Fantasy Fallout from the Trade Deadline

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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To SDP: Trevor Rosenthal

To KCR: Edward Olivares

Up: none

Down: Rosenthal goes from the guy in KC to a potential timeshare in San Diego with Drew Pomeranz returning on Monday night. As a righty-lefty pairing, they are a perfect matchup duo and I assume manager Jayce Tingler will let the opposition’s lineup dictate who gets the save opportunity night-to-night.

Neutral: Olivares hasn’t joined the Royals as of yet since there isn’t an open spot in the outfield, but they were definitely keen on acquiring him ($) so he might find his way to the big league club at some point in September.

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To ATL: Tommy Milone

To BAL: 2 PTBNL

Up: Milone took a private flight to join the Braves ASAP and started on Sunday night, but maybe he should’ve taken his time as he was blasted for 7 ER in just 2.3 IP, giving away a lot of his 10-run lead (they held on 11-10) and ruining his season numbers in the process, but I’d expect him to still be the capable-if-unspectacular 4th-5th SP type we’ve seen over his career (4.51 career ERA/4.58 career FIP) throughout September with the Braves. It’s a better overall team so his win potential is heightened and thus his bottom-line value ticks up slightly.

Keegan Akin has a rotation spot now. He allowed two unearned runs in 4.3 IP with 6 Ks on Monday in Buffalo against the Blue Jays and might be worth a look in AL-only leagues. He’s got a decent three-pitch mix with some swing-and-miss, but shaky control and doesn’t share enough similar traits with Milone to set me up for an akin joke and I’m pretty pissed about that.

Down: none

Neutral: none

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To CHC: Jose Martinez

To TBR: 2 PTBNL

Up: Martinez could see an uptick in playing time as their primary DH with Victor Caratini and his 78 wRC+ hardly staking a claim to the role. The Cubs don’t platoon to the level of the Rays and Martinez does have a .368 OBP against righties this year.

Yandy Díaz should get more time overall and likely won’t be asked to play the field nearly as much. He’s also not that bad against righties over his career (103 wRC+) and has been especially good in 90 PA this year (140).

Down: Caratini will still draw some starts behind the dish, but his DH opportunities will dry up.

Neutral: none

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To SDP: Mitch Moreland

To BOS: Hudson Potts, Jeisson Rosario

Up: Moreland was in a straight platoon with Boston, amassing just 9 PA against lefties, but his volume should go up with the Padres, especially Tommy Pham on the shelf as he was the only one close to a regular DH. Moreland also won’t be pressed into field duty much at all, if ever with Eric Hosmer manning 1B virtually every day. Though Moreland isn’t particularly strong against lefties, his career .240/.301/.371 line isn’t horrible and should offset by the extra volume in the counting categories.

Bobby Dalbec was called up and immediately inserted into the lineup and should get full-time run at 1B. He was given a 70 raw power grade by Eric Longenhagen as he ranked 4th in Boston’s prospect list this year, though his swing-and-miss clouds his profile and could make him a prototypical power corner bat with a rough batting average for fantasy purposes.

Down: none because the two guys seeing the bulk of DH time in Pham’s absence were both dealt elsewhere in separate deals by San Diego.

Neutral: none

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To COL: Mychal Givens

To BAL: Tyler Nevin, Terrin Vavra

Up: Hunter Harvey and Tanner Scott will vie for the closer’s role as Cole Sulser has officially been removed and while Givens wasn’t a guarantee to take it, he was worthy competition to be sure. Nevin and Vavra leave an organization that seemingly hates young players so just by leaving the Rockies, their stock is up a bit. Vavra ranked 2nd in Longenhagen’s list of prospects moved at the deadline.

Down: Givens… this just in: Coors sucks for pitchers!

Neutral: none

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To SDP: Jason Castro

To LAA: Gerardo Reyes

Up: Reyes debuted last year with his big triple-digit fastball and struck out a third of the batters he saw in 26 IP. The Angels certainly don’t have the kind of pen that should keep him out for long and I could see him joining the team any day now.

Down: Castro will likely be on the wrong end of a 70/30 split with another catcher the Padres acquired later on. His 16% BB rate is the only thing salvaging his line anyway so it’s no great loss on the fantasy landscape.

