Now that the non-waiver trade deadline has passed we shouldn’t have to worry about our everyday starter getting traded to a team that just wants to platoon him or keep hoping that our player we thought would get traded so that they could catch a spark being in a pennant race. But there are still some players who could change teams in August by being claimed or by passing through waivers and then being cleared to be traded. Let’s look at a few players that could have an effect on your team.
Chase Utley – Utley is not having a good season (127 points 2.0/game) and is on the disabled list. But he is starting a rehab and if he shows he is healthy a team could try to trade for him to be a left-handed platoon player if they are struggling at second base. He is owned in 11.2% of ESPN leagues right now so he could be worth adding in deeper leagues with daily lineups. He will pass through waivers as I doubt anyone wants to pay him the almost $5M he is still owed this year. But he will be a free agent in the off-season.
Marlon Byrd – Byrd is playing every day in Cincinnati and if he is traded he may or may not play every day. He has had a good season with 248 points, averaging 3.1 points/game. He did miss sometime in early June and that should be enough (with a day off here and there) to keep him from his 550 plate appearances to make his 2016 option kick in for $8M (turns into a team option). If you own him it is a flip of the coin if you are better off with him in Cincinnati playing out the season or being traded into a pennant race.
Francisco Rodriguez – If he gets traded it most likely won’t be to a team looking for a closer but just another option for the late innings. It will greatly depend on what team he would be traded to that determines if he loses all value or retains some. If he could somehow be traded to a playoff team that needs a closer it could put you over the top in your league.
Ian Kennedy – I had big expectations for Kennedy this year and he started very poorly but has been decent the last couple of months. But if he gets added to a playoff team, he could become a lot more valuable as just the chance for extra wins is nice, but being in a pennant race might bring out the best in him. Kennedy has been averaging 14.0 points/game over the last month, so adding a few more wins can make him what I thought he would be this year.
Martin Prado – Prado’s year in Miami has been forgettable, like most of the Marlins season. But if a team is looking for a utility guy Prado could be a good addition. He has had a bad season .270/.309/.360/.669 so far but maybe the team that lost out on Ben Zobrist will try to add him still. Since he has little value to you now, unless you are using him as a starter, his value can only go up if he gets into a better situation.
Trades in August are complicated for sure, but just like they can change a pennant race in real baseball, they can alter the playoff run in fantasy baseball.
CCO League Trades
In the CCO leagues we use Friday August 28 at 12:00pm ET as a trade deadline. I expect we will see a flurry of trade activity leading up to the deadline. But not much going on right now. Just a reminder, teams that are officially eliminated are not allowed to make trades.
CCO Fans Trades last week
• No trades this week – the calm before the storm?
CCO Trades last week
• No trades this week either.
MLB Best of Last Week
Each week we will review the best performances of the week in all of MLB.
Lucas Duda, you never had a week like this on my team!! Seven Home Runs! Fifty points!! Coming in second was fellow New York first baseman Mark Teixeira who only hit five home runs. The next three spots explain why the White Sox had a winning streak. Adam Eaton, Jose Abreu and Melky Cabrera had huge weeks and helped the White Sox get close enough not to sell, but not close enough to have a chance. Jeff Samardzija just realized that he will have a qualifying offer hanging around his neck in the off-season and pitched a little distracted to put an end to any talk of the Sox in the playoff hunt.
Young arms dominate again this week along with a knuckleballer. Noah Syndergaard is turning into an Ace right in front of everyone’s eyes and a 64 point week should get noticed by all. Sonny Gray didn’t let the trade rumors bother him this week, putting up 57 points with just one W. Not sure who let him in, but R.A. Dickey sneaks into the Top Five this week with two W’s. Kevin Gausman continued his hot and cold pitching with a hot week and 47 points. And it is so good to see Jose Fernandez pitching well again on the mound and I sure hope he can stay on the mound. The next two pitchers just missing this list are two more young arms in Trevor Bauer and Taijuan Walker.
Chicago Cubs Batters
This is more like it and the nine home runs sure did help turn things around. Four of those home runs came off of Anthony Rizzo’s bat, four days in a row. Anthony Rizzo drove in 10 runs along the way. Dexter Fowler has been on fire since the break and it continued this week with a .333 average and a .454 on-base percentage. Kyle Schwarber has punched his ticket to stay with his bat, the only question is going to be how to get the best bat’s on the field every day. Addison Russell was thrown into the deep water too soon due to injuries and we have seen what he can do, but he is starting to put it all together and have some really good at bats. Kris Bryant is still struggling but he still does enough to have a decent week. The rest didn’t help you this last week, but having five offensive players that did is a good sign for the Cubs.
Chicago Cubs Pitchers
The pitching has kept this team from having some bad weeks and this week they had a good week with a few bad outings. But a 6-1 week is always good and the kind of week good teams do after struggling for a little bit to turn things around. What’s funny about baseball is the one arm that has been struggling to get going since being added is Rafael Soriano, yet he walks away with not one, but two W’s this week. But the number that jumps out to me is four, as in four saves for Hector Rondon. Yet some people are still wondering who the main closer is right now. And the other numbers is in the Holds column. Pedro Strop with four and Justin Grimm with three, should tell who Joe Maddon trusts the most right now.
CCO Fantasy Leagues
Five weeks to go and the playoff hunt is heating up!!!
CCO League Current Playoff Seedings
- Daverj’s Batsmen 13-3
- Since 2015 Castlesworld 10-6
- CubfaninSeattle John 11-5
- Varmit Cnty Ninji Walkers 11-5
- FL JimBoC 10-6
- What’s Optimism? Vivid Reality 9-7
- Myrtle Beach Mermen 9-7
- The Wrong Team 9-7
Now it is nine wins to make the playoffs with three nine win teams in while three eight win teams are on the outside looking in and three more seven win teams hanging on barely.
CCO Fans League Current Playoff Seedings
- Dock Ellis D 13-3
- Team Vaughn 10-6
- The Calicubs 13-3
- Joe and Joe 10-6
- Woody’s Way 10-6
- Team Doughty 9-6-1
- Old Style 9-7
- Widespread HisPanic 9-7
Nine wins is it in this league as well, but there is one nine win team on the outside looking in. Three eight win teams and one seven win, two tie team sitting next along with one more seven win team all hoping for a winning streak to make it to the playoffs.