The “Scream” franchise is the crème de la crème for late 1990s-2000s horror franchises. Are they self-aware? Yes. Do they follow a similar model? Yes. Do they rely on tropes? Hell, yeah! But that’s what makes them… well, them.
The first one came in 1996, and despite a couple of decade-long pauses between Scream 3 and Scream 4, and Scream 4 and Scream 5, the franchise continues to pump out content for those who love the cheesy, fun horror movies.
What the hell do Sydney Prescott and Co. have to do with fantasy baseball? Well, with each “Scream” movie, you pretty much know how it’s going to unfold. A cold opening that tries to top the previous one. Deaths that come back to torment the town of Woodsboro. Uncovering who the killer(s) are, and their connection back to the original cast of characters.
That’s kind of how the MLB trade deadline unfolds year after year, too.
We know there will be big moves. We follow the story lines throughout the season as they unfold. We try to spot who the buyers and sellers will be, as well as the actual players involved.
It follows a similar script, but the characters are just different.
Just take a look at how the last two years unfolded at the trade deadline.
Here’s what we had in 2021:
- 38 trades
- 10 2021 All-Stars dealt
- 109 players (including four players to be named later) switching teams
- a fantasy landscape turned on its head
Here’s what we had in 2022:
- 51 trades
- five 2022 All-Stars dealt
- 139 players (including two potential players to be named later (switching teams)
- a fantasy landscape turned on its head
But this year, well, it’s been kind of different. It’s been less of a “Scream” trade deadline (though it made me want to scream, heh) and more of a “I Know What You Did Last Summer” deadline.
Specifically that scene where Jennifer Love Hewitt asks the killer, “What are you waiting for?”
Yeah, you know the scene I’m talking about, and it’s definitely not from the movie “Ruins” like I thought it was for so many years.
The deadline has been uneventful, especially as we waited on the Angels to decide what they were going to do with Shohei Ohtani (buy).
It was just a Spider-Man pointing slash The Office finger-gun showdown seeing who would make the first move.
Of course, action picked up a bit, because just like “I Know What You Did Last Summer” jacks the style of “Scream,” every deadline has a similar flavor when it’s all said and done.
Like I do each and every year, I’m going to go through each trade deadline deal, looking at the fantasy fallout, and how a player’s value shifts for you to either buy, sell, or hold them.
Before we get to the deals, let me talk to you like LA Knight by looking at the quick breakdown of the players who were dealt.
This year we had (since July 22):
- 51 trades
- 120 players (including two potential players to be named later and Taylor Hearn being traded twice)
- a fantasy landscape not really turned on its head, but nudged in the shoulder
OK, are you all ready to get into the ins and outs of each deal, who went where, what it means for fantasy, and who gets an opportunity?
Let’s get down to it like we are listening to Lil Jon and the Eastside Boyz in the early aughts at Club Zoo in Pittsburgh.
The Athletic Readers Yung Joc
🤝
It’s Going Down
We are going to go through these deals in chronological order, and for the ones that have little or no fantasy impact, we are going to just list the names real quick. And, well, that’s kind of how the early hours of the trade season started.
The playoff-bound Orioles acquired Shintaro Fujinami (hold), who gives them bullpen depth with a dope splitter to go along with Félix Bautista (buy) and Yennier Cano (hold). Fujinami really shouldn’t be rostered, as the starting experiment failed in Oakland.
The A’s, in return, got some guy named Easton Lucas (no idea) in return.
Remember when Pierce Johnson (sell) was the closer for a stretch in Colorado? That was fun. Now he joins an Atlanta bullpen as a middle reliever. Yay?
The Rockies got two arms back in Victor Vodnik (n/a) and Tanner Gordon (n/a), neither of whom are fantasy relevant. But Victor Vodnik sounds like a great pen name that I may use when I write my first novel, “Whispers of the Celestial Veil.” Thanks for the title suggestion, Chat GPT!
Atlanta traded cash considerations (probably $4 with how their front office works) for the recently designated for assignment pitcher Taylor Hearn (sell). He was DFA’d, and I was DTW’d (designated to write) this article. He’s just like me.
