The day of the biggest trading change in MLB’s regular season calendar is just 41 days away. Well, August 1st, the annual trading deadline, is fast approaching.
any experience fantasy baseball the manager knows well that there is no greater point in time for a player’s value to vary significantly from the direct result of the trades, be it because of the actual individuals involved in the transaction or the players are left behind or influenced by newcomers. While there’s only so much we can do to prepare rosters for these often-anticipated shifts, putting our teams in order right now according to what we DO Expect to happen may pay dividends in the last two months of our frantic annual race to the finish line.
The following players stand out as the ones most likely to achieve the highest fantasy value through possible trades, either their own or their teammates. Any of them could be worth picking up, claiming a trade, or even simply getting on your watchlist, depending on the depth of your league.
To be clear, this is Are not simply a column of “who are the biggest names we wish to deal with”. You can check out ESPN’s baseball page for the latest on that front. And you won’t find Shohei Ohtani on the list below, for the simple reasons that he’s already the best player in fantasy baseball (and real baseball) And his Angel Los Angeles there are currently seven games over 0.500, five of which were in the AL West race and took 2nd place in the wilds. No, this is not Ohtani’s domain, as there is little chance change can be made for him, but each of the following names could actually be in a very different situation for August. and September.
Lucas GiolitoSP, Chicago White Sox: As an up-and-coming free agent with 13.2 WAR as of early 2019 (17th best among pitchers), Giolito could be the most obvious commercial chip on the summer market This. Among the most popular names in rumor, he’s probably also the pitcher most likely to enjoy a spike in fantasy value as a result of any deal.
Giolito benefits from facing much of AL Central’s lighter competition than either division on the coast — one of which hosts his most probable landing spots. that — but coming out of Chicago’s Guaranteed Rate School, a more fun environment with the smallest outdoor fair territories, would be a huge plus.
This is the first of his seven seasons with the White Sox where he has a better home ground (2.47) than the ERA line (4.64) and he has a much HR/9 ratio is higher at home (1.51) than on the road (1.13) since joining the team in 2017. Giolito also suffers from mediocre running support on the now 11 White Sox team. games under 0.500, there were four times that brought in starting quality where he was unable to score a win.
Although the change of trading destinations along with the adjustment of new circumstances makes it difficult to accurately predict how much a player’s fantasy value can improve after a trade, but Giolito is one of the rare pitchers with a valuation in the top 40 that can clearly be seen lifting up somewhere near the top 25 elsewhere.
Marcus StromanSP, Chicago Cubs: He’s probably the next most obvious touted trading chip. Stroman is a probable All-Star and is likely to turn down a $21 million player option for 2023 in pursuit of a nice payday. He will benefit from any trade, in part because both the Cubs offense and the bullpen supporting him are league average (if not worse) — and that’s it. is before looking at what would happen if this team under $500 trades in a “lease” of other pieces.
In a year and a half with the Cubs, he made 12 quality starts but failed to win, including four this year in which his team scored two runs or less. Coming out of Wrigley Field, with the annual fluctuations in the park factor partly due to the wind, will also help his career.
As for the only reason Stroman might not experience a surge like Giolito’s might be because, as a home pitcher with fewer balls, he’s more reliant on his defence, so ideally he would be backed by a midfield defense as good as or better than the Cubs.
Nolan JonesBELONG TO, Colorado Rocks: This is the first name that is not a rumored commercial candidate he himselfHowever, he is someone who can benefit, especially from the potential deals of outsiders Randal Grichuk and/or Charlie Blackmon. One might hope that top leads Zac Veen he could get the call instead, after his outstanding spring training, but his difficulties at Double-A Hartford make Jones a much more likely candidate for an everyday role for a long time.
At just 25 years old, Jones has displayed stellar stats of pace and contact quality in the limited time since being called up and, while he has competed fairly regularly, any talent Any veteran ability of the eliminated team only strengthens his day-to-day role – – as well as his senior squad position.
Tyler O’NeillBELONG TO, Saint Louis Cardinal: One could list the entire Cardinals outfield here, as if the team part ways with any of them, that simply frees up game time for what remains of the messiest part. in their list. That said, O’Neill is the one who can best benefit from a change of scenery.
As one of the top 20 bakers in the team’s final 142 games in 2021, O’Neill has made four trips to IL since then, not to mention he has no guarantee of a return in time. later the current back problem to make enough noise for To be Be traded. When healthy, however, he effectively delivered 90th percentile Statcast contact quality metrics, not to mention some of the best raw speeds in baseball.
This means that, under the right circumstances, he can make a big breakthrough. Remember, Busch Stadium is pretty pitcher-friendly, so it’s likely he’ll go somewhere with a clearer route to playing time in the senior squad at a new environment. More home-friendly school is very good.
Eduardo RodriguezSP, Detroit Tigers: He also has no keys to trade, as he is another player currently on IL, recovering from a broken pulley on his left index finger. Before his injury, however, he was pitching well enough to theorize that he could opt out of the final three years (and $49 million) of his current contract, taking him it on the list of candidates.
Rodriguez is one of the more underrated pitchers around, with a FIP of 3.69 and a 24.9% hit rate since the start of 2018, but he lacks running support after a massive strike. Fear of the Tigers. In addition, the chance that the team can trade from some of his bullish strength also threatens his future success.
Yes, by the time Rodriguez signed with the Tigers, the “weak AL Center competition” argument was well-founded and convincing, but with a more balanced schedule this season, the place in the division his is less important to his imaginary prospects. He can be rejuvenated when he switches to a single candidate and under the right circumstances he can become the most valuable of the three pitchers discussed in this column. remainder of 2023.
Other names to hide
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Should Cincinnati Red Devil make a push to throw the ball, perhaps using some of their surplus strokes to make such a move, Christian Encarnacion-Stand can find a spot in the crowded field of the team. He’s one of the better remaining power-hit prospects among the upper-minors, and deserves a chance at the big league soon.
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Hayden Wesneski seems like the oddball in the Cubs rotation at the moment, but any move by Stroman, Draw Smyly or Kyle Hendricks will push him back at the beginning of the year. Wesneski’s sweeper has been pretty good this year — Statcast has this with a Run Value of -3 — but he’s struggled to locate his four-way fast ball, where which he failed to do last year. There’s still talent here, and perhaps another chance that could make him one of the better sleepers in the second half.
