This article is part of our Rounding Third series.
The trade deadline is less than 24 hours away, but I thought I'd take a quick look at some of the opportunities arising on teams where players have been dealt. Often what occurs in the wake of these trades creates quite a lot of fantasy value. This isn't an exhaustive list, but here's a first guess at some of those chances in the American League.
AL East
As of this writing (roughly 7:00p PT on Thursday night) neither the Orioles nor the Red Sox had made any significant moves this weekend. It's a little surprising that the Red Sox haven't made a move yet, though they were reportedly in on the bidding for Anthony Rizzo before the Yankees traded for him. They were on record, however, that both Jarren Duran and Triston Casas were off the table.
(Late Thursday night, the Red Sox traded for Kyle Schwarber - presumably Schwarber will play first base when he gets off the IL.)
New York Yankees - With the additions of both Rizzo and Joey Gallo, the Yankees added their badly needed left-handed power that's been missing nearly all season (no, Brett Gardner doesn't cut it, nor did Aaron Hicks before he got hurt - though they really miss him). This seems to block Luke Voit, as I don't see the Yankees forcing Giancarlo Stanton to the outfield, and having a Judge-Gallo-Stanton outfield alignment. So I'd expect one more trade before the deadline, using Voit as part of the bait
The trade deadline is less than 24 hours away, but I thought I'd take a quick look at some of the opportunities arising on teams where players have been dealt. Often what occurs in the wake of these trades creates quite a lot of fantasy value. This isn't an exhaustive list, but here's a first guess at some of those chances in the American League.
AL East
As of this writing (roughly 7:00p PT on Thursday night) neither the Orioles nor the Red Sox had made any significant moves this weekend. It's a little surprising that the Red Sox haven't made a move yet, though they were reportedly in on the bidding for Anthony Rizzo before the Yankees traded for him. They were on record, however, that both Jarren Duran and Triston Casas were off the table.
(Late Thursday night, the Red Sox traded for Kyle Schwarber - presumably Schwarber will play first base when he gets off the IL.)
New York Yankees - With the additions of both Rizzo and Joey Gallo, the Yankees added their badly needed left-handed power that's been missing nearly all season (no, Brett Gardner doesn't cut it, nor did Aaron Hicks before he got hurt - though they really miss him). This seems to block Luke Voit, as I don't see the Yankees forcing Giancarlo Stanton to the outfield, and having a Judge-Gallo-Stanton outfield alignment. So I'd expect one more trade before the deadline, using Voit as part of the bait for a pitcher. Meanwhile, Clay Holmes replaces Luis Cessa in the bullpen, and Joely Rodriguez takes over for Justin Wilson in the struggling lefty reliever role. Despite their two big moves, I still don't see it for the Yankees - who besides Gerrit Cole is a playoff-caliber starter? They still need to trade for more pitching.
Tampa Bay Rays - Pete Fairbanks just went on his second IL trip with shoulder discomfort, J.P. Feyerisen is on the IL with his own shoulder injury, and Nick Anderson is on a rehab assignment. So the naturally the Rays traded for away a top reliever? Here's another situation where I'm waiting for another shoe to drop, after the Rays traded away Diego Castillo to the Mariners for JT Chargois and Austin Shenton. I picked up Chargois in one first-come, first-serve league, but I'm not remotely confident that he'll get all or even the majority of Rays saves. Anderson certainly will be in the picture when he returns, but I think at most you're looking at a plurality of the save chances between Anderson, Chargois, Jeffrey Springs, Andrew Kittredge and others that we couldn't possibly have anticipated. This is Year Infinity of me not being able to figure out the Rays (trade for Nelson Cruz, but trade away Rich Hill and Castillo), but obviously that's on me, not them.
Toronto Blue Jays - The Jays made another addition to their bullpen Thursday morning by adding Brad Hand, after previously dealing for Adam Cimber and Trevor Richards. Is there another bigger trade still coming, perhaps for a starter? So far they've avoided taking that big step. Will it be Hand or Jordan Romano who gets the ball in the ninth? Or will the Jays continue to split the duties? I tend to think it'll be the latter, unless manager Charlie Montoyo wants to use Romano in an "ace reliever" type of capacity. Hand has declined considerably this year, despite gaining velocity on his fastball. His K% has dropped from 32.9% to 23.1%, and his SwSt% has dropped from 10.3% to a paltry 7.6%. That could be really dangerous in the AL East.