The Marlins made a pair of early-ish moves, acquiring lefty Jose Castillo (sell) from the Padres for cash considerations, and then they traded Dylan Floro (hold) for Jorge López (hold).
So the first trade is whatever. But the second trade? Well, here’s what I took from it:
There’s a scene in an episode of Family Guy back in the day where Lois starts a Facebook page. She wanted to gain some traction or whatever clout was back in the day, and she made a post. She then said, “That’ll get it started.” That’s what this deal felt like. It was a deal to make a deal, as the two arms are basically the same pitcher. But now one guy gets to kick it with Pitbull in the 305 while the other gets to go make the Eriksen family seven-layer salad in Minnesota.
Before the Blue Jays traded Trent Thornton (sell) to the Mariners for Mason McCoy (hold), a reunion took place in Los Angeles. Enrique Hernández (buy) made his return to the Dodgers after a stint in Boston. In return, the Red Sox received a pair of arms who we don’t really care about in fantasy in Nick Robertson (sell) and Justin Hagenman (sell). I have buy beside Hernández, but it’s a very, very light buy. He’s been pretty brutal since arriving in Boston, but I do think there’s some deep-league viability with him now that he’s back in Los Angeles. I’m thinking more along the lines of a five-outfielder, 15-team league kind of way, or in an NL-Only league where you really only need active bodies.
I would peg Hernández as the shortstop in Los Angeles since he’s better than Miguel Rojas (sell) is, but the Dodgers may have addressed their concern at shortstop by acquiring Amed Rosario (buy) from Cleveland for Noah Syndergaard (sell).
This… is a trade.
I know that the Guardians had a rotation made out of Aaron Civale and rookies, but Syndergaard is a player who is living off of his name only based on his early career in New York. Now, Syndergaard is throwing 92.6 with his fastball, and he has five different pitches where hitters are batting at least .292 against him. The walk rate is fine, sure, but that’s because he’s living in the heart of the zone with not-good stuff.
That’s why it’s surprising that that’s all that the Guardians got back for Rosario. It also is a questionable move for the Dodgers to address their infield defense with Rosario, who possesses the worst fielding run value (-11) and OAA (-15) among all shortstops.
Right behind him? Hernández, in both categories (-10, -13). Yeesh.
The hope for the Dodgers is that they can cash in on a bounce-back performance by Rosario, who has fallen off more than Lil Pump after J. Cole predicted his demise in “1985.” The Barrel% has dipped for Rosario, and the speed/power combo that we’ve seen from him with a solid batting average has fallen off, as he’s slashing .265/.306/.369 with three homers and nine steals. He still has elite-level sprint speed, but I find it odd that in a year where more and more people are stealing at a higher rate, Rosario isn’t among them.
The Guardians attempted 105 steals this year at the time of the trade, while the Dodgers have attempted just 72. The hope is that Rosario is able to turn it around in Los Angeles, and I’m buying him in a deeper league as a middle infielder.
Outside of baseball, Thor is the clear winner, as Cleveland is superior to Los Angeles in every single way (ignoring the winter because it’s absolute hell).
The Angels decided that they were going to keep Ohtani, and I have mixed feelings about it, honestly. Yes, every single team should be trying to win and retain their best players, so the Angels — as I’ll outline below — deserve credit for doing that. But do I think it’s done by Arte Moreno as a way to make more money this year and that he has a false sense that the Halos will be able to retain Ohtani in the offseason? Yeah, I do.
Even if the Angels make the playoffs, I kind of look at it as the Mike Budenholzer situation with the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks when they won their title. It was no secret that the Bucks wanted to make a change at head coach, and if they didn’t win the NBA Finals, Budenholzer was gone. Well, they won, and they extended him before firing him a couple of years later.
If the Angels don’t win the World Series, Ohtani is gone. It’s as simple as that.
OK, I’m off of the soap box now because honestly, it’s not that stable.
In order to make that World Series push, the Halos made a number of moves, starting with the acquisition of Lucas Giolito (sell) and Reynaldo López (buy) for Edgar Quero (buy in dynasty) and Ky Bush (hold).
