Heading to the City of Brotherly Love...most likely
Here we go, folks! The MLB trade deadline, non-waiver that is, is just 2 days away and while some teams are still working on landing some of the bigger names available such as Adam Dunn and Roy Oswalt, other teams are making smaller deals to help fine-tune their lineups. But as a fantasy baseball GM, no deal in the majors is too small for you to ignore and you have to make sure that you’re on top of each and every deal and how it impacts all teams involved. With your own trade deadline rapidly approaching, you’re going to need to know the fantasy ramifications of every MLB trade so that you can position yourself to make the best deal possible to advance your squad to the championship. Here’s what’s happened since my last trade update with a few more rumors I’ve heard.
MLB Trades
The Kansas City Royals trade OF Scott Podsednik to the Los Angeles Dodgers for C Lucas May and RHP Elisaul Pimentel
From just a regular baseball standpoint, I like what the Dodgers have done here. With plenty of bumps and bruises in their outfield and some underperformances, the Dodgers get back in Pods what they lost in Juan Pierre during the offseason. With Andre Ethier, Matt Kemp and Manny Ramirez (due back very soon) entrenched in the outfield, Pods will be relegated to bench duty, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have fantasy value in NL only leagues. He will likely spell all three outfielders throughout the rest of the year and will always be used as a defensive replacement for Ramirez. He’ll also be doing plenty of pinch running, so he should continue to help in the stolen base department. You never like seeing your full time guy turn into a bench player, but after seeing how well and how often Joe Torre used Pierre in this role last year, it’s not the end of the world.
Coming back to the Royals are two minor leaguers that will have no fantasy impact this season and probably not a whole hell of a lot of value next year either. However, it doesn’t mean that the deal hasn’t opened up another opportunity in K.C., right? The normally crowded outfield is now thinned out and it looks like the Royals will be going with Rick Ankiel, Alex Gordon, and a mix of Willie Bloomquist, Mitch Maier and Jose Guillen between the final outfield spot and DH. Of course, Guillen is probably on the move soon too, so it’s opening up opportunities for lesser known commodities. Bloomquist, with regular playing time could be a great speed option in AL only leagues, while Maier could be a nice fill-in if you play in a deeper league. He’s got a little bit of pop, but has never really been afforded the opportunity to play regularly so he’s a bit of a wild card.
The Cleveland Indians trade 3B Jhonny Peralta to the Detroit Tigers for LHP Giovanni Soto
The Tigers, riddled with injuries, had to make a move, and landing Peralta is a good solid start for them. With Brandon Inge out for a few weeks with a broken bone in his hand, the Tigers brought in Peralta to man the hot corner. Perhaps the change of scenery will help Peralta who seems to have struggled at the plate this year and last. He’s definitely got decent power potential, but the average can be a killer sometimes. No speed, so don’t expect anything there. Still, he’s going to have decent value hitting somewhere behind Miguel Cabrera. The move also pushes rookie Scott Sizemore back across the diamond to second base where he will likely share duties with Will Rhymes until Carlos Guillen can return. With neither getting regular at bats, their value is incredibly limited.
The Tribe gets a decent 19 year old prospect in Soto, who has had some decent success at the Class A level. Nothing earth-shattering, but a work in progress that has some potential down the road. But the big thing for the Indians is the now vacant hot corner. They’ve got Jayson Nix and Andy Marte to fill the spot, but neither has stepped it up at all this year and neither is being handed the job. Instead, the Tribe brought back up Luis Valbuena and will mix all three in until someone stands out. My guess is that it ends up being Valbuena. He had a rough start to the season, but since his June 24th demotion to Triple-A, he’s hit .316 with decent runs scored. Not much in the power department, but last year he did have 10 HR in 368 at bats. Of course, the Tribe could go even younger and bring up either Jared Goedert or Lonnie Chisenhall. Goedert has been raking down in the minors and has a .314-24-68 batting line between Double and Triple-A, whil eChisenhall has been projected by some to be the Tribe’s 3B of the future and they may want to get a look at him in the bigs for a little while. For now though, wait and see how it all pans out.
MLB Rumors
Roy Oswalt to the Phillies Almost Done?
It looks like all the pieces are in place for the deal to be made and now both parties are waiting to get the OK from Oswalt, himself, who has the right to veto the deal. The Phillies and Astros have worked out the monetary aspects and have agreed to J.A. Happ and two prospects (no names given but Jonathan Singleton might be one) to Houston for Oswalt. If nothing else, this doesn’t really affect Oswalt’s fantasy value. Maybe a slight bump going to a winning team. We like that he is staying in the NL, both ballparks are hitter’s parks, so that’s a non-issue, and hopefully the Phils start hitting and he can get some extra wins. For Happ, again, the only change is that he’s no longer pitching for a contender. I don’t see it affecting him very much either in the long run.
Giants Looking at David Aardsma
Word is that the Giants inquired about Seattle closer David Aardsma and were immediately offered Aardsma and Jose Lopez for Pablo Sandoval. Now that’s certainly not going to happen, but the Giants are definitely looking to bolster their pen with injuries to Jeremy Affeldt and Dan Runzler. I mean, did you see them give up that 9-2 lead yesterday? If Aardsma gets dealt, his value will plummet as he is not going anywhere to be anything but a set up man.
Cardinals Interested in Miguel Tejada
With Oswalt headed to Philly, the Cardinals have turned their attention towards their infield issues. Word has it that they’ve asked about Tejada with the hopes of having him fill in at third until David Freese comes back and then shifting over to play shortstop afterwards. The move would be a nice boost in fantasy value for Tejada, but definitely affects the values of Felipe Lopez and Skip Schumaker in a negative way.
Angels Changing Course?
Despite the addition of Dan Haren, news out of L.A. says that with the injury to Joel Pineiro (rib cage strain, out 6-8 weeks) and Derrek Lee’s rejection of a trade, the Halos could change their tune and become sellers rather than buyers. Personally I think it’s a bit premature with several options still out there, but if they do change their plans, then names like Brian Fuentes, Hideki Matsui and Bobby Abreu could suddenly be available.
That’s about it for right now, but I’ll be back with more as soon as news hits the streets. If you missed the last set of deals and my fantasy baseball analysis, then just click here for the last MLB trade article. And as always, for questions or comments you can post them here or email me at rotobuzzguy@gmail.com.
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