack against Ynoa and his 5.02 ERA and less than 7 Ks/9. Laureano has 8 HRs vs RHP this season and 4 HRs 4SBs in his last 15 games.

Todd Zola (Mastersball, @toddzola)

Pitcher: Brett Anderson – Fading Woodruff and need some additional differentiation

Hitter: Michael Conforto – Seems to work for Phil

Jeff Boggis (Fantasy Football Empire, @JeffBoggis)

Pitcher: Julio Teheran – Has an ERA under 2.00 in 8 consecutive games. He is one of the hottest starting pitchers on one of the hottest teams right now with the Atlanta Braves owning the NL East.

Hitter: Ian Desmond – In the past 2 weeks, Ian Desmond has been on a tear, batting .386 with 3 home runs and 15 RBI.

Charlie Wiegert (CDM Sports, @GFFantasySports)

Pitcher: Jack Flaherty – Due to rebound at home vs light hitting Marlins, and hopefully tack up 7 + k’s

Hitter: Matt Carpenter – Another homer, who I hope homers again tonight. I expect the Cardinal hitters to have a better approach tonight than they did against Yamamoto last week.

Jeff Erickson (Rotowire, @Jeff_Erickson)

Pitcher: Mitch Keller – Last round of this scoring period, need to take some chances. Keller at least gets strikeouts and is facing the Tigers.

Hitter: Dan Vogelbach – Matchup against Homer Bailey? Yes please.

Howard Bender (Fantasy Alarm, @RotobuzzGuy)

Pitcher: Jack Flaherty – Come on. It’s Miami! The Fish stink. K-rate should be solid with minimal damage via hits/walks on DK

Hitter: Jorge Bonifacio – How about this tasty dart? Kikuchi pitches to a ton of contact and Bonifacio is hot out of the gate following his call-up. He’s got four hits, including two doubles and 3 RBI in his last two games.

It’s the third week of Period 3, marking the halfway point of the Tout Daily regular season. Here are some of the pitchers and hitters the Touts are touting for Tuesday night.

Charlie Wiegert (CDM Sports, @GFFantasySports)

Pitcher: Dakota Hudson – If Wacha can shut down the Marlins, so can Hudson

Hitter: Jay Bruce – He’s been on a homer terror, and hopefully he’ll do plant one against Duplantier

Howard Bender (Fantasy Alarm, @RotobuzzGuy)

Pitcher: Dakota Hudson – Doesn’t get you good Ks and pitchess to a little more contact than you’d like when using on DK, but has five-straight qaulity starts (six of his last seven) and minimizes the damage when he does allow base-runners. Solid option on FD (cash or GPP) on a Coors Slate and a fantastic pay-down for your second starter on DK.

Hitter: Brian Dozier – Still surprisingly cheap on both FD and DK which helps gets you a slice of Coors in your cash lineups. Crazy strong numbers against left-handed pitching and even if the Nats chase Banuelos early, their bullpen has posted a 9.43 ERA over the last seven days.

Gene McCaffrey (The Athletic, @WiseGuyGene)

Pitcher: Trevor Bauer – Always a good bet to put up 20+ points at home, with a reasonable chance for 30+, at $9900.

Hitter: Kris Bryant – Paying up for the chance of two home runs.

Rob Leibowitz (Rotoheaven, @rob_leibowitz)

Pitcher: Trent Thornton – Price point and swing & miss stuff vs. Baltimore makes him a worthwhile gamble.

Hitter: Luke Voit – Right-handed power against the traditionally homer-friendly Jason Vargas.

Phil Hertz (BaseballHQ, @prhz50)

Pitcher: Spencer Turnbull – Like the matchup against KC

Hitter: Trea Turner – Starting to heat up.

Jeff Boggis (Fantasy Football Empire, @JeffBoggis)

Pitcher: Dakota Hudson – Three reasons to roll with Dakota Hudson tonight: 1. He faces the Miami Marlins. 2. He’s only $6,200 tonight, making it much easier to roster decent hitters. 3. A low K/9, but high QS.

Hitter: Derek Dietrich – Since his 3 home run performance on 5/28, Derek Dietrich has not hit a home run in 8 consecutive games. Tonight he breaks that streak. I’m rostering him tonight at $4,700 because he’s batting cleanup. He sits against left-handing pitchers, but tonight he faces right-handed pitcher, Trevor Bauer.

Mike Gianella (Baseball Prospectus, @MikeGianella)

Pitcher: Luis Castillo – Peripherals have been a little shaky of late, but I like him away from Great American against a Cleveland linup that hasn’t been very good this year.