Maybe a change can do Giolito good, or maybe it’s just a catchy line from a Sheryl Crow song. On one hand, Giolito gets to leave the White Sox, where he and the organization have been absolutely brutal for the past two-plus years. But in Anaheim, Giolito now joins a six-man rotation, which will limit the number of starts he’ll have going forward. With any improvements that he makes on the mound, it’ll be offset by the lack of outings.
As for López, the stuff is fantastic, and while he’ll slot into the eighth-inning role to start, there’s a non-zero chance that we see some save opportunities for him if Carlos Estévez (hold) struggles.
At the time, it seemed like that would be the big trade deadline deal, so I was preparing for the multiple thought pieces that we would have on Giolito with the Angels and what would happen if he went to the Yankees instead and had to shave his beard.
Thankfully, we were saved from that discourse, as we saw the biggest trade of the deadline happen on July 27 when the Pirates traded Carlos Santana (buy) for Jhonny Severino (hold).
OK, so it wasn’t a big trade, but I do like Santana to the Brewers for two reasons:
- It allows the Brewers to move on from Rowdy Tellez (sell), who injured himself in a pregame workout and has just been overall disappointing in Milwaukee, setting up Santana for a full-time workload in a ballpark upgrade.
- He gets to go to the team that he did this celebration against just a few weeks prior.
Ok but did anyone else notice Carlos Santana do Fernando Tatis’ HR celebration with the 3rd base stutter step stop and go? 👀🔥 #RaiseIt🏴☠️ pic.twitter.com/XxGk6Qy2g3
— Matt Speck (@the_mattspeck24) July 1, 2023
The Mets, on the same day, dealt closer David Robertson (buy) to the struggling Miami Marlins for Marco Vargas (buy in dynasty) and Ronald Hernandez (sell). Now, this is bad news for A.J. Puk (sell), who has struggled lately for the Marlins. I’m still high on him for dynasty purposes, but it’s a blow to his short-term value.
It’s also a blow to the Mets, as we saw the comments that followed by Max Scherzer (buy), Francisco Lindor (buy), and others.
We’ll get back to the other trades here in a second, but this Robertson deal really set-up the Scherzer deal in New York. Scherzer agreed to waive his no-trade clause as well as agree to exercise his option for 2024 to go to the Texas Rangers.
Even with an injured Jacob deGrom (sell) and now Nathan Eovaldi (sell), as well as the injured Jonah Heim (buy) and Corey Seager (buy), the Rangers have a 75.2 percent chance to make the playoffs. What a fantastic year for them, and the acquisition of Scherzer only puts them that much closer to reaching the World Series for the first time since 2011.
Scherzer heads to a park that is more neutral than pitcher-friendly for suppressing home runs, which isn’t great. He’s allowed 23 big flys so far this season, and he’s on pace to surpass his career high of 31 home runs allowed in 2016 with the Nationals. What’s more, the batted-ball data is kind of backing up the number of home runs that Scherzer is allowing, as his fly-ball percentage is the second-highest total of his career, behind only last year.
I have Scherzer as a slight buy, because if there’s one player who has that dog in him, it’s Scherzer from a competitive stance. Going from a team where everything that could go wrong, did go wrong, to the Rangers, who have the highest team wRC+ in the American League and have scored the most runs in baseball (yes, even more than Atlanta) should be a big boost for him from what he was getting in New York.
Oh, the return! Yeah, we should have addressed that. The Mets are getting Luisangel Acuña (sell) as the main return piece from the Rangers. Now, there is some salary offsetting that is taking place here, which limits the return a bit. If the last name rings a bell (if it doesn’t, why are you reading this? Is it for me?), it’s Ronald Acuña’s (buy) brother. And because of that, it’s the perfect opportunity to sell him in a dynasty league.
Look, can he be a good big-league player? Yeah, he can, but his profile screams high-floor with limited ceiling thanks to his limited power upside. He still grades as a 50-FV guy with 60-speed, but when you have the last name of Acuña, people are expecting — unfairly — a similar profile.
It’s like the difference between Charlotte Flair (buy) and David Flair (sell, but he dated Torrie Wilson, so he’s a legend) in the ring following the footsteps of Ric Flair (hold like he’s trying to do with his legacy).
Let’s go back to our regularly-scheduled programming, shall we? We’ll pick it up on July 28 when the White Sox sent Lance Lynn (hold) and Joe Kelly (sell) to the Dodgers for Trayce Thompson (sell), Nick Nastrini (buy), and Jordan Leasure (hold).
The Dodgers certainly have a type, don’t they? And that type seems to be bad. From the issues (mentioned earlier) that Hernández and Rosario bring, to the awful years that Lynn and Kelly are having, it seems like they are banking on their coaching staff to be able to fix the issues on the fly.
I have some confidence in Lynn moving forward, as he’s had stretches this year of being a good pitcher. A lot of that has to do with this piece that Eno Sarris wrote, looking at Lynn swapping his fastball for his curveball and being up there among the elites in K/BB%.
But when I look at Lynn’s pitches this year, I see a lot of negative value.
That’s… not good. But maybe the Dodgers can do what the White Sox couldn’t do and fix Lynn so that he can have some consistently good outings like we saw from him in the second half last year.
The Astros, apparently, didn’t want to be left out of the reunion tour taking place in Los Angeles, as they reacquired Kendall Graveman (sell) from the White Sox for Korey Lee (sell). The big fallout here is that Gregory Santos (buy) looks like a solid option for saves moving forward for the White Sox.
Let’s pivot to St. Louis, as the disappointing Cardinals disappointed the best fans in baseball this year by being, well, disappointing.
They started by sending oft-injured, hard-throwing reliever Jordan Hicks (buy) to the Toronto Blue Jays for Sem Robberse (buy) and Adam Kloffenstein (sell).
Welcome back to getting saves, Giovanny Gallegos (buy). With Hicks going to Toronto, the ninth-inning duties should go to Gallegos for the time being.
In Toronto, meanwhile, Hicks should be in the mix for saves with Jordan Romano (hold) on the injured list. Nate Pearson (buy) is still the closer of the future for dynasty purposes, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Hicks turns out to be the short-term answer over Erik Swanson (hold) while Romano is out.
The return is fine given the track record of Hicks, but nothing pops off the page. Robberse could be an SP4 if everything clicks.
The Cardinals kept the phones ringing like the call center in “Sorry to Bother You,” by flipping Jordan Montgomery (buy) and Chris Stratton (sell) to the Rangers for three prospects who I know nothing about so I’m just going to say to hold Thomas Saggese, Tekoah Roby, and John King and then bug The Athletic’s go-to dynasty expert Chris Welsh (@IsItTheWelsh) on Twitter, or X, or whatever it’s called, this week to see what he thinks of them.
The Rangers continue to improve their rotation, and with Eovaldi getting hurt, grabbing Montgomery makes sense. I’ve actually liked what we’ve seen with Montgomery with his changeup, which he’s increased the usage on this year, as more of an out-pitch. However, he’s thrown it primarily against righties this year, as 438 of the 442 changeups he’s thrown have come against righties and just four against lefties.
I don’t have anything to back this up. Literally, nothing. But I have a feeling that in the playoffs, Nick Lopez (hold) will have a big hit for Atlanta that we will remember. He doesn’t really matter for fantasy purposes, but I have always liked the bat-to-ball skill that he showed us in the minors. The Braves got him for Taylor Hearn (sell), who they just picked up after the Rangers DFA’d him.
It really is the summer of Taylor, though. Taylor Swift (buy her original music) is the biggest name in music, Taylor Lautner (hold) and his wife Taylor Lautner (hold) have been in the news for defeating the Taylor Swift ex curse, and now Taylor Hearn is traded twice and covered as many times in this article. If you want your kid to be a success, name them Taylor.
The Angels continued to show they, umm, mean business, as they acquired not only two underperforming boring veterans, but two players who have played with the Halos in the past in C.J. Cron (buy) and Randal Grichuk (hold). They traded Jake Madden (sell) and Mason Albright (sell) to the Rockies for the pair of hitters.
With the move, the Rockies lineup becomes even worse and are viable to stream against. And poor Madden and Albright getting dealt to Colorado. Just imagine sitting there, coming out of the Barbenheimer marathon at your local AMC. You’re hyped up from Christopher Nolan’s latest film and realizing that you are, in fact, Kenough, only to see that you’re a pitcher getting traded to Colorado.
Suddenly, they are broKen (I stole this joke from someone on Twitter, so shoutout for the creativity, Trash Jones).
And for the Halos, I get it. Boring veterans are valuable and can help make that final push. It also helps replace Taylor Ward’s (sell) production after he was hit in the face by an Alek Manoah (sell) pitch. It also hurts the value of Trey Cabbage (sell), who I was starting to buy into in deeper leagues.
Grichuk has cut down on the K% and really upped his Sweet Spot%, raising it up from 27.3 last year to 37.4 this year. The power has mysteriously disappeared, but he’s seeing a career-high mark in LD% at 31.1 percent. It’s a sneaky move for them, but I like it more for real life than his fantasy value just because he’s, well, leaving Coors.
It’s a slight buy for Cron, but it’s hard to get too excited with the prospect of someone leaving Coors Field and increasing their production. But I like that we will have every-day plate appearances for Cron as the Angels have been looking for an answer at first base. What’s more, if you’re a believer in lineup protection (I’m not, really), having Mike Trout (hold) and Ohtani hit around you has to make you feel good.
I wish that I could get excited about regular playing time for Michael Toglia (hold) in Colorado with Cron’s departure, but I just can’t.
Fun fact — I’m not only in a league with Aaron Civale’s (buy) brother, but a group chat, too. So when news broke that Civale (the pitcher, not the brother) was being traded to the Tampa Bay Rays for Kyle Manzardo (buy), the group chat was lighting up.
First, it looked like it might be Arizona, but then Tampa Bay swooped in and got Civale. When the Rays go after a guy, you pay attention. Civale is tied for 13th among pitchers with at least 70 innings pitched this year in Stuff+ (106), and he has a solid 102 Pitching+. He’s not the pitcher who racks up big strikeout numbers, and he’s been pretty lucky this year with his four-seam numbers compared to the expected outcome with the pitch. But it’s the curveball that really stands out for Civale, as he has the highest Stuff+ on the pitch with at least 30 innings pitched, per our Eno Sarris.
With the two years of control, I can see Tampa really taking Civale to the next level by continuing to unlock the curveball and raise the K% up to about 25 percent. And they may need to do just that to justify the return.
Manzardo was a surprising name for the Rays to give up, as he was a Top 45 prospect with a 50 FV tag per FanGraphs to start the season. But yesterday’s price is not today’s price, my friends. I’m still a fan of the overall profile and a believer in his line-drive hit tool and raw power, but Manzardo’s production has taken a step back this year, as the 22-year-old is slashing .238/.342/.442 with 11 home runs in 73 Triple-A games. The K% has climbed significantly for him, too, up to 20.8 percent from 15.6 at Double-A a season ago.
It’s a curious move for the Guardians, as Josh Naylor (buy) has fully broken out, and Josh Bell (sell) is under contract for another year, but we’ll learn more about his status later on. We call this a tease…
The saying is never trade with Tampa Bay, and while it’s a curious move for the Guardians given they already had Naylor and Bell, this trade could turn out as an even swap when it’s all said and done.
Pour one out for friend of The Athletic Mikey Ajeto, as his favorite player Paul Sewald (buy) was dealt to the Diamondbacks.
https://t.co/wEQ7IDpKzJ
i met the man who is responsible for the paul sewald appreciation club: the man himself, paul sewald! he blessed me with a signed jersey and was an absolute delight
— not a seattle mariners fan (@_kuyamikey) December 30, 2021
Mikey’s a great dude. Paul, by all accounts, is also a great dude. Sucks when it happens to fans. But since this is about the reality of fantasy (heh), not only does Sewald’s value soar with the deal, but also for Andrés Muñoz (buy), as he’ll likely have the ninth-inning duties to himself now in Seattle.
It was a solid run for the Kevin Ginkel (sell) and Scott McGough (sell) crowd, but Sewald is the clear closing option in the desert now.
The return for Sewald is good or bad, depending on who you talk to. Josh Rojas (hold) has been a fantasy darling for a few seasons now, so maybe a change of scenery will help him, but I have my doubts. Ryan Bliss (buy) and Dominic Canzone (buy) complete the deal, and boy, am I excited for Canzone to have a shot at every-day playing time.
He was never going to be a regular outfielder for the Diamondbacks long term given the other options who they have there, and he followed up his semi-breakout campaign last year in the minors with another solid stretch in Triple-A, slashing .354/.431/.634 with 16 home runs and 132 runs+RBIs.
Speaking of the GDC (Good Dude Club), Mark Canha (buy) is heading from New York to Milwaukee in what I can only assume is completing the PTBNL deal that sent The Athletic’s Will Sammon (buy) from Milwaukee to Queens last year.
In return, the Mets are getting pitching prospect Justin Jarvis (buy). I like Jarvis for the longer term if he can develop his secondary pitches.
Canha is doing Canha things, as he’s struggling with his batting average but is posting a .343 OBP thanks in part to his 10.6 BB%. Milwaukee is 25th in baseball in team OBP, so Canha should give them a boost right away as the likely every-day designated hitter.
Another reunion deal took place as the Cubs were the winner in the Jeimer Candelario (buy) sweepstakes. It sounds weird to say still, but he was one of the more in-demand players at the deadline. With the team not moving Cody Bellinger (hold), they decided to make a run for it with Candelario as well as a secondary deal that brings Jose Cuas (buy) to the North Side from Kansas City for Nelson Velázquez (hold).
Candelario is a big upgrade defensively for the Cubs (93rd percentile OAA), who can now keep the inept Patrick Wisdom (sell) and Nick Madrigal (sell) on the bench. Offensively, he’s pretty much league average in his batted-ball metrics, but even those are improvements from Wisdom and Madrigal.
The Nats are getting shortstop prospect Kevin Made (hold) and D.J. Herz (sell) in return.
A few minor trades trickled in to close out July 31, as Joe Boyle (sell) went from Cincinnati to Oakland in exchange for Sam Moll (sell), and A.J. Pollock (we’ll never forget you) and Mark Mathias (sell) went to San Francisco from Seattle for the infamous PTBNL or cash before Jace Peterson (sell) went from Oakland to Arizona for Chad Patrick (sell).
And finally, we reach the actual deadline day. What a ride. What a journey. OK, let’s strap in like the Phantom’s Revenge at Kennywood Park.
We’ll get the deals that have zero fantasy relevance out of the way (Tucker Davidson from the Angels to the Royals; Adrian Sampson and Manny Rodriguez to the Rays in exchange for Josh Roberson to the Cubs; Colorado sends Brad Hand to the Braves for Alec Barger; Justin Bruihl from the Dodgers to the Rockies).
Dick Mountain Rich Hill (hold) and Ji-Man Choi (sell) are heading to San Diego as the Padres look to make a late push, perhaps? In return, the Pirates get Jackson Wolf (buy), Estuar Suero (sell), and Alfonso Rivas (sell). It’s a confusing deal, as the team is loaded with stars and brings in Hill and Choi. Choi doesn’t have much value as he’s essentially a bench bat. Hill could join the rotation in place of Pedro Avila (sell) perhaps?
Perhaps Connor Joe (sell) plays more for the Pirates with the move, or maybe Rivas gets a chance, but no one really matters outside of deeper NL-only leagues.
What a brutal blow the Jays suffered on Tuesday when Bo Bichette (sad feelings) hurt his knee rounding first base on a double down the right-field line. There’s no replacing his production or value to the club in every way, but the Jays did go out and acquire Paul DeJong (hold) from the Cardinals for the low price of minor league reliever Matt Svanson (sell).
The trade helps the Jays a lot more from a real-life stance than it does for fantasy. DeJong is elite defensively, ranking in the 97th percentile in OAA. But the bat? Yeah, it’s not great. He has an OBP under .300, and the quality-of-contact metrics are below league average. He’s fine to grab if you need to replace Bichette in an AL-Only league. Outside of that, I don’t see much fantasy upside here.
If Mariah Carey’s song “We Belong Together” didn’t come out in the early aughts, I would have said that it was made about this trade deadline. The latest edition of will they or won’t they (they did!) was Justin Verlander (buy) returning to the Houston Astros after a, umm, interesting season with the Mets.
His Mets tenure lasted just 16 starts, and now he’s back in Houston for a final hurrah. The velocity is down from where it’s been for Verlander in the past, but we are starting to see the box score results that we are used to from Mr. Upton.
He hasn’t allowed more than three earned runs in a start since June 20, but it is worth noting that in that stretch, he had both a four- and six-walk outing.
I’d be looking to try to acquire him if he comes at a reasonable cost, and the reunion all but means José Urquidy won’t be in the Houston rotation moving forward.
I really like the return that the Mets are getting for Verlander, too. The Astros sent outfielders Drew Gilbert (buy) and Ryan Clifford (buy) in exchange for the vet.
Gilbert has a nice mix of power and speed, and it comes with fantastic plate discipline. This is a W that we typically don’t see from the Mets. They doubled up with getting Clifford, too, who was a Top 5 prospect for the Astros. The walk rate has absolutely tanked since moving to High-A, but we’ve really seen him unlock his 65-grade raw power with the promotion. It’s been a disappointing season for the Mets, but they’ve really done a good job with the returns this deadline.
Michael Lorenzen (sell) All-Star. It happened, folks. You aren’t imagining it. And now, the Tigers were able to flip their All-Star to the Phillies, who are looking to right the ship in hopes of making another big playoff run. I just don’t know if Lorenzen is the answer, but good on the Tigers for not just trading him, but getting a high-outcomes bat Hao-Yu Lee (hold) for him, too.
I have questions about the overall makeup of Lee — especially where the power and defense are concerned — but as a return for Lorenzen, they could have done a lot worse.
As for Lorenzen, he gets a big park downgrade going from Detroit to Philadelphia. He doesn’t miss bats, and he’ll look to replicate the success that new teammate Taijuan Walker (sell) has had with his inability to miss bats but still win a league-leading 12 games (lol) with a high ground-ball rate.
Lorenzen has had success emphasizing his four-seam and slider more, but the fastball has been living over the middle of the zone.
After a couple of minor deals with no fantasy implications (Seattle sent Logan Rinehart (sell) to Baltimore for Eduard Bazardo (sell) and Milwaukee acquired Andrew Chafin (hold) from Arizona for Peter Strzelecki (sell)), we saw a fun one take place.
The White Sox dealt slugger Jake Burger (buy) to Miami for pitching prospect Jake Eder (hold). Burger has been dreadful since June 1, hitting below .200, but we also know that he’s not going to be a batter who hits for average. He does one thing, and he does it pretty well — he hits dingers.
On the other end of the deal, Eder was an exciting pitching prospect before undergoing Tommy John surgery. Since then, he’s had lower velocity and isn’t missing bats. But for the White Sox, it’s a fine deal. I just don’t think that Eder will actually be a starter.
The White Sox took another shot on a high-upside arm, as they traded for Luis Patiño (hold) from Tampa Bay for cash. I was a sucker for him last year. I was this year, too. Ask me going into next draft season, and there’s a high chance that Patiño is one of my obsessions.
Austin Hedges (no) went to Texas and Alex Jackson (sell) and Evan McKendry (sell) were swapped by the Brewers and the Rays toward the end of the day, but luckily that’s not the final taste of action that we got.
The Diamondbacks, who already have more outfielders than they know what to do with, hence the Sewald deal, traded for Tommy Pham (hold) from the Mets. It’s a frustrating deal, because Pham should be securing a role where he plays every single day given the month-plus stretch he’s had. I could see some type of platoon here, but it’s a big hit for his value if he’s only playing against lefties in Arizona.
The return is 17-year-old shortstop Jeremy Rodriguez (sell), who was the No. 47 prospect in his international signing class.
Good news for the American League (I stole this joke from my friend @BobOsgood15 on Twitter), as the Orioles acquired Jack Flaherty (sell) at the deadline. They needed pitching, and I guess this technically counts, right?
The team is an upgrade, and Camden Yards is a fantastic pitcher’s park, which still feels weird to say. But given the velocity issues, injury history, and rapidly declining strikeout rate, I can’t recommend him as anything other than a flier in AL-Only leagues.
