The MLB trade deadline is just three days away. After that I’m sure you’ll see a lot of articles about which teams where winners and which teams where losers. I thought we’d get a jump on that, but with a twist. Instead of looking at the trades that where made and how they will affect the pennant race let’s take a look at them and see how they’ll affect your fantasy team.
Let’s start with the biggest name that’s been traded so far Manny Machado who went from the Baltimore Orioles to the Los Angeles Dodgers. This is an easy one. Machado was having an MVP caliber season with the worse team record wise in baseball and there’s no reason to think that won’t continue. Machado may even have a chance to pick up some more RBI’s and score more runs for his fantasy owners being in a better hitting line up. The return of a healthy Justin Turner would give Machado even more of a chance to produce, but even without Turner it’s still a fantasy Win.
Let’s go with Machado’s teammate Zach Britton next who was traded from the Orioles to the New York Yankees. If you drafted and held on to Britton you where expecting him to return and pick up some saves for you, but he’s not going to get too many of those opportunities now. In my category leagues Holds is one of the categories; so Britton will be able to contribute in those leagues, but I most other leagues it’s going to be difficult to get a contribution from Britton for the remainder of the season. This one has to go down as a fantasy Loss.
Let’s stick with the Yankees as they also acquired left handed pitcher J.A. Happ from the Toronto Blue Jays. Happ picked up 10 wins with a Toronto team that was under .500. You have to think that a move to a contender should be good for him, but you never know. Happ has been om a bit of a downward cycle as he hasn’t pitched more than 5 innings in his last three starts and over his last seven starts his ERA is 5.20. Now he’s moving to a hitter friendly ballpark, but he’ll also have a better hitting team behind him even without Aaron Judge for a few weeks. I think this will be a Win for you fantasy team.
The Boston Red Sox also picked up a starter as they traded with the Tampa Bay Rays for right hander Nathan Eovaldi. The first thing that comes to mind is will Eovaldi stay healthy. Even think season Eovaldi didn’t make his first start until May 30th. He appears healthy and four of his last five starts have been very good. Moving to the best team in baseball should also be a big plus. All things point to this being a fantasy Win.
The Milwaukee Brewers have made a couple of moves the first one being a deal with the Chicago White Sox for reliever Joakim Soria. With the White Sox Soria was the guy at the end of the bullpen getting the opportunity to get a save. He’s not going to be getting those chances with the Brewers. Soria has performed well in the set up role before which is what he’s expected to do for Milwaukee, but if you took a chance and drafted him I fantasy you took him as a closer. With that being said this ends up as a fantasy Loss.
The other deal the Brewers made was last night as they acquired Kansas City Royals 3rd baseman Mike Moustakas. This trade adds another power bat as Moustakas has hit 20 ho runs this season and is coming off a 2017 season where he posted a career high 38 home runs. With Eric Thames being out injured Moustakas should side nicely into that role of left handed power hitter for the Brewers. Being added to a better line up should also help Moustakas as he shouldn’t be pitched around now. This looks like a fantasy Win.
The defending World Series champion Houston Astros have also made a couple of moves. The first one was acquiring catcher Martin Maldonado from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Maldonado has always been looked at as a good defensive catcher and a quality handler of a pitching staff, but he did post a career high 14 home runs last season. The question here is going to be playing time as I how much will he get. Max Stassi has dome a nice job filling in for the injured Brian McCann; so you have to figure right off the bat Maldonado is going to be sharing time. When the veteran McCann returns he’ll need the at bats to get ready for the playoffs. With all of this working against Maldonado this one is a fantasy Loss.
The Astros also added some bullpen help last night as they picked up Ryan Pressly from the Minnesota Twins. It was thought that the Astros might be looking for a closer, but Pressly is a set up guy who’s appeared in 51 games this season and has posted 8 holds. Pressly’s ERA is a little higher than most would like for a reliever, but I think this is another situation of a player going to a better team. This is a tough call, but I think this one will go down as a fantasy Win.
The Chicago Cubs added to their starting rotation picking up former World Series MVP Cole Hamels from the Texas Rangers. Hamels has had some struggles this season. I his last start Hamels gave up 7 runs in 5 innings and over his last seven starts has an ERA of 6.69. A lot of Hamels trouble has been associated with pitching in Texas where during the summer months the baseball really jumps at the Ballpark at Arlington. Is a change of scenery what Hamels needs? This season and last season Hamels ERA has been over 4.00, but he has had success in the National League before. I think the move to the Cubs will be a positive for Hamels and while he may not match the stats he had the last tie he was in the National League I think his numbers will improve. This should be a fantasy Win.
It had been reported that the Philadelphia Phillies where interested in adding a middle infielder and that’s what they did when they traded with the New York Mets for Asdrubal Cabrera. Cabrera is a career .270 hitter, but is ahead of that number this season and has hit better than that the last two seasons. Cabrera also appears to be on his way to posting a career high in home runs; he has 18 home runs right now and his career high is 23. Cabrera has played 2nd, short and 3rd in his career, but this season he has exclusively played 2nd base. I’m not sure where the Phillies are panning on playing Cabrera, but he fits what was perceived as their need. As long as Cabrera continues to get regular at bats with the Phillies there’s no reason he shouldn’t continue to put up the numbers he’s been doing all season; so this should be a fantasy Win.
Another team that went out and traded for a position of need was the Arizona Diamondbacks as they acquired shortstop Eduardo Escobar from the Minnesota Twins. Escobar was the Twins best player this season posting a .274 batting average with 15 home runs and 63 RBI’s. What’s paid off for fantasy owners with Escobar this season is he has a MLB leading 37 doubles this season. This looks like a good move for a Arizona team that is 1 1/2 games out of 1st place in the National League West and are currently holding the second National League wild card spot. Escobar is moving into what is a better hitters parks; so this should be a fantasy Win.
I saved this trade for last because I’m guessing it doesn’t affect too many leagues, but it will have an affect in the two 20 team leagues I’m in.
The Colorado Rockies added to their bullpen acquiring Seunghwan Oh from the Toronto Blue Jays. It appeared as though Oh was going to get some save opportunities in Toronto and earlier on he did, but converted just 2 of 5 save chances. Oh had his trouble in the closing role for the Blue Jays and was shifted into more of a set up role where he did well. Oh’s ERA is 2.68 in 48 games. The Rockies have a very crowded bullpen and I’m not sure how many chances Oh will get plus his home game are now in Coors Field. I think the combination of this many this one a fantasy Loss.
I think we got all of the major trades that should affect your fantasy leagues as of right now. Let me know n the comments if I missed one or what you think of these deals.
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