I love coming up with bold predictions. Not those off the wall ones that have like a 1% chance of happening, but those that have been built upon a shred of reality and have a reasonable chance (say 20%) of coming true. It is especially fun when everyone is either optimistic or pessimistic about a player and you’re prediction argues the opposite of the crowd. I am guessing that this particular prediction doesn’t quite sit at that level though, but I would say it is still pretty bold nonetheless. As a result of being traded to the Rangers, Ryan Dempster will be worthless in standard 12-team mixed leagues the rest of the season.

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Today’s Roto Riteup is being written prior to naptime. No, I don’t have any children; why do you ask?

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• Steve Cishek of the Miami Marlins’ nailed down his fifth save of the season tonight in a 4-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves. Cishek faced the minimum three batters — and although he surrendered a leadoff walk to Michael Bourn — needed just 12 pitches to get out of the inning. Tonight’s save was the fourth consecutive conversion since July 6th for the 6-6 right-hander who now owns a 1.86 ERA (3.97 xFIP) and a 2.1 K/BB. For those chasing saves, consider Cishek who is available in 69 percent of Yahoo! leagues.

Heath Bell, who hasn’t entered a game in a save situation since July 8th, appeared in the eighth inning of tonight’s game and earned his fourth hold of the year.
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The trade deadline opens up a host of playing time opportunities for dumping teams and that is a great thing for deep league owners. Instead of combing through an assortment of 5th outfielders and 3rd string catchers, you now have a chance of adding a young hitter who may surprise. Here are a pair for your consideration.

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With the trade of Jonathan Broxton, Greg Holland has now been announced as the Royals’ closer for the remainder of the year, barring significant struggles in the role. With the announcement coming yesterday, Holland is most likely already rostered in meaningful fantasy leagues, so grabbing him is probably not possible at this point. Rather than simply say to acquire him, I’ll try and figure out whether Holland should succeed or struggle as a closer and how valuable he should be for the rest of the year.

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In an effort to land a quality right-handed bat for the middle of their lineup and boost the overall production from their outfield, the San Francisco Giants finalized a deal on Tuesday that sent perennial fourth outfielder Nate Schierholtz and prospects Tommy Joseph and Seth Rosin to the Philadelphia Phillies for Hunter Pence and cash considerations.  From a reality standpoint, the trade was a no-brainer for the Giants.  They might sacrifice a touch of defense in right field going from the Schierholtz/Gregor Blanco platoon to Pence, but offensively speaking, the upgrade is huge, not just at the position, but for what it does to the middle of the Giants’ order.  But this is fantasy we’re talking about here, so let’s take a look at what this deal does for fantasy owners. Read the rest of this entry »

The trade deadline is really what the Roto Riteup was made to handle. So, without further ado, here’s a look at the players dealt yesterday (and possibly the night before).

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