Episode 148

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is now live! Eno Sarris and Nicholas Minnix discuss trades, trades, and more trades! MLB’s 2014 non-waiver trade deadline was heated, heavy, and dramatic. Plenty of reaction to and thoughts on the fallout of the swaps of David Price and Austin Jackson; Jon Lester and Yoenis Cespedes; John Lackey; Justin Masterson; Asdrubal Cabrera; Jarred Cosart; and a host of other deals, such as involving Martin Prado or Chris Denorfia.

As usual, don’t hesitate to tweet us or comment with fantasy questions so that we may answer them on our next episode.

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The Washington Nationals have acquired Asdrubal Cabrera from the Cleveland Indians, sending shortstop Zach Walters back as compensation.

Asdrubal still has great name recognition for fantasy owners, but that’s his biggest selling point anymore. Asdrubal hit .242 last season with a .307 wOBA, and he’s in the midst of repeating it with .246/.306 marks as a member of the Indians. Asdrubal has brought a touch of power to the middle infield — hitting 25 dongs in 2011 — but those numbers have faded each year since, with ZiPS thinking he ends the year with 14, just as he did in 2013. Asdrubal is going to play second base in Washington, which will make him eligible at both middle infield positions for the first time since 2010. Not having to face the Tigers pitching staff will be a boost, and he should get a minor jump in HR potential due to his new ballpark, but Cabrera’s value doesn’t change much with the move.

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Thanks to both of you for caring enough about injuries on the trade deadline day to read my article. Well, I here is the latest injury information. Now I need to get back to reading about potential trades.

• James Paxton is an interesting pitcher who should be coming off the DL soon, possibly on Saturday. Before going on the DL, he was putting up some good numbers: 30% K%, 5% BB%, 56% GB% in two starts. According to recent reports from his minor league rehab appearances, his velocity may be down ~2 mph from his early average of 94 mph.

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In Boston’s second big deal of the day, John Lackey is headed to the Cardinals in exchange for starter Joe Kelly and “outfielder” Allen Craig.

Lackey will see a sweet boost in his value in August and September, as he’ll get to avoid the DH and move into baseball’s best pitcher’s parks. Throughout his career, Lackey has feasted on the NL in interleague play, earning a 3.07 ERA in 246 innings. Lackey has stuck out 219 in those innings, leading to a WHIP of 1.18. Lackey won’t necessarily see much of a defensive boost with his new club, especially because he’s induces neither grounders nor flies at a special rate. If you’re in an NL-only league, go bid big on Lackey right now and use this unique chance to add an impact starter over the roto stretch run.

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Jon Lester has been traded by the Red Sox to the Oakland Athletics, and in a fascinating twist, Boston will receive Yoenis Cespedes in return. Jonny Gomes will accompany Lester in Oakland, and a competitive balance pick will go with Cespedes to Boston.

Lester has reemerged as an absolute ace in his contract year, and he’s rolling into the Bay Area with a career best ERA, WHIP, FIP, xFIP, and SIERA. While most people consider Boston to be a hitter’s paradise, it’s actually relatively neutral outside of doubles smacking off the Green Monster, but moving to Oakland will still be a good thing for Lester. Oakland is one of the great pitcher’s parks, with spacious foul ground that makes ranchers fantasize about life on the open range. Lester has started six games in Oakland throughout his career, allowing four homers with an ERA of 3.52 in 38.1 IP, slightly better than his career ERA in Fenway park.

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Agenda

1. Deadline Madness
2. Daily DFS
3. Friday Picks
4. Table

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The St. Louis Cardinals have added Justin Masterson to their rotation. The new team should be good for the right-hander, as Jeff Sullivan wrote on the non-fantasy side. Bernie Miklasz, long-time, reputable Cards beat guy and columnist, highlighted many of the same reasons. Potential positives:

• Masterson moves from perhaps the worst defensive team to perhaps the best
• If his knee is sound, which it reportedly is, then his command, velocity, etc. should rebound

In general, Masterson seems to be in a much better position to rebound for fantasy owners already. All he’s had to do is spend nearly four weeks on the disabled list and then pack his bags.

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It is a bizarro right field in Tampa Bay this season. Wil Myers seemed assured to follow up his .293/.354/.478 rookie half-season with a top 40 outfield season, at the very least. Instead, Myers hit just .227/.313/.354 in the first third of the season and then landed on the 60-day DL with a wrist injury. Meanwhile, the bulk of the optimism that surrounded Kevin Kiermaier before he was promoted in mid-May was related to his defense. Two months and a .308/.359/.538 triple slash later, Kiermaier has been a much better Wil Myers than Wil Myers has been.

This post is not about Kevin Kiermaier. August Fagerstrom and Ben Duronio said it all in their recent real baseball and fantasy articles, respectively. This article is about Jake Odorizzi.

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We collectively scratched our heads when the Diamondbacks traded top prospect Trevor Bauer to the Indians after the 2012 season. But after he posted a suspect 4.15 ERA at Triple-A with the Tribe and then a 5.29 ERA over four starts with the Major League club, we thought that perhaps the team didn’t act as silly as we originally thought. A turnaround at Triple-A resulted in his second chance with the big club, but a 4.25 ERA remains a mild disappointment.

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Today’s Roto Riteup is excited about this afternoon’s trade deadline.

On today’s agenda:
1. Justin Masterson to the Cardinals
2. An update on Michael Wacha
3. Fun with arbitrary endpoints
4. The Feasible Five

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