On Saturday, reports indicate that 30-year-old catcher James McCann has agreed to a four-year deal with the Mets. He heads to The Big Apple after two seasons with the White Sox. Let’s check out the park factors to determine how the park switch might affect his offensive performance.
Let’s take a look at the fantasy implications for all the major trades this deadline.
To OAK: Tommy La Stella
To LAA: Franklin Barreto
Up: La Stella joins a much better lineup and should slot into the #2 hole in between Marcus Semien and Stephen Piscotty. He could lose some starts against lefties, but that might be a net positive given his .185/.303/.259 line against them this year. That said, he was at .265/.315/.398 a year ago and has a career .262/.340/.373 line v. southpaws. Either way, this is still a win.
Down: none
Neutral: Barreto goes from not playing in one part of California to not playing in a further south part of California as David Fletcher just slots into the 2B role with Andrelton Simmons and Anthony Rendon back in the lineup.
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The Padres are trying to set the trade deadline record for most players traded and have acquired perhaps the most valuable one available in Mike Clevinger. In the past, like as recent as last season, a move for a starting pitcher to the National League would be a boon, as he would no longer have to face the DH most of the time, except for when playing an interleague game in an AL park. The introduction of the universal DH this year removes that performance boost, so now we can easily compare apples to apples. So let’s take a look at the 2019 park factors and compare the Indians and Padres home parks to find out if Clevinger’s value changes at all solely based on his new home park.
In what turned out to be quite soap operatic, the Red Sox and Dodgers finally complete a trade…though not exactly the original one that was tentatively accepted last week, which also included the Twins. The biggest name to move is of course Mookie Betts, who makes what was already an excellent Dodgers offense into one that is now laughably good. But for those who have already spent a first round pick on Betts, plan to keep him, or are wondering how to adjust his value after the move, the big question now is how might the switch in home park affect his performance. Let’s consult the park factors (2018) and find out!
With the first spring training workouts now just days away, it appears that Domingo Santana finally has a camp to report to. According to Paul Hoynes of cleveland.com, the Indians have reportedly come to an agreement with the free agent outfielder on a one-year deal. Should the parties finalize the deal, Cleveland should prove to be a good landing spot for Santana, as he would seem to have a good chance of winning an everyday role in one of the outfield corners.
So far, Santana has not caused much of a stir in early drafts. In NFBC leagues, he has a 350 ADP that puts him in 89th place among outfielders. That makes him marginal at best in 15-team mixed leagues, while Austin Riley, Austin Hays and Niko Goodrum have all managed to nestle themselves among the top 75 outfielders. Granted, Riley and Hays have upside potential, but while Santana is no longer in the pre-peak phase of his career (he turned 27 last August), he also has a high ceiling.
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The New York Yankees announced that top starter James Paxton will be out at least 3-4 months after undergoing a microscopic lumbar discectomy to remove a peridiscal cyst. It’s absolutely brutal news for the 31-year old lefty, who has battled injuries throughout his career as Jay Jaffe outlined in his piece about the injury. It does look like the timeline is for his return to the field so late-May/early-June is the target, but I’d plan for mid-to-late June just to be safe.
In leagues with IL spots, I have no real issue stashing him, even if it were for the full three months of the regular season. His price will plummet, and you need to decide where you’re comfortable grabbing him as a stash. There was only one NFBC draft last night after the news and he went 224th, which put him around the likes of Ian Kennedy, Giovanny Gallegos, and Griffin Canning as far as pitchers. Now it’s worth noting that the NFBC doesn’t have IL spots so anyone drafting him must eat one of their seven reserve spots.
02/05/20
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Paul gives his thoughts on the massive trades that went down on Tuesday night with Mookie Betts, David Price, Kenta Maeda, Joc Pederson, Alex Verdugo, Brusdar Graterol, and Luis Rengifo on the move, plus some prospects and a pending “big league starter” (plllleeeaaassseee be Ross Stripling!!).
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After signing free agent Kole Calhoun, the Diamondbacks apparently weren’t done adding outfielders. On Monday, the team acquired Starling Marte for a pair of prospects. The knee-jerk reaction is that this must be a positive for Marte’s contribution on offense given the perception of PNC Park as an extremely pitcher friendly environment. Do the park factors confirm this sentiment?
The Cincinnati Reds capped off their strong offseason with another big move, announcing the addition of Nicholas Castellanos on a 4-year, $64 million dollar deal (which includes opt outs after 2020 and 2021). Castellanos has been a solid above average hitter the last several years, but then stepped up a notch when joining the Cubs down the stretch in 2019. After posting a 105 wRC+ in 439 PA with Detroit, he was traded over at the deadline and posted an explosive 154 mark in 225 PA.
Though we’ve known about it for a week now, Josh Donaldson has officially signed with the Twins, which pushes Miguel Sano to first base. Donaldson now joins his fourth team in three years, which is surprising given how good he has been, outside a down, injury-marred 2018. Speaking of 2018, he rebounded off that disappointing performance admirably, proving it was health, not age, that was the issue. He now returns to the American League after a year in Atlanta. What might the change in home park do to his results? Let’s consult the (2018) park factors.