Fantasy Baseball: Trade Deadline Check-In
Hello friends.
It's almost deadliiiii-ne day! This time next week, massive moves will have been made and many fantasy values will have been greatly shifted. Closer to setup man, starter to platoon, top prospect on a good team to living in a box out behind Comerica. Ahh, summer.
We'll have plenty of buyers but not all will be capital-B, "buyers" because not everyone is a real Contender. Some are only fakes who can't look themselves in the mirror and just admit that they should be looking towards 2025 and beyond instead of hoping to catch some Wild Card magic.
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Live Chat With Fantasy Baseball Expert Nicklaus Gaut
Fantasy baseball expert Nicklaus Gaut will be holding a live chat today at 11am central time, exclusively with Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers. Use the link below to ask a question in advance, participate in the live event, and read the transcript afterward.
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MLB Mailbag: Reds, Red Sox, Skubal, Alonso, Prospects, Dodgers, Cubs, Diaz
I'm stepping in for MLBTR founder and owner Tim Dierkes on this week's MLB Mailbag. It's a deadline-heavy edition this week, with questions on the Reds' outlook, Frankie Montas, Jonathan India, the Red Sox, Tarik Skubal, Pete Alonso's future, the 2024 draft, the concept of non-contending clubs using the deadline to buy pieces for the 2025 season, the Dodgers' growing list of needs, the Cubs' uncertain status, and more! Let's get into it.
Matthew H. asks:
No Reds in the Top 50 trade candidates? Was there any consideration to the front office tendency to stand pat in July or was that just the way the names fell?
We'll definitely do at least one more update to our top trade candidates list -- possibly two. The Reds could factor more prominently onto a future version, but as of right now, they're only three games out of the Wild Card hunt in the National League. They're in a key group of borderline contenders -- along with teams like the Cubs, Pirates, Giants and Rangers -- whose deadline fate hinges on how the first few games of the second half shake out. A nine-game road trip to play the Nats, Braves and Rays (in that order) is going to be a major factor.
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Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript
MLBTR’s Anthony Franco held a live chat today, exclusively for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers! Anthony took questions on draft pick trading, whether the Royals could deal from their MLB team for help in other areas, the asking price on Garrett Crochet, Ivan Herrera's value, the Yankees' closing situation, the A's middle infield, where the first Juan Soto trade ranks among the biggest in MLB history, and much more.
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The Trade Market Remains Light On Middle Infield Talent
We released our first iteration of the Top 50 trade candidates last week. It was a broadly pitching-heavy list, with 30 of the spots occupied by pitchers. Especially striking is the lack of middle infield talent that'll clearly be available. We listed just four middle infielders among that Top 50.
One of those players, Jazz Chisholm Jr., hadn't actually played an inning in the infield since 2022 at the time of that writing. The Marlins have since begun getting him second base work in an apparent effort to showcase his defensive flexibility for interested teams. Bo Bichette made the back of the Top 50 because he's a marquee name, but the Blue Jays haven't suggested a willingness to deal key players whom they control beyond this season. He's still a long shot to move. The other two middle infielders to make the list: Paul DeJong and Brendan Rodgers, each of whom is at best a low-end regular.
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Another Contending Club That Could Have Pitching To Spare
A couple of weeks ago, in a piece for Front Office subscribers, MLBTR's Steve Adams highlighted some clubs that he figured could walk a buy/sell tightrope at the deadline. The teams he featured are all contenders, but with enough starting pitching options that they could plausibly "sell" a pitcher or two while still trying to compete here in 2024. In recent weeks, there's one other rotation that has suddenly become quite crowded as the team has been climbing in the standings.
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Fantasy Baseball: It’s the 1st Annual Halfies!
Hello friends.
Whether you're an old friend from the places I've written before or a new friend for whom our courtship has only recently begun, I think we can all agree on one thing - my writing comes with a certain level of gravitas, only appropriate for the most meditative and consequential discussions. If you won't take fantasy baseball seriously, what's even the point?
So, with irreverence banished far into the sea and with all tongues planted firmly away from any cheek, it's officially time for our most official award show of the year. Officially.
No time for any shenanigans, people - it's the Halfies!
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Current And Former Top Prospects To Watch As The Trade Deadline Approaches
Last week, MLBTR's Anthony Franco ran through a handful of under-the-radar trade candidates for teams on the hunt for bullpen help. It was a simple enough premise. While there's rightly a heavy focus placed on high-quality relievers on bad teams (e.g. Mason Miller, Tanner Scott, Carlos Estevez), MLB teams will be casting a wider net than just those obvious trade candidates.
I wanted to do something similar with hitters -- and may still do so -- but as I parsed through some potential options, I was also struck by the likelihood that there are a number of current and former (more of the latter) top prospects who increasingly look like they'll have an uphill battle to earning a role with their current club. Oftentimes, this is due to other prospects leapfrogging them on the depth chart, the team extending a current key player and/or injuries. While today's front offices tend to hoard depth as much as possible the finite number of minor league options a player possesses can put an inherent clock on that depth's shelf life.
Not all of the players highlighted in this exercise are teetering on being out of options, nor is this intended to be an exhaustive list of names in this situation. (If there's anyone you feel I missed, by all means, let me know in the comments and bring them to the discussion!) I'm also not going to focus much on former prospects who've already been passed through waivers/released or those who are performing poorly enough in the minors that they're now DFA candidates themselves.
The aim here is to find some interesting, controllable names still on the 40-man roster who have decent minor league (and in some cases, big league) track records but lack a clear path to an everyday role on their current roster. That sort of player ought to have appeal to rebuilding teams or retooling sellers who are looking to take another shot at contending as soon as next year. Here are a few situations that seem worth monitoring as the deadline draws near:
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Live Chat With Fantasy Baseball Expert Nicklaus Gaut
Fantasy baseball expert Nicklaus Gaut will be holding a live chat today at 11am central time, exclusively with Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers. Use the link below to ask a question in advance, participate in the live event, and read the transcript afterward.
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Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript
MLBTR’s Anthony Franco held a live chat today at 2:00pm central, exclusively for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers.
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