Neutral: none

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To SDP: Austin Nola, Austin Adams, Dan Altavilla

To SEA: Taylor Trammell, Ty France, Luis Torrens, Andres Munoz

Up: France is the biggest playing time winner in this deal as manager Scott Servais said he’ll get “a ton of at-bats” with the M’s. He has a 138 wRC+ in 61 PA so far this year and will likely take 2B and DH time with Shed Long Jr. playing LF when France is at 2B. Trammell probably won’t debut this year, but his chances to do so improve substantially in Seattle as they might want to the 22-year old prospect working at the big leagues for a few weeks.

Down: Adams is returning from an ACL injury and will likely just pitch in a middle relief role upon his return. Altavilla will likely be buried in the SD pen as he’s struggled this year with a 7.71 ERA and 1.63 WHIP.

Neutral: This probably ends up being a wash for Nola as he moves to a better lineup and will maintain a full-time role but drops down in the lineup from 5th to 8th.

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To SDP: Mike Clevinger, Greg Allen

To CLE: Josh Naylor, Cal Quantrill, Austin Hedges, Gabriel Arias, Joey Cantillo, Owen Miller

Up: Clevinger hasn’t really been himself this year but still has a 3.18 ERA despite that. I think any fixes enacted to get back to himself won’t necessarily be because he’s now in San Diego. It is a better offense supporting him, though, so it’s a small boost.

Naylor gets a major boost as he’ll slot in as their everyday LF, occasionally losing starts against lefties to Jordan Luplow. He has AL-Only and 15+ team mixed league relevance immediately and then is at least worth monitoring to see if he plays himself in to 10- and 12-team viability.

Cantillo and Arias have upside in Cleveland as Cantillo will be developed by one of the best pitching orgs in the league and Arias will be groomed as the heir apparent to Francisco Lindor. They ranked 4th and 5th in Longenhagen’s deadline prospects list, respectively.

Down: Allen wasn’t exactly playing much in Cleveland with just 28 (horrible) PA, but he’ll be buried in San Diego, relegated to defensive substitution and pinch running duty. Hedges’ fantasy viability doesn’t change, it remains poor.

Neutral: Quantrill was primarily relieving with the Padres and will maintain that role in Cleveland. I do love the way Cleveland develops pitchers and I’d certainly be intrigued if he found himself in the rotation, but for now he’s a non-factor limited to fringe AL-Only consideration if you just need a live arm getting some innings.

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To TOR: Robbie Ray

To ARI: Travis Bergen

Up: I mean, I guess Bergen will get some burn with Arizona.

Down: none

Neutral: Ray will likely get an opportunity to start in Toronto, but if he continues to flop then I could see them pushing him to the bullpen. For now, it’s a neutral move.

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To OAK: Mike Minor

To TEX: 2 PTBNL

Up: Minor enjoyed his best start of the season with six shutout innings against the Dodgers and the A’s are no doubt hoping he can parlay that into a couple month run of success. At worst, hopefully he can be a key bullpen piece for them emulating his work in KC from 2017.

Down: none

Neutral: none

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To MIA: Starling Marte

To ARI: Caleb Smith, Humberto Mejia

Up: Smith probably had a role with the Marlins when he returns from COVID, but it wasn’t a guarantee as Sixto Sánchez grabbed a role immediately upon his call up and left one spot for Smith, Trevor Rogers, and Jordan Yamamoto to battle over.

Down: none

Neutral: Marte’s fantasy value doesn’t really change here and might actually go up a tick as the Marlins have been slightly better than the Diamondbacks, but it’s not enough to be a tangible difference. Mejia is unchanged.

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To CIN: Brian Goodwin

To ARI: Packy Naughton

Up: The general fanbase of baseball’s value is up because no we all know that someone named Packy Naughton exists and that’s just a fantastic name.

Down: Me before this trade because I didn’t know someone named Packy Naughton existed.

Neutral: Goodwin was stuck in a platoon role once Jo Adell came up and will likely face the same in Cincinnati, but that could change if they decide to give him a big chunk of the time in centerfield for the struggling Shogo Akiyama.