Hitter: Trevor Story – Story in Coors against a lefty is worth the big investment.

Dan Strafford (FNTSY Radio, @DanStrafford)

Pitcher: Elisier Hernandez – The pride of the New Orleans Baby Cakes, Elisier Hernandez.Hernandez doesn’t have a ton of stats to back up any significant interest outside of being extremely cheap with Coors on the slate. He did strike 69 batters in 48 innings at Triple A this year. (Obligatory nice). The Cardinals strike out at a 23.1% rate against right handers, not a significant number to hang your hat on. I’ll take the savings and stack as many Coors batters as possible. I’ll be pairing him with Dakota Hudson and others.

Hitter: Cody Bellinger – We start with the obvious statement that anyone in Coors Field should be firmly on your radar. If I’m looking outside of Coors Field, Cody Bellinger is a pricey bat that is in a solid spot in Anahemi. Home runs are up at the home for the Halos and Felix Pena, the projected long reliever, has yielded 1.42 homeruns per 9 to left handed batters on the year.

Tim Heaney (Rotowire, ESPN, @TeamHeaney)

Pitcher: Kenta Maeda – Maeda sports a 2.38 ERA, 11.51 K/9 and 0.40 BB/9 across hias past four starts. If not for Hyun-Jin Ryu’s absurdity, Maeda would be getting more praise.

Hitter: Stephen Piscotty – This is a play for when Jalen Beeks takes over as the primary pitcher, when Piscotty can use his .417 wOBA and 168 wRC+, which both rank in the top 25.

Todd Zola (Mastersball, @toddzola)

Pitcher: John Means – The Blue Jays don’t have the means to hit LHP, toting the 5th lowest wOBA into Camden Yards.

Hitter: Andrew Benintendi – Call me a homer (you’re a homer) but I’m stacking Red Sox while most everyone else will be focusing on Coors

Jeff Erickson (Rotowire, @Jeff_Erickson)

Pitcher: Jake Junis – Facing the Tigers, and allows me to afford guys good at hitting the baseball.

Hitter: Jose Abreu – Patrick Corbin has really struggled recently, especially on the road and against right-handers. Both Abreu and Eloy Jimenez are great options tonight.

This week’s question: How do you handle lowball trade offers? What do you do when a trade you consider is lopsided is announced?

Lenny Melnick (LennyMelnickFantasySports, @LennyMelnick): Ask the owner offering the stupid deal “how does this help me”? If Both teams cannot say how the deal hepls them get to playoffs or Money…Void the deal if owner cant say how it helps !!

Howard Bender (Fantasy Alarm, @RotobuzzGuy): The worse a lowball offer is, the more disgusting my counter-offer becomes. As for a lopsided trade being announced, I usually just keep my mouth shut. There ws one exception though where I reached out to the commissioner because the person in third and trying to climb made an extremely egregious trade with a disconnected owner who hadn’t made a move almost the whole year. I simply asked, “What’s up?” and the commish told me that’s just the way it is. Nothing else to do about it. You certainly don’t want to be the guy who lobbies the league for a veto.

Seth Trachtman (Rotoworld, @sethroto): I try not to take lowball offers personally. I’ll usually just promptly turn down the offer, and if the owner continues to make lowball offers, I’ll explain to the other owner why I’m turning the offers down. I have a hard time coming up with a situation where a fantasy trade offer is worth burning bridges. There’s not much you can do for lopsided trades, unless there’s collusion involved. I’d contact the commissioner in that case, but lopsided trades are just one of the realities of playing in a league that allows trades. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Jeff Zimmerman (Fangraphs, The Process, @jeffwzimmerman): Reject and move on. One owner will almost every weekend send a trade offer on a couple replacement level players. They are the players he plans on releasing when FAAB runs. As for lopsided trades, I don’t care one bit. It anything about it is too fishy, either they or myself needs to leave the league.

Michael Florio (NFL Network, @MichaelFFlorio): I may disagree with others on this, but I simply reject the offer and keep it moving. I do not think you owe it to anyone to have to make a counter-offer. If you are interested in making a deal great, but just because they want too, doesn’t mean you have too. When a trade I consider lopsided occurs, there really is not much I think that can be done. I do not believe in vetos, because most owners think selfishly and take advantage of the veto for their best interest. But unless you can prove collusion, I just think you got to leave it be. But take note of the owner involved, because you should be making that guy some offers in the future.

