One of the only decent things to come out of the lockout is the compressed timeframe for teams to get their rosters ready for Opening Day which will create an NBA/NFL-esque free agent and trade frenzy in the next weeks. Even as I was writing this, several other moves happened including the big Matt Olson deal or Nelson Cruz inking with Washington. Don’t worry, I’ll have another piece out covering that move and others soon! But first, let’s catch up with the weekend moves.

Covered in this article: Rodón, Kershaw, Bassitt, S.Gray, Garver, IKF, Donaldson, G.Sánchez, Urshela, Colomé, Kikuchi, Simmons

Carlos Rodón to SFG

Rodón is coming off a breakout season as he stayed healthy and posted a 2.37 ERA and 0.96 WHIP in 132.7 IP.  Some saw the White Sox not giving him a qualifying offer ($18.4 mil) as an indication of his health – or lack thereof – but the Giants are giving him $44 million dollars over the next two seasons which likely assuages some of those health-related fears. It doesn’t mean he will automatically stay healthy but seeing a team like the Giants that has done well with reclamation projects ponying up for Rodón is encouraging.

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3/13/22

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Over a month after the announcement, we’re finally getting around to covering the fantasy impact of Javier Baez’s signing with the Detroit Tigers. If you have forgotten, Baez signed a six-year, $140 million deal with the team on Dec 1, the same day a flurry of signings were announced before we went into lockout mode. Let’s now consult the park factors to see how the change in home venue might affect Baez’s results.

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The focus of this article isn’t to list all the moves. Instead, I’m going to focus on the moves where I think fantasy values changed the most. Also, I dived into a few muddled situations.

Rangers signed Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, and Kole Calhoun

There has been quite a bit of discussion on how bad the Rangers lineup was last season. They ranked 24th in hitter WAR (only team WAR projections are available), but are projected for the 12th highest total as of now.

I’m not shying away from this offense that rates to be better than the Red Sox and Braves. Since the offense will be respectable, there is no worry for Seager or Semien seeing a major drop-off (possibly some with home run regression but EVERY OTHER ANALYST has covered this angle). Read the rest of this entry »

The trade deadline has now passed and not surprisingly, there was a ton of movement and new opportunities for players to take on full-time roles have arisen. All but one of these players now finding themselves with regular playing time is a result of deadline deals, with the the other being the beneficiary of an injury to the incumbent.

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The Toronto Blue Jays added some much-needed starting pitching with the addition of José Berríos

The Twins have traded Jose Berrios to the Blue Jays for prospects Simeon Woods Richardson and Austin Martin.

Berríos was one of the hottest starting pitchers on the trade market. He’s been having a career season with a 3.48 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, and 9.3 K/9. The ERA and WHIP are career bests because of a .261 BABIP (.289 career BABIP). I could not find anything new in his batted ball profile to support a lower BABIP, so I expect some upward regression. Read the rest of this entry »

The Braves continue to add outfield help with the recent loss of Ronald Acuña Jr. by trading for Eddie Rosario and Adam Duvall.

• The Guardians trade Eddie Rosario and cash considerations to the Braves for Pablo Sandoval.
• The Marlins trade Adam Duvall to the Braves for Alex Jackson.

These two moves could have quite a few fantasy implications, especially in leagues where nearly every player is rostered.

The addition of Adam Duvall (.229/.277/.478 with 22 HR and 5 SB) creates a decent outfielder when he’s paired with Joc Pederson. Pederson has always performed better against right-handed pitching (career .834 OPS vs RHP, .609 OPS vs LHP) even though the numbers this year are similar. On the other hand, Duvall has been balanced (.775 OPS vs .755 OPS) and would be a nice platoon partner. It might not be Duvall who gets paired with Pederson, but Pederson continues to prove he can’t hit left-handed pitching (While the pair don’t completely make up for the loss of Acuna, it’s better than running out 30-year-old Guillermo Heredia and his .709 OPS every night. Read the rest of this entry »

The Astros added some much need bullpen depth with the following trade.

Astros trade outfielder Bryan De La Cruz to Miami for reliever Yimi García

Truthfully, I was hoping for some more closer trades to add to this one, but it’s time to clean the slate and wait for some more trades.

Note: The following players are ranked from most redraft fantasy value added to the most lost.

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The Yankees acquired much-needed outfield by adding Joey Gallo and trading away some better than slap-dick prospects.

• The Rangers trade Joey Gallo and Joely Rodríguez for prospects Ezequiel Duran, Josh Smith, Trevor Hauver, and Glenn Otto

There are some obvious players gaining and losing value, but there is some murkiness that should clear up by the end of the weekend. As of now, here is who I see as the players gaining and losing values in the trade.

Note: The following players are ranked from most redraft fantasy value added to the most lost.

Up

Joey Gallo

The Yankees needed at least one outfield replacement since they’ve been rolling out the likes of Estevan Florial, Greg Allen, Brett Gardner, and Ryan LaMarre. And they have been the replacements in the last two games. For the season, Gallo is hitting .223/.379/.490 with 25 HR and 6 SB. This is what has always been expected from Gallo. His 162 game average is .211/.336/.497 with 41 HR and 7 SB. With the Yankees dealing with several injuries (e.g. Aaron Judge and Luke Voit), Gallo should slot into the top of the lineup dropping down either Gleyber Torres (.678 OPS) or Rougned Odor (.757 OPS). Read the rest of this entry »

It seems like the Rays always have a logjam of hitters and rotations at most positions, and that has now gotten even more logjammy with their acquisition of DH Nelson Cruz. Cruz hasn’t played in the field since 2018, which means for as long as he is starting, the DH slot is going to be filled. That’s bad news for many of their hitters who will likely see a playing time cut, albeit not a significant one since it will likely be a different player on the bench each day. The logjam is likely to worsen again once Manuel Margot returns from the IL. Alas, this isn’t an article on the rest of the Rays hitters, it’s about Cruz’s move from Minnesota to Tampa. From a strictly ballpark change perspective, how might this switch in home venue affect his performance? Let’s consult the park factors.

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