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To TOR: Jonathan Villar

To MIA: PTBNL

Up: Villar will assume the full-time role at SS in Bo Bichette’s absence and then bounce around the diamond once he returns. He joins a better lineup so the net move is a positive. Isan Díaz is slated to return from his COVID opt out and should take over 2B immediately in Miami.

Meanwhile, this could open up the opportunity to call up mega prospect Jazz Chisholm. Matt Joyce has done well in his time, but he doesn’t have to play daily and Brian Anderson could move to RF opening up 3B for Miguel Rojas while Chisholm plays short. Stay tuned to see how they play this in Miami.

Edit: Chisholm was indeed called up!!

Down: Jon Berti will find himself in a utility role once Diaz returns and he could really find his playing time limited if they do indeed call up Chisholm. This a bummer for fantasy players as he’s stolen 8 bases, but he’s hitting .244/.341/.308 and the Marlins need more offensive production.

Neutral: none

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To CIN: Archie Bradley

To ARI: Stuart Fairchild, Josh VanMeter

Up: VanMeter has been dreadful in 38 PA this year (-11 wRC+) thanks in large part to a 42% K rate, but his value might be headed up since the D’Backs might be inclined to give him a shot since they’re just playing out the string anyway. Ketel Marte can take over in center and VanMeter could get 2B reps. I’m not sure I’d consider him anywhere beyond NL-Only leagues at this point, though.

A new closer will emerge in Arizona, though it’s unclear exactly where they will turn as primary candidates – Junior Guerra, Kevin Ginkel, and Stefan Crichton – have unimpressive skillsets this year. If I was handicapping it, I’d go with Crichton as he has the best K-BB% of the group at 14%.

Fairchild could join the team and take over the CF role with Marte’s departure. The 24-year old has a solid skillset, though Longenhagen sees him debuting in ’21: “Fairchild is a well-rounded center fielder who I expect to make a push for big league outfield reps next year.”

Down: Bradley will likely share the closer’s role at best in Cincinnati. On the surface it looks like Iglesias is having another dreadful season with a 5.59 ERA, but he has a 0.83 WHIP and 36% K-BB rate in 9.7 IP. He gave up runs in his first two outings against the Tigers and then allowed three in just a third of an inning against St. Louis but has otherwise been lights out. He might lose an opportunity here and there to Bradley, though.

Neutral: none

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To COL: Kevin Pillar

To BOS: PTBNL & int’l bonus money

Up: Pillar was playing virtually every day in Boston, so I don’t necessarily see a boost there, but anytime you shift to Coors, it’s a win.

Down: Sam Hilliard and Garrett Hampson were manning CF with David Dahl out and now Pillar will take over, pushing Hilliard to DH and Hampson into a timeshare at 2B with Ryan McMahon.

Neutral: none

—

To TOR: Ross Stripling

To LAD: 2 PTBNL

Up: Stripling’s hold on a rotation spot in LA was tenuous so this trade buys him some time as I expect the Jays to give him a couple starts to turn it around. Tony Gonsolin was breathing down Stripling’s neck and now has a locked in spot, especially with Walker Buehler hitting the IL.

Down: none

Neutral: none

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To NYM: Todd Frazier and Robinson Chirinos

To TEX: I don’t know… a firm handshake perhaps?

Up: none

Down: Frazier was playing daily in Texas and now finds himself competing with a younger version of himself in J.D. Davis. Chirinos is having a nightmarish season with a -1 wRC+ in 49 PA and was losing time to Jose Trevino. Now he’ll back up Wilson Ramos with Tomas Nido hitting the IL.

Neutral: none

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To SDP: Taylor Williams

To SEA: PTBNL

Up: Jason Martinez has Yoshihisa Hirano in the closer’s role on the Mariners Roster Resource page and he mentioned that Joey Gerber and Anthony Misiewicz could also find their way into some opportunities when he discussed the situation in the latest Bullpen Report.

Down: Williams loses his closer’s role and joins the Padres pen as a depth piece.

Neutral: none

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To CHC: Cameron Maybin

To DET: Zack Short

Up: none

Down: Maybin wasn’t playing every day with the Tigers and he’ll play even less with the Cubs as their outfield is set right now.

Neutral: I guess Short could get the call and play some middle infield for the Tigers if a spot opens up, but I don’t think he’d be anything more than AL-Only pickup unless he started to show something at the dish.