August greetings, everyone! Last week, I alluded to how dull it felt this year’s trade deadline might be, and now that it’s come and gone, that’s feeling like a fairly accurate assessment, at least in terms of the way things played out in my leagues. For those of us who were sitting on NL-only or AL-only FAAB money hoping for a crossover player, we had one relative blockbuster in the form of Jazz Chisholm to the Yankees, one blockbuster-adjacent move with Jack Flaherty to the Dodgers, and some very interesting pieces to add like Issac Paredes, Lane Thomas, Christopher Morel, Eric Fedde, and Carlos Estevez. Beyond these five or ten names, though, there wasn’t a lot of movement, and anyone sitting in wait for Tarik Skuball, Luis Robert, or Garret Crochet was left sorely disappointed. This week, let’s take a look at some situations created by the flurry of trades and other moves that don’t involved mixed-league players like those I just mentioned but may have affected the deep league fantasy discussion. Some of these players may have had their stock potential improve because they changed teams, and others may have a better opportunity because players ahead of them on their respective depth charts were moved. We’ll keep it deep by going with players who are 20% owned or less in CBS leagues (which, for what it’s worth, eliminates the likes of Paul Blackburn, Amed Rosario, and Ty France).
NL
Tommy Pham. Did Pham’s stock rise when he left the worst team in baseball for a homecoming with one that is in playoff contention? Or did it fall because he’ll likely lose at bats having joined a squad with a deeper depth chart? If he can hit a few more pinch hit grand slams for the Cardinals like he did on Tuesday, I’ll go with the “stock rose” option; depending on your roster needs, sometimes less can be more, or at least as much, in deeper leagues. (Hey, he had another good game on Wednesday… believe in the change of scenery!)
Calvin Faucher, Anthony Bender, Andrew Nardi, etc. In other words, anyone left standing in the Marlins bullpen. Unless I mis-researched, the current members of said pen do not have a single save among them, so it may be dart throwing time. Also, as many have already pointed out, the depleted Marlins may not win another game this season, which would make it difficult for anyone to rack up saves. Faucher has been okay and may have a legit chance to close either now or in the future but is giving up too many walks and hits, Bender has been spectacular over the last month, and Nardi has a stellar 14 Ks in his last 8 innings, but somehow has an ERA over 4 during that little span even though his WHIP is under 1.
Harold Ramirez/Alex Call/Travis Blankenhorn. All three of these fellows are not only on the Washington Nationals roster now, they would appear to be in for a decent amount of playing time for the moment. Ramirez might help stabilize your batting average if nothing else, and Blankenhorn has looked overmatched in a minuscule MLB sample size but had 24 homers in the minors this year. Call is 29 now, but likely has the most fantasy potential (a low bar, granted) for the next two months as he has shown an ability to hit well for stretches when given the opportunity, with a nice power/speed blend no less.
Kyle Stowers. For those that missed it, the Orioles shipped Stowers to the Marlins in the Trevor Rogers deal. It’s debatable from a real-life MLB standpoint whether playing for Miami’s major league team is an upgrade over Baltimore’s triple A franchise, but at least his stats will count in fantasy now, should he accrue any. In his first game with the fish, he batted third and started in left field, so if he can go on any kind of a run at all this could be one of those classic deep league under the radar, end-of-roster upgrades.
AL
Miguel Vargas. Vargas will play every day after joining the White Sox from the Dodgers, unless of course he gets Norby’d. Decent young player who is blocked + trade to rebuilding team = fantasy stock rising. Well, possibly, anyway. We’ll see if the 24 year old Vargas can make this acquisition look like a smart one in Chicago.
Tyler Ferguson/Hunter Strickland. Of the A’s and Angels respectively, if you don’t have a MLB bullpen depth chart handy. The A’s bullpen isn’t awful but is a bit messy in terms of potential roles with Mason Miller down, so I’m keeping an eye on Ferguson, particularly now that Lucas Erceg has been traded. In Anaheim, we all assumed that Ben Joyce would be handed the keys to a shiny new closer gig immediately after Carlos Estevez was shipped to Philly, but it’s worth noting that Strickland is still hovering in the pen as well (and has been pitching exceptionally well lately, for what that’s worth).
Austin Slater. It shows how much real-life valuation can differ from the fantasy kind when a 0% owned player, who was signed as a stopgap measure by the Reds just a few weeks ago, is now on a playoff contender projected to get at least semi-regular at bats for Baltimore. I really don’t understand much about how the Orioles have handled their young talent this year, but maybe this is the ultimate situation where what is best for a real life MLB team is horrible in the fantasy world. At any rate, I suppose this move pushes Slater on to the AL-only/ultra deep league radar for now.
Dylan Carlson. Carlson arrives in Tampa Bay with what should be a fresh start. He’s 25 now and really hasn’t shown much at all at the major league level, but we’ve heard that story before with a Cardinals outfielder moving to the Rays, and sometimes the story doesn’t turn out as expected. Carlson’s value really couldn’t be lower; he’s hitting under .200 in 60 games with neither a homer nor a steal, so we’ll see if the Rays are able to work even a little magic on him.
