Trade deadline strategy

— -- ESPN's standard-league trade deadline arrives Wednesday at noon ET. As we all know, a major part of the fun of fantasy is getting to play GM at the deadline. My first piece of advice for the deadline is to listen to the Fantasy Underground podcast Trade Deadline Special from last week. Its hosts are handsome and wise.

The second piece of advice is to figure out what type of team you have. This time of year, fantasy football squads match one of three types:

1. The Playoff Pusher. You've got two games left in your fantasy regular season. You need to win these next two weeks, or it doesn't much matter what happens in December. You are a shining beacon of mediocrity.

2. The High Seed. You've had a great regular season, and you're a lock for the playoffs. You're only looking at Weeks 14 through 17. Nobody likes you.

3. The Bottom-Feeder. You're all done. You were crushed by injuries, unfortunate draft-day decisions and bad advice from your current correspondent, so you're looking ahead to 2015. Assuming you're in a keeper league, your year isn't quite over, as you can still work on your roster. (But if you're in a re-draft league, don't be a colluding jerk. No trades for you.)

Your deadline decisions will be guided by your circumstances. The Playoff Pusher will study Week 12 and 13 opponents, and try to find a player or two with favorable schedules. The High Seed will ignore the next two games, and study December. And the Bottom Feeder in a keeper league will sell anything that isn't bolted down, trying to acquire young players for the future. Here are some trade targets for each category:

The Playoff Pusher
The way I evaluate fantasy schedules has evolved into something my ESPN masters have dubbed "The Harris Index." Yeah, it's only available on Insider. (Funny, though, you're so perceptive and wise, I would've thought you were already an Insider subscriber.) Anyway, here's a taste of the H.I. In this case, the chart specifically refers to RBs: