Note: Greeting from Denver as the FanGraphs writers travel here for the weekend. These reports aren’t as detailed as normal as beer and a whiffle ball game call.

Angels

• It’s set with the top. The bottom is a complete mess with Luis Valbuena getting the most consistent playing time.

Astros

• It’s also set at the top with two outfield platoons. Josh Reddick and Tony Kemp face righties and Marwin Gonzalez and Jake Marisnick face lefties.

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Last week I re-introduced my hitter prospect finder and today, the pitchers take center stage. The process uses K%-BB%, age, and level as inputs to find potential off-the-radar prospects.

While the hitter finder finds all the top hitters from scouting sources, the pitcher is not as robust. It just looks at results which sometimes can be off with known fastball velocities and pitch quality. Even though it doesn’t replicate the top prospects, I find it’s great at finding lesser-known targets.

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I’m continuing to analyze the valuation changes for players who may be on the move at the trade deadline. I’m using MLBTraderumors.com’s list 50 players most likely to be traded. I’m going over #6 to #10 today.

#6 Wilson Ramos

While any team, besides the Astros and maybe the Dodgers, could use a decent second catcher. For this reason, Ramos isn’t likely headed to be the #1 guy for many of the top teams. While his new team’s offense may be better, the possible lost plate appearances will keep his value relatively constant.

Jesus Sucre gains the most fantasy value as he becomes the fulltime catcher. Sucre is nothing special but in AL-only leagues, the extra plate appearances help. As for the new backup catcher, either Adam Moore or Nick Ciuffo will likely get the call from Triple-A.

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I’ve been going over lineups at the end of each week for about a month now. I’ve found doing the entire league at the same time is too much for several reasons. From now one, I’m going to take turns between leagues.

Big Five

• Michael Taylor and his 17 stolen bases may be headed to the bench or another team.
• Maikel Franco is riding-the-pine-for-nine since J.P. Crawford has returned from the DL.
• Scott Schebler has heated up over the last 28 days (.329/.406/.494) and is now the Reds leadoff hitter.
• Jon Jay is now the Diamondbacks everyday leadoff hitter.
• Dominic Smith is starting at first base for the Mets but doesn’t hit well enough to be major league first baseman.

Braves

• They are completely set in their ways with a constant lineup. A future change is Ronald Acuna coming off the DL and replacing Charlie Culberson.

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Teams are beginning to make the hard call if they are going to buyers or sellers at the trade deadline. I’ll start investigating the players most likely to be traded, how their value will change, and their possible replacements. I’m not going to make the call on who is or isn’t going to be moved. I’m going to rely on the great writers at MLBTradeRumors.com and use their top-50 trade candidate list. I’ll start with the top five players.

1. Manny Machado

Machado is nearly a perfect trade chip. A complete hitter who can play either shortstop or third base. I can’t envision a single scenario where his value takes a hit. He may end up in a pitcher-friendly park but he’ll be hitting in the middle of a better lineup. It can’t be worse than Baltimore’s lineup.

Every single contending team could use Machado as an upgrade while some teams need him worse. Trying to pick a destination right now is about impossible. I’m a little worried he’s more likely headed to the National League for those owners with him in AL-only leagues. I don’t see Baltimore trading him to the Yankees or Red Sox to help them win a World Series.

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A few years back, I created a system to help me find under the radar prospects using just position, age at the level, and minor league production (wRC+). I wanted a system besides industry lists to use in dynasty leagues and it worked fine. At the same time though, FanGraphs hired this guy named Chris Mitchel and he created KATOH. His system quickly outperformed mine, so instead of trying to keep up, I asked him to join my fantasy teams. With Chris now gone, my old system is back and running to help find some diamonds in the rough.

As I previously stated, the rankings are just based on age at the level, position, and production. The final value created by the program approximates the players value based on lining up the player to actual prospect grades (80 = MVP, <20 = minor league filler). Obviously, the ranking isn’t close to the final say but I find some hitters before other do.

Note: If any player type seems misplaced, let me know. From eye-balling some values, catchers may be getting too much of a position adjustment.

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In my chat last night, I got several questions on Joey Votto and his power loss. I decided I investigate the drop along with several other regulars who currently have an isolated power (ISO) less than their projected Steam projections.

To get a list of hitters, I took the hitter with a least 150 PA this season and compared their projected and actual ISO’s. Here the top 20.

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Big Five Value Movers

1. Danny Valencia looks to be hitting fulltime in Baltimore.
2. Greg Bird is batting 3rd for the Yankees.
3. Cleveland’s and Houston’s outfields are in flux with players returning from the DL.
4. Heyward and Almora are playing fulltime with the Cubs.
5. Joe Panik is leading off for the Giants.

Angels

• I can’t believe the lack of talent surrounding Mike Trout. In their last game, the Angels figured Martin Maldonado was their fifth best hitter.
• For the few fantasy-relevant hitters on this team, they are set at the lineup’s top except Albert Pujols who has been dealing with an ankle injury the past few years days.

Astros

• Josh Reddick’s return has caused a ripple effect with Tony Kemp, Jake Marisnick, and Marwin Gonzalez each seeing their playing time cut. For now, I would stay away from them all.
• Evan Gattis is back to being the permanent DH. After struggling out of the gate, he has hit .286/.350/.714 over the past month with nine home runs.

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