This article is part of our Collette Calls series.
Earlier this week, RotoWire colleague Brad Johnson looked at trades that happened in recent days and how the old names in new places would impact your fantasy teams the rest of the way. What I would like to do is look at some of the players who will replace the open spots on the old teams and how those players could also impact your fantasy futures the final two-plus months of the season.
White Sox lose Jose Quintana, Todd Frazier, David Robertson and Tommy Kahnle while adding Miguel Gonzalez, Tyler Clippard, Brad Goldberg and Yoan Moncada.
It was just last year that Gonzalez had some value in deeper AL-only leagues with his 3.73 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and 6.3 strikeout rate, but it seems so long ago. This year in 14 starts, he has been near impossible to roster in even 10-team AL leagues with below average production in every category. There are times when it is better to plug in a reliever than a starter such as Gonzalez, and this is one of those times.
Perhaps you can consider Clippard. After all, he is coming off his worst stretch of baseball of his career and it was only two months ago where he was being lauded for his work. Now, Rick Renteria is saying Clippard is his closer the rest of the way. It was assumed Anthony Swarzak could step into the role given how well he has pitched this season and how poorly Clippard
Earlier this week, RotoWire colleague Brad Johnson looked at trades that happened in recent days and how the old names in new places would impact your fantasy teams the rest of the way. What I would like to do is look at some of the players who will replace the open spots on the old teams and how those players could also impact your fantasy futures the final two-plus months of the season.
White Sox lose Jose Quintana, Todd Frazier, David Robertson and Tommy Kahnle while adding Miguel Gonzalez, Tyler Clippard, Brad Goldberg and Yoan Moncada.
It was just last year that Gonzalez had some value in deeper AL-only leagues with his 3.73 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and 6.3 strikeout rate, but it seems so long ago. This year in 14 starts, he has been near impossible to roster in even 10-team AL leagues with below average production in every category. There are times when it is better to plug in a reliever than a starter such as Gonzalez, and this is one of those times.
Perhaps you can consider Clippard. After all, he is coming off his worst stretch of baseball of his career and it was only two months ago where he was being lauded for his work. Now, Rick Renteria is saying Clippard is his closer the rest of the way. It was assumed Anthony Swarzak could step into the role given how well he has pitched this season and how poorly Clippard has pitched lately, but that does not appear to be the case.
The key focus of this deal is that it finally frees time for Yoan Moncada to join the club. I've selfishly enjoyed his extended stay in Charlotte this season as I've seen him play seven times, and he has been a joy to watch. His athleticism stands out on the field and the ball flies off his bat when he squares it up. We saw him struggle mightily last year when Boston called him up to help plug the gaping hole at third base, but he should not suffer from the same struggles this time around. In their own words, the Sox called Moncada up for keeps so he will be in the lineup as much as possible and should be rostered in all but the shallowest of leagues right away.
Athletics lose Sean Doolittle and Ryan Madson to the Yankees while adding Blake Treinen
The A's moved their top two setup men, and arguably their two best relievers, to a team in desperate need of bullpen depth while acquiring an inconsistent arm with upside. Treinen has closer-worthy stuff when everything is working for him, but those moments were not consistent enough for Dusty Baker to give him the job on a full-time basis. In Oakland, he's likely stuck in a similar role because the A's still have another $8M due to Santiago Casilla through next year. If the A's are willing to eat the salary and another team is desperate for depth, perhaps the job opens for Treinen but for now, changing coasts has little impact on his fantasy production in 2017.
Unrelated, the club signed Chris Carter to a minor league contract, and he likely will be called up once the club trades Yonder Alonso in the coming days. Carter had success in Oakland earlier in his career and could perhaps be a source of cheap power down the stretch at the cost of batting average should you need it and can absorb the batting average hit.
Tigers lose J.D. Martinez and acquire nothing.
Seriously, this was one of those quantity-for-quality-type trades in your league that drive you nuts if you are competing for a title. Martinez is an impact bat (with a poor glove) that Arizona added while sacrificing nothing that impacts its 2017 roster. The loss of Martinez opens more playing time for Alex Presley, so deep AL-Only leagues might be interested in his ability to get on base this season and score runs in limited playing time. That said, he has not done much of either previously in his career so the small sample size success this year could be drowned out with increased playing time in sub-optimal matchups. There are no other prospects on the 40-man roster to speak of, so an everyday outfield of Justin Upton, Mikie Mahtook and Alex Presley is what the team has. Yuck.
Marlins lose David Phelps, add nothing
The nothing the Marlins received is better than the nothing the Tigers received, but it is still a lot of nothing for 2017 fantasy purposes. The bigger news is that this move likely hurts Phelps' chance to pick up saves as the Marlins are also rumored to be moving A.J. Ramos before the deadline because he could command $10-plus million in arbitration this offseason. In Seattle, Edwin Diaz looks better these days so it is unlikely Phelps will unseat him, and the Mariners want to move Phelps into the rotation next year. Miami's saves could go a number of ways should Ramos be dealt sometime here soon. Junichi Tazawa is healthy and could get them, or the club could allow the wild Kyle Barraclough to try to fix things in the role. Brad Ziegler makes the most sense, but he is on the disabled list with a back strain since June 21.
Seattle loses Tyler O'Neill and acquires Marco Gonzales
This was a rare minor league-level deal as neither played for the major league club but both were on the 40-man roster. It was not long ago that O'Neill was one of the gems of the system and people raved about his power potential in the Arizona Fall League. Gonzales was one of the better pitching prospects with St. Louis but missed most of 2015 and all of 2016 due to a pectoral injury as well as Tommy John surgery. Gonzales should be up in September and the hometown fans will enjoy that as he matriculated at Gonzaga. In Gonzales, the Mariners add a back-end starter they can control through the 2023 season. He and Phelps can make up the back-end of the rotation in 2018 while Gonzales could end 2017 in the rotation once rosters expand.
Atlanta may lose Jaime Garcia and gain Aaron Blair
It was rumored earlier in the week that Jaime Garcia had been traded to the Twins. He, in fact, was not and instead inflated his trade value with a quality start over the scorching hot Dodgers on Friday night. When he is dealt, a rotation spot would open up for Aaron Blair to rejoin the club. Blair has made 17 starts at Triple-A this season with a 7.0 K/9, a 4.2 BB/9 and a 4.92 ERA and 1.48 WHIP. Blair is, at best, a fringe starter on a major league roster and spot-start worthy on a fantasy roster as in, only against the Padres and Giants.
