Five tips to survive the first month of the season

By Todd Zola, Special to SI.com, FantasyBaseball.com

"Play ball!!" Next to "Free Beer," those are my two favorite words when said in succession. Now that the games count, brace yourself for the onslaught of articles with the lines "it's a marathon, not a sprint," and "find an owner panicking and sell high/buy low." I'll spare you from this, other than to say if your are now reveling because you just traded Edgar Renteria and Aaron Harang for Jose Reyes and Johan Santana, it is time to look for a tougher league.

Instead, I will list five things you should do the first few weeks of April.

1. Go to your refrigerator and grab a beverage of your choice. Go to your cabinet and find yourself a delectable snack. Tune in your favorite team, kick back and just watch the games for the sake of watching the games. Don't keep an eye on whether your closer might get a save opportunity. Don't flip to a game where you have the starting pitcher or a guy up at the plate, unless you enjoy watching them. Just savor the game of baseball for what it is, as this will be your last chance to do so for the next six months or so.

Technology is great; the advances in the online scoring sites are wonderful. But sometimes I think real-time standings are both the best and worst thing invented. How many of you woke up this morning to see yourself in first place? Were you happy? Why? How many were in last place? Were you depressed? Why? Unless you have a major injury or a player gaining or losing significant playing time, there is absolutely nothing to be concerned about, good or bad. Have some fun. Watch some ball. It is going to be a long year. There will be plenty of time to elevate your blood pressure.

2. A fairly common piece of advice often suggested at the beginning of the season is to make a list of potential trading partners, based on their reaction to proceedings at your draft or auction. There is a theory that the last person to drop out on a bid or the one that groans the loudest might want that player in a trade. On the surface, this seems reasonable, but I have never been a huge fan of this ploy as I am personally not drafting a player and his name, I am drafting a player and his stats. I might drop out on Juan Pierre knowing I can get Dave Roberts later. If I indeed bought Roberts, then I have no interest in dealing for Pierre. They are simply nameless, faceless pieces of statistics-generating meat. No more or no less. Sometimes, if you focus on who you think might be interested in dealing for one of your players, you might overlook someone who actually is interested.

So what do I suggest instead? This is not nearly as elegant or as smart, but my experience is that it is more effective. Just get to know your league-mate a little. Talk some ball with them. It does not have to be fantasy-related, as a matter of fact the plan works better if it is not fantasy related, as your competitor is more likely to let their guard down if in the back of their mind, they are not thinking of things in terms of their team. Ask them if that saw that throw to home last night. Ask them what the manager was thinking leaving the pitcher in to face the other team's best hitter. Ask them anything to get them talking about baseball in general, and then glean any tidbit you can that you can call back on when looking to trade down the road. You might be surprised the amount and depth of information you can ascertain in this casual setting.