The Daily Grind: Post-Deadline Hangover

That was a doozy of a trade deadline. According to my feelings, there has never been a more active July 30-31. Anyway, the Grind goes on. Traditional fantasy owners must continue their Streaming Wars with a couple pitcher options (one of whom I’ll hype again tomorrow) and a slew of bats.

AGENDA

1. TDG Invitational
2. Weather Reports
3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse
4. SaberSim Says…
5. Trade Deadline Quick Thoughts

1. The Daily Grind Invitational

Fourseasons crossed the 200 point plateau in a high scoring contest. Turns out a chalky Nationals stack is valuable when they score 25 runs. Masahiro Tanaka, James Shields, Khris Davis, and Mike Trout also returned value. Remarkably, 4sznz received zero points from Jason Kipnis. Congrats and Leaderboard.

We have a tidy six-game slate tonight. It’s the usual 52 entry overlay spectacular. Come claim some free money on FantasyDraft.

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2. Weather Reports

We’ve got heavy weather in the forecast. New York and Atlanta are postponement risks. Rain could interrupt the action at several other venues. Keep an eye on the latest reports before lineups lock.

3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse

Early Slate: Five games are early. Carlos Carrasco plays the role of cheese. He’s the lone ace. For $22,100, you get to roster him against Adalberto Mejia ($10,900) who I’m pretty sure is a magi from a fantasy fiction series. There’s a reason no baseball team is named The Wizards. They can’t pitch. Anywho, Carrasco is usually good but sometimes not. Such is the state of the slate.

Alternatively, a second tier of Sonny Gray ($16,000), Dallas Keuchel ($16,300), and Sean Manaea ($15,200) exists. Gray has looked better lately and benefits from a soft matchup against the Orioles. Keuchel has a harder pairing versus the Mariners. Manaea is my least favorite of the trio. The Blue Jays possess a ‘tweener offense. Marcus Stroman ($14,700) is a dangerous contrarian target.

Mike Fiers ($15,300) and Sal Romano ($10,300) are both playable too.

Stack Targets: Alex Cobb, Romano, Mejia

I don’t know what to make of Wade LeBlanc versus the Astros. I guess he’s a stack target too.

Late Slate: Oh. This is going to be hard. Our night slate is led by names like Anibal Sanchez, Rich Hill, and Giuseppe Poncecapon. Ok, I made up that last guy. We’re working with six games. Hill ($18,700) is the obvious top play. He’s looked good lately, but the Brewers have also upgraded their offense since they last met on July 20. I’d steer clear of Chase Anderson ($14,600) too in what could be a high scoring contest. Vegas disagrees with that sentiment, setting an over/under of eight runs.

Kyle Freeland ($17,000) is the second-most expensive arm. Do I prefer Luke Weaver ($13,600)? Not outright but perhaps when considering cost. Freeland seems a tad bland for his price. However, this slate isn’t really offering more than bland upside with the exception of Hill.

Sanchez ($15,500) is well-priced versus the Marlins. Too bad rain could ruin everything.

Cole Hamels ($15,400) versus Nick Kingham ($14,700) seems like an obvious place to chase random numbers. One of these guys is liable to out-pitch his price tag at PNC Park. Both are familiar with negative point totals.

Nick Tropeano ($13,800) may be my favorite target against a middling Rays offense. They finally have a good offensive player. Two even. Well, Austin Meadows is in Triple-A for now so it’s still just one.

Stack Targets: Pablo Lopez, Dylan Covey, Jakob Junis, Tyler Glasnow

Glasnow isn’t stretched out. Or particularly good as a starting pitcher. This is mostly a pick against a taxed Rays bullpen.

4. SaberSim Says…

Focusing on our night slate, SaberSim says “golly this sucks.” Weaver, Sanchez, Hill, Hamels, and Tropeano top the charts. Values are Weaver, Sanchez, Tropeano, Hamels, and Hill. Hmm…

Freddie Freeman, Mike Trout, Anthony Rizzo, Ronald Acuna, and Max Muncy are the creamy bats. Cody Bellinger, Ryan O’Hearn, Jordan Luplow, and Brian Dozier feature as bargain targets.

5. Trade Deadline Quick Thoughts

Kudos to the Rays for acquire Tommy Pham for seemingly nothing of relevance. Double kudos for also landing Austin Meadows and a couple viable lotto tickets for Chris Archer. I know I couldn’t trade Archer for Meadows straight up in my deepest dynasty league. I’m not a Meadows truther so I like this deal for the Pirates too. They have plenty of outfield depth over the next couple years.

The Dodgers and Brewers are plotting to ruin fantasy lineups. Los Angeles now has to find room for Chris Taylor, Cody Bellinger, Max Muncy, Joc Pederson, Yasiel Puig, Justin Turner, and Enrique Hernandez across five positions. They get to play mix and match games with Manny Machado and Brian Dozier the only true every day guys. Or maybe Dozier gets tossed in the rotation too. Milwaukee is only slightly less confusing. I can’t wait to see Jonathan Schoop at shortstop. Poor Travis Shaw may find himself on the bench behind two inferior players (Schoop and Mike Moustakas).

The other trades were exceptionally marginal in terms of value change. Yea, relievers and bench players matter to postseason teams, but let’s not waste time freaking out. From a baseball sense, I like the Astros acquisition of Roberto Osuna. He’s an elite young reliever. The raw ingredients of a Hall of Fame quality career are present. Alas, off-field considerations spoil the fun. As somebody who routinely shops for undervalued assets, I can’t say I wouldn’t have done exactly as Jeff Luhnow did. However, he still deserves all the criticism he’s received. The nuance of this situation exceeds my ability and experience. I can only comment on Osuna the baseball player.