Roto Riteup: August 16, 2017

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August 16, 2017

Found him:

 

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On the Agenda:

1. Kind of Ridiculous Trade Speculation…

2. MLB’s Most Eligible Second Baseman

3. Various News and Notes

4. Streaming Pitcher Options

 

 

Kind of Ridiculous Trade Speculation…

According to Jon Heyman of FanRag, the Tigers and Astros are in talks about a potential trade that would send Justin Verlander to Houston. Verlander has cleared revocable waivers, but would have to sign off on any deal that would be made due to his no-trade clause. The Astros are in need of a starter given the recent woes and injury trouble of Lance McCullers, but are unlikely to want to take on the entirety of Verlander’s remaining deal. Given that, it seems unlikely that a deal will be reached without shipping some major prospects to Detroit.

Giancarlo Stanton has cleared revocable waivers without being claimed according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo. There have been numerous reports of teams being interested in the MLB home run leader, but with 295 million dollars due to him over the next ten years and the team being up for sale, it seems unlikely that Stanton will be moved anytime soon.

 

 

MLB’s Most Eligible Second Baseman

According to multiple commenters on my last two Roto Riteups, Anthony Rizzo has gained eligibility at second base this week in ESPN, CBS, and Yahoo. Putting aside the fact that this is fairly ridiculous, it poses an interesting question about where Rizzo ranks rest of the season at the position and heading into 2018 if he can muster enough games to hold the eligibility for it.

Rizzo is hitting .262/.384/.504 with 27 home runs and seven stolen bases and currently ranks 10th on ESPN’s player rater at second base. Personally I would rank him 4th moving forward for this season and next behind Jose Altuve, Dee Gordon, and Jose Ramirez.

 

 

Various News and Notes

The Pittsburgh Pirates placed Gregory Polanco on the 10-day DL with a hamstring injury. Polanco has had a disappointing, injury riddled season, hitting .255/.311/.407 with ten home runs and eight stolen bases. This injury likely ends the month for him and may drive down his cost for next season.

Joe Panik has been placed on the 7-day DL with a concussion after getting hit in the face with a throw to the plate:

It’s unfortunate for fantasy owners as Panik was starting to heat up after a slow season. Over the course of the month of August Panik was hitting .342/.419/.447. Panik is mostly an empty average player and can be dropped in most mixed league formats.

Andrew Benintendi left Tuesday’s game after being hit in the knee with a pitch. Following the game, manager John Farrell stated that he was hopeful Benintendi would be ok to play on Wednesday. Consider him day-to-day at this time.

 

 

Streaming Pitcher Options

A pitcher for today: Ubaldo Jimenez vs. SEA

Over his last four starts, Ubaldo has a 2.63 ERA with 12 strikeouts per nine innings. He gets the struggling Mariners who have lost five of the last six.

A pitcher for tomorrow: NONE

I was tempted to take Edwin Jackson at home, but I can’t pull the trigger.





 

Justin is the co-host on The Sleeper and The Bust Podcast and writes for Rotographs covering the Roto Riteup as well as other periodic articles. In addition to his work at Rotographs, Justin is the lead fantasy writer/analyst and co-owner for FriendswithFantasyBenefits.com, and the owner of The Great Fantasy Baseball Invitational. He is also a certified addiction treatment counselor. Follow Justin on Twitter @JustinMasonFWFB.

17 Comments
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feslenraster
8 years ago

Edwin Jackson is death incarnate to fantasy owners.

3
slappy jack
8 years ago
Reply to  feslenraster

Isn’t he pitching in SD and not at home? slightly less deadly?

0
feslenraster
8 years ago
Reply to  slappy jack

…I guess….? Still wouldn’t chance him though, even in a 20+ team league

1