Whew… what a week that was. If you weren’t paying close attention (and truthfully even if you were paying close attention), it is entirely possible that you may have missed some details of the most action packed trade deadline I can recall. Max Scherzer and Trea Turner are now Dodgers, Jose Berrios heads even further north to Toronto, Javy Baez is on the Mets, Starling Marte is in Oakland, Anthony Rizzo and Joey Gallo both head to the Bronx and Kris Bryant is now a Giant. Trevor Story and Jon Gray are both inexplicably still Rockies on expiring contracts (good luck getting those qualifying offers signed) and the Cardinals traded for JA Happ for some reason. There are a number of other smaller moves too, but as usual in these parts, we’re going to focus on the less obvious implications that are particularly impactful from a fantasy perspective. For starters, let’s look at the two obvious fire sales taking place in Chicago and DC.
Cubs
There are no more Cubs. At least not from their 2016 World Series team there aren’t. Seldom has there been such a swift dismantling, with Javy Baez, Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant and Craig Kimbrel all departing this week. What’s left? Plenty of playing time for Rafael Ortega, Ian Happ, David Bote, and Patrick Wisdom, among others. These guys were at best considered role players, with Happ having the best shot of earning a sustained everyday role, but we’ll have plenty of meaningless plate appearances in August and September to find out if they’re any good. Considering the context though, a clubhouse that just endured the most brazen fire sale in recent memory, and not much in the remaining lineup scaring opposing pitchers, it’s hard to be overly optimistic about getting worthwhile production from the remaining Cubs.
If there’s anyone worth watching though, it is Happ, who was having a dreadful season by any standard, putting up an abysmal .183 batting average and a 28% K rate thus far. Which way the wind blows for him from the rest of the season will likely go a long way into projecting what he is capable of next season, and he’ll have every opportunity to improve.
Also of note is the closer role vacated by Craig Kimbrel- it isn’t as though it will be a particularly useful spot, with high leverage spots and save opportunities likely going to occur only sporadically over the next two months, but it will be interesting to see who they turn to. Could it be Rex Brothers? Dan Winkler? The newly acquired Codi Heuer? One of those gentlemen is likely to end up with whatever cheap saves are available for the Cubs, so it’s worth keeping an eye on.
Nationals
Unlike the Cubs, the Nationals did actually retain their best player (Juan Soto), but also jettisoned all of their other meaningful stars in Trea Turner, Max Scherzer and closer Brad Hand, along with Kyle Schwarber and Josh Harrison. Needless to say the Nats lineup looked quite a bit different on Friday, and there are a few names to watch from a fantasy perspective as these new opportunities are created.
Carter Kieboom was a highly touted prospect with a 55 overall grade from Fangraphs, and while his throwing arm contributes to that, he’s certainly a plus hitter with exceptional power and the ability to do plenty of damage when given the opportunity. He’ll have plenty of that, and while he may not hit in a premium lineup spot right away, some early success could help him become a regular contributor down the stretch run and into next season.
Similarly to Kimbrel, Brad Hand’s departure created an opportunity for some cheap saves on the off chance the Nationals actually win some game the rest of this season. First man up has been Kyle Finnegan, who has converted each of his first two save opportunities. If he maintains a modicum of success he ought to be a useful piece this year and next, as the Nationals are unlikely to make a premium closer one of their major priorities in the offseason.
Other Opportunities
There are a number of other moves across the league that create opportunities for lesser-known players, but since we can’t cover every single one in this space, we’ll stick to those with most fantasy relevance. Myles Straw being traded to Cleveland creates two opportunities, obviously for Straw himself who it appears will hit leadoff for a Cleveland squad that will turn him loose on the bases. But less obviously, it also opens the pathway for regular playing time for Chas McCormick, who will likely occupy a bottom of the order spot in an extremely potent Astros lineup. Richard Rodriguez opens up a spot for David Bednar to potentially fall into some save opportunities, although he’ll be fighting the same uphill battle of opportunity that Kyle Finnegan and whomever the Cubs decide on will.
Kyle Schwarber finds himself in an awfully friendly spot in Boston, but he isn’t quite healthy yet so his usefulness this season may be limited to DFS, but if he stays in Boston next season (there’s an $11M mutual option) he could be quite a useful piece as the Yang to Jarren Duran’s Yin.
We’ll also want to look at friendly schedules going forward since we have a pretty good idea of teams that are not going to be competitive. In an ironic twist, the two teams that sold most heavily (Cubs and Nats) faced off against each other in the first series after the trade deadline, but a team like the Brewers who gets the Cubs multiple times as well as the Nats, Pirates and Indians is going to be in line for some very good production. Identifying upcoming weeks against teams that are punting the rest of the season can turn the waiver wire into a gold mine if done astutely.
Finally- let’s talk about a team that is still going for it despite plenty of challenges, the Atlanta Braves. The Braves have lost any semblance of quality starting pitching they had, as well as Ronald Acuna to injury, Marcell Ozuna to worse, and Ender Inciarte to a lack of talent. They worked under the radar trades to net all of Eddie Rosario, Adam Duvall and Jorge Soler at the deadline to add to having already traded for Joc Pederson, making a team that many thought would fold and sell at the deadline, at the very least a very fun and powerful lineup if not a contending one. While all four of those guys won’t play every day unless they are in an AL park, there’s plenty to choose from here and each of them should be more productive than on their previous team, as this lineup now has plenty of potential to be productive.
