By Dan O’Shea
It was looking pretty quiet leading up to the MLB trading deadline until a flurry of deals occurred in the final hours. There was nothing huge, which means Prince Fielder, Adam Dunn, American League home run leader Jose Bautista, Manny Ramirez and Carlos Lee all stayed where they were. Lee’s Houston mates Roy Oswalt and Lance Berkman probably were the biggest newsmakers.
So, how will all the moves play in the fantasy baseball world? Here’s a look at several players with fantasy value who changed addresses, and which direction their value is headed:
Lance Berkman, 1B/OF, now with NY Yankees: UP.
Plain and simple, Berkman will benefit from being on a better team where all he’ll have to do is hit as a DH most of the time.
Roy Oswalt, SP, now with Philadelphia: UP.
Same logic here, as the Phillies, even though missing important offensive parts, will still score more runs for him than the Astros.
Ted Lilly, SP, now with LA Dodgers: UP.
Lilly goes from a team, the Cubs, that didn’t score runs for him to a team that probably won’t score many more, but he should benefit from a few home starts in a park where his fly balls are more likely to stay within the walls.
Ryan Theriot, 2B, now with LA Dodgers: DOWN.
He’ll face more NL West pitching, which isn’t a good thing, and with Rafael Furcal in the house, he’ll never bat leadoff. He also may split time with Ronnie Belliard and others.
Jorge Cantu, 1B/3B, now with Texas: UP.
He goes from a team, Florida, where he was one of the major RBI producers, to a team where every spot in the lineup produces. He probably will score more runs and won’t see pitchers pitching around him if he bats before one of the Rangers’ big boppers.
Matt Capps, RP, now with Minnesota: UP.
He can’t really pitch much better than he has, but with the Twins heating up in customary fashion as the season nears end, he will get more chances.
Miguel Tejada, SS, now with San Diego: DOWN.
Actually, his value more or less remains even, which is to say down. He certainly won’t hit more home runs, and while the Padres are winners, they don’t do it with hitting.
Scott Podsednik, OF, now with LA Dodgers: DOWN.
He’ll still lead off most of the time, but can he count on playing time after Manny Ramirez comes off the DL?
Cliff Lee, SP, now with Texas (early July deal): EVEN.
He will win more, but his ERA will suffer. In his new home ballpark, the strikes he’s so fond of throwing will more often be home runs, and I’ll bet he gets fewer complete games, though he does already have two with his new mates.
Expert Wire
* Closing Time looks at Jake Westbrook’s value after a trade sent him to St. Louis. The Cards win more than the Indians, but Westbrook delivers too few strikeouts for my tastes.
* FanHouse has the gruesome details (or actually links to them) on Cleveland catcher Carlos Santana’s nasty looking knee injury. Don’t drop him just yet. It’s not as bad as it looked.
* Bleacher Report has interesting news from the LA Angels: Speedster Peter Bourjos has been called up, and apparently will start. If stolen bases are a category where you are looking for an edge, he might be a good pickup.
* Bleacher Report also wonders why so many fantasy owners are still holding on to Kung Fu Panda.
* MLB Skinny celebrates the new Yahoo! 14-day stat filter by looking at some of the hottest players during that stretch.
One More Thing
Oh, yeah, from the fantasy football wire, it sounds like Brett Favre may be retiring – or maybe not. No official word yet. If you happen to be drafting a fantasy football team in the next week or so, well, I feel sorry for you because you still need to look at Favre as a top 10 QB (and therefore a fantasy starter). If he does retire, hopefully there’ll be a few nice QBs left on the waiver wire for you.
–
Dan O’Shea’s Fantasy Fix appears in this space (nearly) every Wednesday. He welcomes your comments. You can also read his about his split sports fan personality at SwingsBothWays, which isn’t about what it sounds like it’s about.
Posted on August 4, 2010