Scott Swanay (FantasyBaseballSherpa, @fantasy_sherpa): I used to do the passive-aggressive thing where I would respond either by countering with a more one-sided trade in my favor or the question “Why would I want to do that?” Now I’ll either respond with a quick “no thanks” or, if I see the seeds for something more mutually beneficial, a bona fide counteroffer. I try to keep the mindset that most people aren’t looking to take advantage of other owners; they just value the players involved differently than I do.

Rudy Gamble (Razzball, @RudyGamble): Most managers in your league suck as trade partners. I am sure most are good people but they either overvalue their players or want $1.20 on the dollar to feel totally confident in making a trade. So when the lowball offers come, I either politely decline or make a reasonable counter-offer that will generally be declined. Since I only play in industry leagues or no trade leagues, I do not have to worry about lowball trades. But at least 5 times a year I tell Grey to get out of his NL-only dynasty league because the trading in that league is shady as f**k (which is my nickname for a big oak tree).

Phil Hertz (BaseballHQ, @prhz50): I try to make the most of lowball offers, by treating them as opening salvos. Once I know what they’re interested in, I try to see if I can turn the offer around to my advantage by finding some gems on his offer.

Glenn Colton (Fantasy Alarm, @GlennColton1): Lowball trade offers depend on the source. If received from a league-mate known to be difficult, I just ignore them. However, if received from a straight shooter (e.g., Doug Dennis and Chris Liss always make fair offers in Tout and LABR), then you simply counter and try to get a fair deal done. As to the announcement of a lopsided trade, I often do two things: 1) write to the owner and say “hey, next time canvass the league, you might have gotten more” and 2) review team’s needs around the league to see if I am missing opportunities to get a good deal

Ron Shandler (RonShandler.com, @RonShandler): I see two issues here: 1) What one person considers a lowball may be a fair offer from someone else. We all value players differently, sometimes VERY differently, so I always try to keep that in mind. 2) We may consider ourselves the most intelligent baseball fans and most astute evaluators of talent, but orchestrating trades is a completely different skill, and some of us are just lousy at it. Salesmanship requires an understanding of human behavior that is often foreign to pure analytical types. So if I receive what I consider a lowball offer, I try to understand who is placing the offer, and even if I perceive it as a “he’s in a rush and just threw something out,” I’ll respond with something to redirect it (after cursing under my breath for 10 minutes), without being condescending. Sometimes that gets things back on track, sometimes it doesn’t. But nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Mike Gianella (Baseball Prospectus, @MikeGianella): I usually ignore them. As Ron points out beauty (or ugliness in this case, I guess) is in the eye of the beholder, but if I think an offer is awful right out of the gate I will politely decline. My counteroffer will probably be seen as unreasonable, since the person who made the initial offer and I won’t be close on what constitutes “value”. After a lopsided trade is announced, I make a mental note about what appealed to the person who got ripped off and try to capitalize on their perception of value in the future.

Ray Flowers (Fantasy Guru Elite, @BaseballGuys): I think any offer should be considered a starting point for a discussion. I have sent out a “bad” first offer with a note saying something like ‘I’m interested in X and wondering what you would be looking for in exchange’ in order to let the other owner know I’m interested their player, but not intending the first offer to be accepted. Most of the time, I just get a no response, leading me to think that folks don’t actually read my comments they just see the offer and discount it, so be careful how you send your offers to others. It has also been my experience that when there is a disagreement, people just view the players differently. Some folks understand that and try to work around it, some folks get pissed off at it and think you to be a moron. I would also say, that if someone is willing to deal, I will always listen. You never know who they believe in or who they don’t. If you stop listening, you might be closing the door on a potential deal that you would benefit from in the end.

Jason Collette (Rotowire, @jasoncollette): I just try to keep the dialogue going most of the time. Honestly depends on my schedule. I don’t do trade reviews from my phone (too many lessons learned/burned) so I wait to get to my laptop to look into things.

Patrick Davitt (BaseballHQ, @patrickdavitt): I usually briefly explain why the deal is not a fit for me, and I leave player value out of that. I’ll take a $9 player for a $15 player if it helps me in the categories. Like others here, if I see a potential legit trade, I’ll offer it, but my experience has been that guys who throw lowballs aren’t typically interested in legit deals. They want to “win” trades.

Dr. Roto (Scout Fantasy, @DrRoto): Honestly, it gets me really angry when i get a lowball offer. I want to type back, “I’m Dr. Roto, why would I EVER do that ridiculous deal?!” Then I cool off and write back calmly, “Thanks for the offer, but it doesn’t work for me. Maybe we can deal again soon. Never burn a bridge with a trading partner if you don’t have to.