2022 obsession Cesar Prieto (BUY) is going back to St. Louis, along with Drew Rom (sell). Now, the Orioles were flush with middle-infielders, so a trade of Prieto made sense. He’s a high-floor guy, but if the Cardinals have any devil magic left, I could see them maximizing his fantasy ability and making him rosterable in 15-team leagues next year.
It’s not a trade deadline without the Yankees being involved, and they made a splash. OK, a ripple. OK, more like a blade of grass dropped off of a bridge and into the Hudson River. They traded for Keynan Middleton (sell) from the White Sox, and Spencer Howard (sell, but a buy for our Nando Di Fino) from the Rangers. Middleton is fine. He’s been solid for the White Sox, and there’s no analysis to give besides wondering if Brian Cashman (fire) took the day off.
The Mets dealt Phil Bickford (sell) and Adam Kolarek (sell) to the Dodgers right at the deadline for cash considerations, since we know the Mets are a team who definitely need financial help.
The Marlins had two buzzer-beaters, as they acquired lefty Ryan Weathers (hold) for Garrett Cooper (buy) and Sean Reynolds (sell) in a deal with the Padres.
Cooper — another 2022 obsession! — hasn’t been able to stay healthy throughout his career, and I’m not sure where the playing time is going to come from. But I still believe in the talent, dammit.
The Fish also moved Jean Segura (sell) and Kahlil Watson (buy) to the Guardians in exchange for Josh Bell. The move makes sense after Burger arrived and left Segura without a spot in the lineup. Cleveland plans on cutting Segura, so hopefully he catches on somewhere. Watson gets a fresh start, too, and I trust Cleveland’s development.
Bell being moved makes sense after the Manzardo deal took place, as he has a player’s option for 2024 and the Guardians had no use for him. I expect him to start at first base now that Cooper is out of town.
I’ve never been huge on Bell, but perhaps he can do enough to matter as a 1B option in NL-Only leagues.
After the Dodgers were told to leave quicker than a JoJo song with Eduardo Rodriguez (buy) exercising his no-trade clause, they turned their attention to Ryan Yarbrough (hold) instead in exchange for Devin Mann (hold) and Derlin Figueroa (sell).
I don’t know about this one. I trust the Dodgers to fix pitchers, but I don’t think there’s much fantasy appeal here.
I do see the fantasy appeal with Luis Urías (buy), though, and he’s taking his talents to Boston at the buzzer in exchange for Bradley Blalock (hold), who is recovering from Tommy John surgery.
Urías has really struggled this year in a limited capacity, but he has shown the potential to hit for some pop (23 homers in 2021, 16 last year). The Red Sox have no reason not to roll him out there as their every-day shortstop.
The Padres got Scott Barlow (sell) from the Royals in exchange for Henry Williams (sell), and if they moved Josh Hader (buy), I’d care more. But he loses all saves value in standard leagues. But the move does open up full-time save opportunities for Carlos Hernández (buy), so that’s a win.
I know I’m from Pennsylvania, but I swear to you that I didn’t plan to end this rundown with a trade between the Keystone State teams (did you want me to finish with Dominic Leone (sell) going to the Angels from the Mets for Jeremiah Jackson (hold) instead?). But when life hands you eggs, make a damn omelet — I’m tired.
The Pirates traded infielder Rodolfo Castro (sell) to the Phillies for Bailey Falter (buy?). Castro isn’t anything special, and I can see him filling the Josh Harrison role from when he was in Philly.
I really liked Falter last season, and I think it’s a solid deal for the Pirates to try to buy-low on the lefty and see if they can’t revive his career.
And that, my friends, is it. That’s the rundown of this year’s MLB trade deadline and the fantasy impact. If you want to read it all again, be my guest, but here are my biggest winners and losers for fantasy.
5 biggest fantasy winners:
- Paul Sewald
- Andrés Muñoz
- Dominic Canzone
- Aaron Civale
- Jake Burger
5 biggest fantasy losers:
- Tommy Pham
- Trey Cabbage
- Scott McGough
- Jean Segura
- Michael Lorenzen
(Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports)
#Fantasy #baseball #trade #deadline #fallout #winners #losers
