Fantasy Roundtable: Roundtable: Deadline Effects
On the flip side, it’s hard not to feel for Danny Valencia in this situation. He was hitting .296/.331/.506 with seven homers and 29 RBI in 162 at-bats with the Blue Jays, and wound up getting designated for assignment as a result of the flurry of trade deadline moves in Toronto. While he wasn’t an everyday fixture in shallow mixed leagues, he certainly had plenty of value in AL-only formats, deeper mixed leagues, and especially in DFS when facing an opposing southpaw. There’s no guarantee as to how his playing time will shake out with the A’s, who claimed him off waivers Monday. He’s also leaving one of the best parks in all of baseball for right-handed power for one of the worst.
D.J. Short: I agree with Boyer about Mike Leake. He’s a big winner leaving Cincinnati for San Francisco. As for another player in a new location, I like Hector Olivera with the Braves. The 30-year-old was highly-regarded for his bat prior to signing his six-year, $62.5 million deal with the Dodgers in the spring, but he’s dealt with a hamstring injury of late and the strong play of Justin Turner at third base made him expendable. There’s nothing blocking his way with the Braves, so he could come in handy down the stretch.
Trades also opened the door for players who stayed put. I was a big fan of Rusney Castillo coming into the year, but he’s dealt with a bunch of injuries and struggled in sporadic playing time in the majors prior to his recent call-up. It looks like he’s going to get regular playing time in left field after the Shane Victorino trade, so the potential upside is intriguing. Another interesting beneficiary of the trade deadline is Rajai Davis of the Tigers. He has mostly been playing against left-handers of late, but he should get regular at-bats now that Yoenis Cespedes is with the Mets. If you need steals, he’s a very solid pickup right now.
As for a loser at the deadline, how about Lance McCullers? The Astros were probably going to give him a rest eventually anyway, but the recent acquisitions of Scott Kazmir and Mike Fiers are making it a lot easier to send him down to Triple-A on Tuesday. The 21-year-old was hammered for six runs over just one-third of an inning on Monday against the Rangers, but he still has an impressive 3.17 ERA over his first 14 starts in the majors. It’s fair to wonder how much more to expect from him this season. He’s already set a career-high in innings and could be headed to the bullpen for the stretch run.
Nathan Grimm: I mentioned Ben Zobrist in the preview discussion, so I’ll pat myself on the back a bit — it’s only been four games, but he’s seemed rejuvenated to be in a winning atmosphere. Another guy who could help down the stretch in deeper mixed leagues is Daniel Norris. He was a high-ranking prospect coming into the season and was good enough in spring to break camp with the Blue Jays, but he struggled before being demoted at the end of April. The Tigers are an interesting team in that they were sellers but are still good enough to win a lot of games over the final two months, and they immediately inserted Norris into their rotation. He was good in his Tigers debut, tossing 7 1/3 innings of one-run ball, and he’s talented enough to be a helpful starter going forward.
Although I don’t think it’ll be a huge drop, owners need to be realistic about their expectations for Cespedes now that he’s with the Mets. Monday’s outburst notwithstanding, the Mets have been one of the worst offensive teams in the league this season, averaging 3.63 runs per game with a MLB-worst .670 OPS. Will Cespedes change that? A bit, sure. But solo home runs and doubles that leave him stranded on second base don’t count for a whole lot. The change in surroundings is real, and his numbers will reflect that.
Matthew Pouliot: So many traded players went to situations not all that dissimilar to the ones they were coming from. I think Leake gained the most value of the bunch, simply because San Francisco is probably the game’s premier destination for starting pitchers, but it’s not like he was bad off in Cincinnati. Jonathan Papelbon will be helped some going to a team that generates more save chances in Washington. Mat Latos is better off in L.A. With the exception of the already mentioned closers who lost their jobs (as well as LaTroy Hawkins, who was probably about to regain the job in Colorado) there wasn’t a whole lot of fantasy value gained or lost.
Besides the closer’s spot, I think the outfield is the most changed in the last week. Both Anthony Gose and Davis are now mixed-league guys in Detroit after the Cespedes deal. I put Rusney right in that same range, and Stephen Piscotty only a bit lower. They’re all worthy reinforcements for fantasy teams dealing with injuries. Domingo Santana, traded from Houston to Milwaukee in the Carlos Gomez deal, isn’t an option yet, but the Brewers will have to mix him in at some point this month, and he has the power to intrigue, especially in such a homer-friendly ballpark.
Drew Silva: I was going to talk about Piscotty, though his playing time opened up more as a result of Matt Holliday‘s re-injured quad than any trade. It looks like Piscotty will be the Cardinals’ everyday left fielder down the stretch, with newcomer Brandon Moss platooning with Mark Reynolds at first base. Piscotty is off to a roaring start so far, batting .400 with a .964 OPS over his first 40 major league plate appearances. The 24-year-old from Stanford was a consensus top-100 prospect entering the 2015 season and he’s looked very comfortable so far at the next level. I think there’s legitimate mixed league value there. Moss might get a change-of-scenery bump too, though Busch Stadium is tough on power bats.
I was hoping speedster Ben Revere would wind up with a team that would start him every day and bat him leadoff, but that’s obviously not going to happen in Toronto. He takes a hit in value with the move from the floundering Phillies to the hard-driving Blue Jays.
Disagree? Want to add something? Got a question? You can find each of these @Rotoworld_BB writers on Twitter: @drewsilv, @djshort, @baer_bill, @daveshovein, @nate_grimm, @ryanpboyer, @matthewpouliot.
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