D.J. Short (Rotoworld, @djshort): It would be easy to respond back expressing anger that such an offer would be proposed, but I usually just reject and don’t give an explanation. It’s usually not worth it. As others have said, perhaps dealing with that particular owner will come in handy down the road, so there’s no need for creating bad blood. But I do take a mental note from that experience as far as player valuation. In regard to seeing lopsided trades being announced, it’s sometimes hard to grade in a vacuum since owners have different category needs and motivations. Most of the leagues I play in are very competitive and there’s no room for funny business, so I try not to be too judgy about it at this point.

Scott Wilderman (OnRoto): I’ve played with a guy who always starts with an insulting lowball offer — but I know it’s business, not personal. If I’m at all interested in any of the players proposed, I’ll counter with a deal equally lopsided in my favor — it’s important that ‘fair and reasonable’ be mid-way between the two starting points, or you can get sucked into subconsciously thinking the other guy moved more than you did during the bargaining.

Zach Steinhorn (CreativeSports, @zachsteinhorn): I get annoyed by lowball trade offers, especially when the owner doesn’t include a message explaining why the trade could make sense for both of us. If there isn’t an accompanying note, I’ll usually just reject the offer without countering and would be hesitant to spend any more time dealing with that owner in the future. If there is a message, it shows that there was actually some thought put into the offer and if I’m interested in any of his/her players, I’ll see if we can work something out. Lopsided trades bother me as well but I rarely publicly question them, especially in industry leagues where I have a lot of respect for the knowledge of my peers and trust that there was no collusion.

AJ Mass (ESPN, @AJMass): If you’re going to allow trading in your league, you have to allow trading. So, when one manager makes a deal where it appears he’s gotten fleeced by another, so be it. As long as it’s not a case of clear collusion, who’s to say it won’t be the “fleeced guy” laughing at the end of the season. As for getting a lowball offer — “You have Mike Trout. I have Jeff Erickson’s autograph. Let’s deal.” — just respond “No thanks” and move on. So long as it doesn’t become a daily nuisance — “What if I throw in a Todd Zola selfie?” — then you just let it go.

Andy Behrens (Yahoo! Fantasy Sports, @andybehrens): If an offer made to me isn’t a reasonable conversation starter, I’ll reject without counter or comment. I’m not going to any effort in a trade conversation if the other party won’t put anything interesting on the table. As for lopsided deals in my leagues, I really only care about deals that seem obviously collusive. I’m fine with the idea that deals are going to have perceived winners and losers. Sometimes a fantasy manager actually has to take a small loss on a trade in order to address an area of need. As long as both parties in a deal are acting in good faith, I won’t complain.

Al Melchior (The Athletic, @almelchiorbb): If I get a lowball offer, I usually decline without comment. I may look at the roster to see if there is a reasonable counteroffer I can make that would fill a need for me. As for lopsided deals in my leagues, I rarely do more than take note of it and file it away for future reference.

Mike Podhorzer (Fangraphs, @MikePodhorzer): I reject the offer without comment, but realize that I have now learned which player(s) this owner is looking to trade for. At the very least, I will then look at his team to see if I should make a counter offer involving the player(s) originally asked for. When a lopsided trade is announced, it’s frustrating. There’s nothing that can be done, but at least you’ve spotted the sucker! So I become a little more aggressive trying to trade with that owner, hoping I will be the next beneficiary of his poor player evaluation skills.

Jeff Boggis (Fantasy Football Empire, @JeffBoggis): I find lowball trades insulting. I typically leave the comment of “I could not hit the reject trade button fast enough” on the trade request. I then maycounter with my own lowball trade offer, just to emphasize my point. I love trade negotiations, but don’t waste my time with trades that do nothing to benefit both teams.

Todd Zola (Mastersball, @toddzola): Note to Ron – I’m sitting right here. Jokes aside, I’m up front concerning my trouble with negotiating. It’s irrational, but saying “yes” to someone normally requires saying “no” to several and that’s tough for me. In general, I think there’s a fine line between considering an offer insulting and taking it personally. It’s fine to consider an offer insulting, that’s just the way some operate. The key is not taking it personally. You’re not the only one getting offers of that nature. Everyone in the league is. If you were the only one, it would be personal. Some just believe in a lowball opening salvo, then negotiating an equitable deal. In this instance, I may pursue talks if I sense something can be worked out. Some start low because they think they are supposed to and others aren’t confident enough to start with something on a more even keel. In these cases, I try to figure out who it is they want from me (it’s usually apparent) and counter with something more reasonable.