AL Central
Cleveland Indians Guardians - Cleveland's big sell-off was in the offseason when they offloaded Francisco Lindor and Carlos Carrasco to the Mets, but they still had some inventory left when they traded Cesar Hernandez to the White Sox. Tyler Freeman is their best middle infield prospect, at least at the higher levels of the minors, but he's only played five games in the last month after being sidelined with a shoulder injury, and is still only at Double-A. Cleveland will call up Owen Miller over the weekend, and he could get an extended look. Miller struggled in 50 plate appearances with the big club (.106/.160/.128 with 24 strikeouts), so we might also see Andres Gimenez down the road, even though he's not getting the initial call - Gimenez is still trying to establish permanent residency in the U.S., which may have delayed his promotion. At the big league roster, it's still possible that Eddie Rosario could get dealt, if teams are comfortable with the progress made in his rehab from an abdominal strain.
Chicago White Sox - The White Sox made precision additions in Hernandez at second base and Ryan Tepera in their faltering bullpen. Leury Garcia (.247/.324/.347) stands to lose playing time as a result, and Tepera helps Michael Kopech form a more solid bridge to Liam Hendriks, with so many other set-up relievers struggling in the White Sox bullpen.
Detroit Tigers - The Tigers are sort of stuck in the middle right now, but in a good way. They're playing better ball, and they have a lot of good young pitching that's starting to click. They don't have too many aging players to part with, though Robbie Grossman and/or Jonathan Schoop could be considered possibilities. It's possible that their window to start competing with the White Sox could begin in 2022, though I'd guess that 2023 is still more likely.
Kansas City Royals - I keep waiting for Whit Merrifield to get dealt, but so far no dice. They did trade Danny Duffy to the Dodgers on Thursday, for a player to be named later. But Duffy was already on the IL, so it doesn't really open up a space in the rotation. I guess Carlos Hernandez and Daniel Lynch have a little more in the way of role security for now, at least while Brady Singer is out.
Minnesota Twins - Here's our Team Chaos candidate. The Twins have already traded Nelson Cruz to the Rays, and Brent Rooker subsequently has gotten the call and started the last six games, homering in three of those games. Jose Berrios is the biggest available pitcher on the trade block, though the Twins don't necessarily have to trade him now. Josh Donaldson and Byron Buxton have both been the subject of trade rumors, but so far they've remained put. A left middle finger sprain to Taylor Rogers probably kills the chances of him getting dealt. Should Berrios go, we could see Joe Ryan make his Major League debut after the Olympics conclude, and it's possible that we could also see Jordan Balazovic at some point. Quietly the Twins finally have a stable of good young arms, so that they can break out of their previous reputation as a team that struggles to develop power pitchers.
AL West
Houston Astros - The Astros had a laser-like focus to address their weak spot, relief pitching, by adding Kendall Graveman and Yimi Garcia. At the big league level, it notably cost them Abraham Toro, forcing them to use Aledmys Diaz and Robel Garcia until Alex Bregman returns. Bregman could be back soon, as he started his rehab assignment at Triple-A Sugar Land on Monday.
Los Angeles Angels - The Angels are the opposite of the Tigers - stuck in the middle, but in a bad way. They're wasting Shohei Ohtani's incredible season much like they've wasted great seasons from Mike Trout in the past, they've started to incorporate some young players but still are generally an old team, but not old enough to tear everything down. I really don't know the easy way to fix them without spending $250 million in annual salaries.
Oakland A's - I'm surprised and impressed that the A's went out and added Starling Marte, costing them Jesus Luzardo, given their penurious ways over the last 18 months. It helps that the Marlins took on a bunch of Marte's remaining 2021 salary. Seth Brown and Stephen Piscotty lose playing time as a result. Andrew Chafin lengthens an already pretty good bullpen.
Seattle Mariners - The Mariners got to within one game of the A's for the final wild card, and then traded away Graveman to the Astros the next day, while they're still playing the Astros. I get the notion that it's optimal to cash in on a reliever at his peak value, but it's a hard sell when the team in question has had such a long playoff drought. But then two days later they traded for Diego Castillo, addressing that one vacancy. I guess the question is which side would you rather have?
A: Kendall Graveman, JT Chargois, Austin Shenton; or
B: Diego Castillo, Abraham Toro, Joe Smith.
I think the answer depends on how much you buy into Shenton's development this season, and what value you place on the three extra years that Castillo brings you over Graveman. I have a feeling that Jerry DiPoto isn't done dealing. But Castillo likely closes ahead of Paul Sewald and Drew Steckenrider. Ken Giles will likely be the guy in 2022.
Texas Rangers - Opportunities abound in Texas following the Joey Gallo trade, and presumably we'll also see Ian Kennedy get dealt too. Curtis Terry got the call from Triple-A Round Rock last week before the trade, but this should give him a little longer rope to see what he can do after hitting .297/.380/.593 at Round Rock. Willie Calhoun probably isn't returning until September. As for Kennedy, if he gets dealt, it's possible Josh Sborz could eventually close (he's currently on paternity leave). There aren't obvious options here, and the save opportunities won't be plentiful.
