I don’t care what any article title says, what any fantasy expert writes on Twitter or what any broadcaster says on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio. There is no such thing as a buy-low or a sell-high player anymore. The monikers are as antiquated as calling a player a sleeper. They don’t exist. Not at all. And we, the fantasy “experts” are 100-percent to blame.

First of all, let’s establish the fact that buy-low and sell-high are outdated terms that have absolutely no place in this industry anymore. They’ll be used over and over again, but to be brutally honest, they only exist for search engine optimization (SEO) because you, the readers, have been programmed to use those terms for when you search for players you might want to target in trades. It’s just like the word “sleeper.”

Back in the day, a “sleeper” was a player who was off the mainstream radar; a player you could wait to draft in the final rounds and receive early-round production. But with the growth of the internet, the explosion of the fantasy sports industry and the countless fantasy web sites available at the click of a mouse, each and every off-the-radar player has found his way into the spotlight at some point or another. In fact, it’s gotten so bad that if you even refer to a player as a potential sleeper, the mainstream gets a hold of him and suddenly he’s an eighth-round pick losing sneaky draft value by the second. But here we are, still writing articles claiming to bring you “Five Sleepers Who Will Help You Win Your League.”

It’s the same with buying low and selling high. We tell you to buy low on Edwin Encarnacion because he’s underperforming. We tell you to sell high on Ryan Zimmerman because he’s injury-prone and unable to sustain his current level of production. But have you tried to do either? Probably. Have you been successful? Probably not. Why? Because the fantasy experts are screwing it all up for you.

Think about it – you went out and drafted Aaron Judge in the 20th round. He’s currently leading the league in home runs, is striking out less than expected and has shown some impressive plate discipline so far. Yet almost every fantasy analyst is standing on a soapbox telling you his power is unsustainable. He still strikes out too much. His HR/FB rate is too damn high. There’s no way he’s going to be able to keep this up. Now go out and try to sell him to your league-mates. Yeah, those league-mates who are hearing the exact same thing you are. Who the hell is going to give you a fair return value for a guy who leads the league in homers but is getting crapped on by every fantasy writer or broadcaster?

And we've now seen this with a number of players. You can't sell Eric Thames for full value becuase his production is unsustainable. You can't sell Dallas Keuchel because, despite having won a Cy Young, last year's dip in velocity is still on the tip of every analyst's tongue. You can't sell Zimmerman. You can't sell Avisail Garcia and you sure as hell can't sell Ervin Santana! Hot starts are continually dismissed and if you even dare try to sell one of these players for a value near their current level of production, you might as well be a snake-oil salesman in the 1800's. Your league-mates, like the olden townfolk, are going to run you out of Dodge.

Have you tried to buy low recently? Go ask the owner of Carlos Gonzalez in your league what he wants in return for the struggling Rockies outfielder. You’re guaranteed to hear some annoying diatribe of what CarGo did in the past and how he’s remained healthy all year. You’ll probably also get an unwanted lesson in what BABIP means and indicates. Here’s a guy who has been less than a pile of dog crap, but no…you can’t buy him for pennies on the dollar because every fantasy expert out there is telling his owner to be patient. If it’s mid-April, wait until the end of the month. If it’s early-May, just give him until June. When the calendar flips to June, just wait a little longer…he’ll come around and if he doesn’t, he can be dropped.

Excuse me? What was that? Wait three months and dump him if he doesn’t come around? How is anyone expected to buy-low on a guy? If I offer a fair trade in April and it’s turned down, fine. If CarGo hasn’t come around by the end of the month, I’m probably going to lower my offer just a bit. If it’s friggin June and he still hasn’t come around, not only am I not going to offer the same deal I offered two months ago, but what kind of a moron would I be to even want to trade for him?

As a result of all this, we now have a very interesting dilemma on our hands. Do we continue to use antiquated terms such as sleepers, buy-low and sell-high or do we find a new way to explain both pre-draft and in-season fantasy strategy? Until new terms are created and habitually thrown around by the analysts, the general public will continue to use the old ones. And so long as the general public is still using the old ones in their search, those who understand the importance of SEO will continue to use them as well. Fact is, we may never change. We may just be forced into continuous use of outdated terminology for lack of a better alternative. But make no mistake – there are no sleepers anymore. You will never buy low and the only way you’ll sell high is if you’re smoking the chronic during trade negotiations.