The Rays and Brewers have swapped players with the Rays getting first baseman Jesus Aguilar and the Brewers adding reliever Jake Faria. Here’s my take on who gains the most value from now to end-of-season in redraft leagues.

Travis Shaw/Eric Thames: Not sure what is going on here. The Brewers are left with two left-handed bats for the first base job. I think both become two-thirds time plays with both splitting time at first and Thames playing in the outfield especially with Ryan Braun needing rest Lorenzo Cain getting banged up. Shaw could play around the infield once a week as he did before his demotion.

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What a great trade (and fight) last night. This trade has so many moving parts that I’m going to focus on those players seeing their in-season fantasy value changing enough for owners to act. I’m not going to touch keeper/dynasty values as league rules will determine much of the player’s valuation. I’ll try to get past the main characters and find those players who need to be picked up or dropped.

While I’m supposed to provide instant analysis on this blockbuster trade, the true fantasy value gainers and decliners aren’t going to be 100% known for a few days. Owners will keep sticking Trevor Bauer and Yasiel Puig in their lineup. While the park factors and league context will change their value a bit, it’s non-actionable. They aren’t going to be dropped or added so the trade doesn’t affect their value.

The exact gain rankings aren’t known yet as who replaces Puig and who Bauer pushes out of the Reds rotation. Owners in weekly FAAB leagues will have time to make a decision and see who the MLB teams use for replacements. In the wild, wild west of quick-click leagues, hopefully, I can provide the correct replacements, but I’m guessing what the Reds and Padres will do which isn’t the easiest. With the disclaimers out of the way, it’s time to get to the winner and losers.

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There is a ton of value changes this week with some players getting hurt (Braves), called up (Will Smith), or playing full-time (Luis Arraez). Just spend a few minutes looking for some adds. Probably more important, look for some players who should be dropped or benched. It’s not a week to half-ass your FAAB.

The projection guidelines:

• The ownership rates are from CBS since they have some quickdraw waiver wire leagues where players can be picked up at any time.
• The FAAB estimates are based on the 2018 15-team mixed NFBC leagues which used a $1000 FAAB budget. Owners are going to need to convert these values to their own league.
• The ownership values were taken from Saturday and lots can happen in between when they publish and FAAB bids run.
• Only players owned in 50% or fewer of CBS leagues are examined.

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I thought there would be more player movement by now. As of Saturday morning of July 27th, these are my closer ranks. They could easily change as more information becomes available.
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Angels

• Overall, the lineup has been consistent. Shohei Ohtani has been sitting with no DH available in NL parks.
• David Fletcher has led off 13 of the last 14 games while hitting .250/.294/.354 during that time frame.

Astros

• With Carlos Correa coming off the IL, all the pieces are back and the early season lineup will likely be used. Correa will hit fifth which would move Yordan Alvarez down a spot.

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Nearly every article I write, I do it because I find the content useful. It’s an article I wish others would write but don’t. Because no one was writing about lineups is why I started writing one. Last year I tried writing both the AL and NL versions rotating weeks but the two-week gap between leagues was too long. Too many changes happened. This year Al Melchior took NL teams and I went with the AL ones. Because of the extra research, I’ve noticed my mixed-league teams lean AL.

My pickups are all AL leaning probably from writing the AL lineup analysis. I have to trust others for what is going on in the NL.

— Jeff Zimmerman (@jeffwzimmerman) July 22, 2019

It’s not just my lineup article providing self-centered content. My closers rankings and FAAB projections help me make decisions and I hope they help others.

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Compared to last week, more transactions occurred in the NFBC’s Main Event on Sunday. I’m seeing a few more borderline starters and hitters being dropped which normally would be kept. I wonder if teams are hoarding potential closers and aren’t able to roster as many replacement level talents.
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As MLB creeps closer to the trade deadline, a few interesting names have popped up as must adds in ll formats. Most could have been owned for little of nothing last week but now the procrastination tax must be paid.

The projection guidelines:

• The ownership rates are from CBS since they have some quickdraw waiver wire leagues where players can be picked up at any time.
• The FAAB estimates are based on the 2018 15-team mixed NFBC leagues which used a $1000 FAAB budget. Owners are going to need to convert these values to their own league.
• The ownership values were taken from Saturday and lots can happen in between when they publish and FAAB bids run.
• Only players owned in 50% or fewer of CBS leagues are examined.

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Not much movement this week compared to my last report. I figured some bullpen trades would have occurred by now, but it looks like it will be a busy last 10 days before the traded deadline.

Note: These rankings are based on chances of getting Saves, not pitcher talent.

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