Roto Riteup: August 2, 2023

Yankees fans did not have a fun trade deadline day:

when ur playing charades & the hint is “NY Yankees at the trade deadline” pic.twitter.com/wjaZcpyFk4

— Emily Nyman (@EmSheDoesIt) August 1, 2023

On the Agenda: 

1. Closer Chaos
2. Trade Deadline
3. Streaming Pitchers

Closer Chaos

The Padres traded for Scott Barlow from the Royals in exchange for Devin Mann and Derlin Figeroa. Barlow will lose his closer status in San Diego. It appears the next man up in Kansas City is Carlos Hernandez. Neither prospect is fantasy relevant in most leagues at this time. 

Trade Deadline

The Diamondbacks acquired Tommy Pham on Tuesday from the Mets. It is a bit surprising that Arizona didn’t also get some pitching, but this gives them a right handed outfielder to platoon with Alek Thomas. 

The Orioles acquired Jack Flaherty from the Cardinals for Cesar Prieto, Drew Rom, and Zack Showalter. The Orioles needed to add a starter and they opted to not trade any of their top tier prospects in order to do so. This is the best case scenario for Flaherty who moves from a pitcher’s park to another pitcher’s park. 

The Red Sox acquired Luis Urias from the Brewers. This is just a move for infield depth as the Red Sox wait for Trevor Story to return. 

The White Sox acquired Luis Patino from the Rays for cash considerations. This is a nice move on a former highly regarded pitching prospect for the White Sox. While the White Sox did not trade any of their huge names, they had a nice deadline which will be talked about more later. 

The Astros traded for Justin Verlander on Tuesday from the Mets for Drew Gilbert and Ryan Clifford. The Mets also ate a lot of money to get the deal done. There apparently were some discussions about sending Verlander to the Dodgers, but Verlander wanted to return to Houston. Gilbert is an interesting outfield prospect that could make his debut later this season or early next year. Clifford is probably a few years away but is a power corner bat in the outfield or at first base. 

Ryan Yarbrough was traded from the Royals to the Dodgers on Tuesday. This was a disappointing day for the Dodgers who had a deal in place with Eduardo Rodriguez before Rodriguez invoked his no-trade clause to prevent the deal from being finalized. Yarbrough is likely just depth. 

The Marlins acquired Josh Bell from the Guardians for Jean Segura and Kahlil Watson. Bell will take over first base for the Marlins who had a big day. Watson is a high upside/high risk prospect that has a lot of power and speed but strikes out too much. The Marlins also acquired Jake Burger from the White Sox for Jake Eder. Eder is a live arm that could be special if he can stay healthy. He recently had Tommy John surgery and has thrown 39.1 innings this year with a lot of strikeouts and a lot of walks. The Marlins also picked up Ryan Weathers in a trade that sent Garrett Cooper and Sean Reynolds to the Padres. 

The Phillies acquired Michael Lorenzen from the Tigers on Tuesday. This is an interesting move for the Phillies because it likely knocks out Ranger Suarez or Cristopher Sanchez from the rotation. Lorenzen has been really good against bad teams and really bad against good teams, sporting a 2.02 ERA versus teams with worse than a .500 record and a 5.82 ERA against teams with a winning record. He moves from a good park and division to pitch in to a poor one. This is a clear sell now time for his fantasy value. 

The Padres acquired Rich Hill and Ji Man Choi from the Pirates on Tuesday. The Padres went from sellers to buyers in a matter of days which was a little surprising but in the end it makes sense as this is a team built to compete. Hill will provide rotation depth and Choi will share first base with Garrett Cooper who was also acquired. 

The Blue Jays acquired Paul deJong from the Cardinals on Tuesday. This was a bit scary at first as Bo Bichette had gotten injured the night before so there was some speculation that this move could be a sign that Bichette might be out a while, but news came back later that he should be ok. deJong likely is just infield depth for the Blue Jays once Bichette returns. 

The Rangers acquired Austin Hedges from the Pirates for international bonus pool money. This is a nice move for the Rangers as they recently lost Jonah Heim and Hedges is one of the best framers in baseball. Fantasy value-wise, it is a pretty boring move. 

Streaming Pitchers (Under 50% in CBS)

Pitcher for Today: Kutter Crawford at SEA

Crawford has pitched very well in his last few starts and now gets a Mariners team that has struggled offensively. 

High Risk Options: Wade Miley at WAS, Brandon Williamson at CHC. 

Pitcher for Tomorrow:  Brady Singer vs NYM

Singer has pitched well recently and now gets a Mets team that sold at the deadline. 

High Risk Options: Jameson Taillon vs CIN, Brandon Pfaadt at SF, JP Sears at LAD. 

For those of you that would like to see how these picks play out, I have a doc I put together to track the stats from my recommended pitchers. It does not include the “High Risk Options.”