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February 9, 2026, 3:09 pmLast Updated on February 9, 2026 3:09 pm by Anthony Kates | Published: February 9, 2026
Allow me to paint a scene for you. It’s a rainy Sunday afternoon in December and your attention is squarely on whether your fantasy football team can make up its point deficit in the night game. Suddenly, you get a notification from you fantasy app – but to your surprise, it’s got nothing to do with your football league. Instead, it’s an alert that your main rival in your longtime baseball dynasty league has just swung a massive win-now deal for a player that you weren’t even aware was on the trading block. You immediately hop into your league’s group chat to blast the team trading away the player for not shopping him more publicly – but in reality, you’re just frustrated you didn’t get the opportunity to make the exact same deal. You promise to yourself you won’t let yourself get caught off-guard like that again.
If that scenario sounds familiar to you – whether as the team that managed to secure a contributing piece or as the team left emptyhanded – then you’re already familiar with the idea that there really is no offseason in dynasty formats, simply quiet periods. You’re certainly working with a higher degree of difficulty in getting trades consummated during the non-playing season but it also allows for increased opportunities as the priorities of individual fantasy managers shift. Many leagues also allow for more relaxed roster restrictions, so the additional flexibility there can also create some new avenues to facilitate trade discussions.
In other words, the offseason can be one of the most critical times for dynasty and keeper league managers. It’s your chance to evaluate, strategize, and set yourself up for long-term success. Below are essential steps to keep your team competitive, whether you’re rebuilding, contending, or stuck in the dreaded mushy middle. Let’s break some best practices down step-by-step:
1. Assess Your Team’s Window of Contention
The most important thing you can do as a manager in a dynasty league is to be honest about your team’s ability to win in the short term. Fantasy sports inherently have a large amount of randomness built into the competition, so there’s always a chance that your team can make a Cinderella run but the best path to ongoing success may require going through a concentrated rebuilding process to build the necessary foundation for a brighter tomorrow. If that’s the position you find yourself in, don’t worry – using this time to learn more about the minor leagues and team’s farm systems can be just as fun when you put a focus on it. Depending on when your league holds its first-year player draft (FYPD), you may also use this time to read up on the projections of players coming over from foreign leagues, recent draftees and J6 signings.
On the other hand, if you find yourself in the enviable position of being a championship contender, this is a perfect time to stock up on win-now assets for your next title run. Perhaps you now have an extra FYPD pick to utilize as an asset in trade discussions as well. Most importantly though, this is the time to figure out your mindset for the upcoming season. Are you focused on an all-in approach to get your first ever title? Are you coming off a title win and less motivated to need another? Perhaps you’re actually more motivated at the idea of back-to-back wins? Whatever it is that’s driving you, set that expectation now so that you’re clearheaded on the types of players you’re needing to acquire to achieve your particular goal.
Meanwhile, if you find yourself somewhere in between the two aforementioned positions, my personal approach would be to do whatever you can to avoid remaining there, whether that meant tearing the team down to the studs or making some shortsighted moves to force yourself into title contention for a season or two. If you’re not careful, it’s easy to find yourself in this zone for multiple years at a time without making headway in one direction or the other.
Contenders: Focus on acquiring veterans or reliable producers to fill positional gaps. Don’t be afraid to trade prospects or draft picks.
Rebuilders: Sell aging stars for picks and young assets. Target prospects who are close to debuting.
Middle Ground: Avoid being stuck here. Commit to either rebuilding or pushing for contention. Middling teams often fail to thrive in dynasty formats.
2. Review Rules and Any League Changes
Depending on the complexity of your league’s rules, there may or may not be huge edges to gain advantages on other managers but you should still be familiar with all the intricacies so you don’t accidentally make a unforced error in some fashion. Usually this stems from newly introduced rules so ensure you’re fully aware of your league’s constitution and any offseason adjustments made. This step often gets overlooked but can make or break your season:
Rule Updates: Check for new settings, rule amendments, or format changes (e.g., scoring tweaks, roster expansions, or draft order adjustments).
Trade Windows: Some leagues have limited trade periods, so plan accordingly.
Polls: Participate in any offseason voting to influence changes beneficial to your strategy.
Draft Pick Adjustments: Understand how your draft order is determined (lottery, reverse standings, etc.) and plan accordingly.
3. Make Keeper/Dynasty Selections (if applicable)
One of the biggest differences between different dynasty and keeper leagues is the number of players kept from year-to-year. In formats where the number is more limited, it’s absolutely crucial to understand where the line is on what constitutes a “valuable” keeper. For example, if you’re in a 10-team league where you keep three players per team, then you should do whatever you can to make sure your three keepers are considered top-30 players heading into next season – otherwise you’re keeping them at a negative draft value. With that in mind, if you’re in a rebuilding stage, it may make sense to trade two top-50 keeper types for one top-30 asset.
In traditional dynasty formats, the expectation is that a team’s entire roster carries over between seasons, making your decisions much more simple and straightforward. However, it’s still a perfect time to consider how you want to build out your roster going forward, whether that means prioritizing a particular type of pitcher, or even leaning away from pitchers due to their propensity for injuries.
Youth and Upside: Prioritize younger players with breakout potential over aging veterans unless you’re in a win-now window.
Hitters Over Pitchers: Hitters tend to have longer careers and fewer injury risks. Only keep high-ceiling pitchers with proven track records. Catchers also tend to be a volatile asset when it comes to batters.
Consult the Experts: Dynasty and keeper insight from SportsEthos analysts like Anthony Kates and myself – as well as the experts at publications such as FanGraphs, Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus.
League Format: Factor in your league’s roster size, scoring categories, and any positional scarcity.
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