Deadline Day Roster Fallout

by
August 4, 2026


Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

Yesterday we kept you updated on all the trades that went down and speculated to the best of our ability on what might come next. After all, every addition to the active roster requires someone getting shipped out or sent down; every player traded away needs to be replaced. Now we are starting to see what moves teams are actually making to clean up any messes created at the deadline.

 American League

Guardians

Cleveland Guardians optioned 1B Kyle Manzardo to Columbus Clippers.
Cleveland Guardians optioned RF David Fry to Columbus Clippers.

With the additions of Jo Adell (.682 OPS) and Nathaniel Lowe (.820 OPS), Manzardo (.684 OPS) and Fry (.639 OPS) were demoted to AAA.

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Yankees

The Yankees are making moves.

New York Yankees optioned SS Anthony Volpe to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.
New York Yankees optioned RF Jasson Domínguez to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.

After parts of four major league seasons, everyone knows who Volpe is, and he’s not an average major league hitter.

Anthony Volpe's OPS2023: .6662024: .6572025: .6632026: .646

— Jeff Zimmerman (@jeffwzimmerman.bsky.social) 2026-08-04T14:17:58.572Z

Domínguez has gotten regular at-bats (started 22 straight games), and he has a .650 OPS (80 wRC+). Additionally, he gave up on trying to walk (4% BB%). While the 6 HR and 7 SB are useful in fantasy, the real-world side of his game needs improvement.

With all the injuries on the team, they can’t afford to run out two batters who are 20% worse than league average.

George Lombard Jr. has been solid in AAA this season with 6 HR and 10 SB while batting .268/.405/.440. That’s not exactly dominating.

Our projections have him as a near .650 OPS talent (same as Volpe). Using my “it’s an average .200 OPS drop from AAA to MLB” (.845 OPS in AAA), again he would again be a near .650 OPS. One final check: here are his major league comps based on age, plate appearances, power, and contact rate.

Some solid power comps. Some struggled making contact in the majors. Some eventually broke through while others didn’t. On average, they were .650 OPS hitters when they debuted. I see a trend.

National League

Braves

The team made several moves.

Atlanta Braves optioned RHP JR Ritchie to Gwinnett Stripers.
Atlanta Braves designated SS Jorge Mateo for assignment.
Atlanta Braves activated C Sean Murphy from the 60-day injured list.
Atlanta Braves activated SS Ha-Seong Kim from the 10-day injured list.

I’m surprised the team is going to give Kim another chance after hitting .068/.171/.068 in the majors this year. During this rehab assignment, he hit .216/.355/.353 with 1 HR and 4 SB.

Mateo hit .240/.285/.380 with 4 HR and 10 SB. The Braves seem to accept putting an inferior product on the field rather than facing the fact that Kim’s $20M contract is a sunk cost.

As for Murphy, he’ll at least get the occasional start at catcher, but his fantasy value will ride on how often he is the DH. Right now, Dominic Smith and Ronald Acuña Jr. are the DH when Blake Baldwin catches.

There is no reason to roster Ritchie as long as he keeps walking everyone (5.6 BB/9).

Dodgers

I think there is some upside to Sheehan (5.29 ERA, 4.00 xFIP, 4.33 botERA), but some starter (with options) needed to be sacrificed to make room for Tarik Skubal.

Giants

Blade Tidwell was promoted and will start this week after several arms were traded away. Since the start of June in AAA, he has a 3.46 ERA (4.75 FIP), but a 4.7 BB/9. Also, here is how his pitches have performed in AAA.

The four-seamer and sliders create a ton of swing-and-miss. If he’s able to throw strikes in his debut, his stock should jump.

Marlins

Agustín Ramírez has rejoined the major league team after struggling at the plate (.230/.318/.345) and with his catcher defense (-4 Runs Saved) to start the season. He hit OK in AAA (.759 OPS) with 7 HR and 17 SB. One issue is that he continues to hit the ball on the ground over 50% of the time (51% GB% in MLB, 53% GB% in AAA).

A catcher-qualified bat with speed will have some value, but he needs to start at least half the time to be relevant in most leagues.

Nationals

Abimelec Ortiz was promoted to fill the first base vacancy when Luis García Jr. was traded away. Ortiz is a power-only bat (18 HR in 365 PA in AAA) who shouldn’t be a batting average drain (.244 AVG, 20% K%, 79% Contact%). His Steamer600 comps point to some solid major league power hitters.

He needs to be added for the chance he produces like Bryce Eldridge and Esmerlyn Valdez.

Phillies

With the addition of Luis Arraez, several players, including Bryce Harper, Alec Bohm, and Bryson Stott, could add a new position.

Don Mattingly said the plan is for Bryce Harper to play RF, Alec Bohm to play 1B and Bryson Stott to be at 3B. Luis Arraez will be here Tuesday. Mattingly said the Phillies will have to “ease” Harper into right field, and it’s unclear how they will do that.

— Matt Gelb (@mattgelb.bsky.social) 2026-08-03T19:09:10.342Z

Reds

The team is promoting Chase Petty and Héctor Rodríguez

The 22-year-old Rodríguez was dominating AAA (.274/.347/.533, 27 HR, 6 SB) and had nothing more to prove. Our projections aren’t buying the home runs (27 HR on 31 Barrels) and project 15 HR full-season power. My simple comps agree.

Those AAA home runs will have him on watch lists, but he’s not this week’s top add.

Ignore Chase Petty and his career 7.00 ERA until he puts together three straight good major league starts.

Rockies
Jordan Beck is getting another shot in the majors.

The 25-year-old struggled in the majors to start the season (.532 OPS) and was demoted. In AAA, he has added 3.5 mph to his Average Exit Velocity and posted a .882 OPS with 7 HR (6 Barrels) in 114 PA. I don’t see him as a difference maker.

I’d stream him at home and see if he’s finally taken a step forward.





 

Jeff, one of the authors of the fantasy baseball guide,The Process, writes for RotoGraphs, The Hardball Times, Rotowire, Baseball America, and BaseballHQ. He has been nominated for two SABR Analytics Research Award for Contemporary Analysis and won it in 2013 in tandem with Bill Petti. He has won four FSWA Awards including on for his Mining the News series. He's won Tout Wars three times, LABR twice, and got his first NFBC Main Event win in 2021. Follow him on Twitter @jeffwzimmerman.

1 Comment
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Backdoor SliderMember since 2025
11 hours ago

More fallout- With the additions of Garcia, Ramos, and Lombard Jr, it appears Caballero may have a hard time finding consistent ABs.

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