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| Tuesday, August 2, 2022 |
| Happy Tuesday, everyone! We woke up yesterday morning wondering if we were just going to get a quiet trade deadline. Sure, Andrew Benintendi moving to the Yankees somewhat moves the needle, but even with the other trades combined there wasn't much action. We went on through the morning, had lunch and felt like it was going to be a quiet one. And that's exactly when the news really started dropping. |
| The Brewers and Padres agreed on a blockbuster trade that directly impacts the rest of the Fantasy Baseball season. The Padres acquired star closer Josh Hader and sent the Brewers their closer Taylor Rogers, former top prospect Dinelson Lamet, and two prospects, outfielder Esteury Ruiz and pitcher Robert Gasser. |
| Hader leads the league with 29 saves and was having arguably his most dominant season in the first half -- and that's saying a lot. As of late, Hader has struggled -- allowing six runs in his past 10 appearances. He has 8.31 ERA and a 1.62 WHIP since the start of June. Do the Brewers know something we don't? Regardless, they now have a decision to make when it comes to who will be closing games in Milwaukee. |
| According to Ken Rosenthal, that answer is some combination of Rogers, Devin Williams and Brad Boxberger. Rogers was removed from the closer role in San Diego after pitching to a 8.14 ERA over his past 22 games following what was a dominant start to the season. Williams, on the other hand, returned to his 2020 form after a somewhat down 2021 season -- he has a 1.59 ERA, a 1.01 WHIP and hasn't allowed an earned run since May 10. Boxberger is also pitching to a 2.75 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP -- not the best underlying numbers -- but the box-score stats are there. |
| Williams is the best reliever of the Brewers bunch, and he's 54% rostered in CBS leagues, but does that make him the best bet to close out games? And what percentage of the save opportunities will he get? |
| The prospect haul the Brewers received appears to be really generous for a Hader rental. I know there was some sticker shock, but Brewers fans are likely coming around to this one. Gasser was a top-10 prospect for the Padres. He has been great in the strikeouts department with swing-and-miss stuff that hasn't translated to the ratios yet. |
| Ruiz was a hot name when he got called up after dominating the minors to the tune of a .333 average, 13 homers and 60 stolen bases but he never got regular playing time in San Diego. Now that he's a Brewer, is it possible we'll see him in an everyday center-fielder role? Ruiz is just 32% rostered and feels like an easy high-upside scoop for the back end of your benches if you need some help in the outfield. |
| And that was only the first of two big-time trades. We'll get to the other one shortly. |
| Below, we'll break down some other key takeaways from Monday's action. But first, make sure you're all caught up with everything going down at CBSSports.com/Fantasy. Scott provided his Fantasy takeaways for every trade in his trade deadline tracker. You can find that here. He also broke down in depth what the other big trade of the night and what it means for the surrounding players. You can find that here . Speaking of the other big trade.. |
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| Yankees deal for two arms |
| The other big news of the night was centered around another team hoping to win this year's World Series and nothing less -- the Yankees. They traded for Athletics starting pitcher and former top prospect Frankie Montas as well as reliever Lou Trivino, a Frank Stampfl favorite. So let's first look at this from the Yankees point of view before diving into the prospects Oakland received in return. |
| Montas has pitched to a 3.18 ERA with just a 1.14 WHIP and over a strikeout per inning in what has been a strong bounce-back season for the flamethrower. The one hiccup was the shoulder inflammation he dealt with back in July, but it hasn't popped up yet again. The park shift isn't great for Montas, but on the flip side, his win potential just skyrocketed. |
| Trivino feels more like a throw-in than anything else as we've watched him pitch to a 6.88 ERA and a 1.88 WHIP. Sure, he strikes out a lot of batters, but does it ultimately matter if he's putting runners on base and allowing runs? The bigger news from a Fantasy perspective is the fallout in Oakland. A.J. Puk could have an opportunity to emerge as a saves option, but keep an eye on Zach Jcackson as well. |
| In return, the A's got back prospect Ken Waldichuk -- he's the big name in their return. He's 24 years old and his 2022 in the minors consists of a 2.71 ERA, a 1.11 WHIP and 116 strikeouts through 76 1/3 innings. They also got back Luis Medina, who throws hard and has pitched well in Double-A ball. JP Sears and Cooper Brown also came back in the deal -- Sears is also having a good season in the minors. |
| More trades |
| The Cardinals acquired José Quintana and reliever Chris Stratton from the Pirates for pitcher Johan Oviedo and infielder Malcom Nuñez. Quintana is just 30% rostered with a 3.50 ERA and 1.27 WHIP, but he's about to get a big boost. The Cardinals have the second-easiest strength of schedule remaining (based on opponent win percentage). If you need another arm, Quintana could be a big help.The Braves have officially acquired Robbie Grossman. Christian Vazquez was traded to the Astros for infielder Emmanuel Valdez and OF Wilyer Abreu. Believe it or not, with a .282 batting average and eight homers, Vazquez has been the eighth-best catcher in Roto scoring leagues. The Red Sox somewhat surprisingly decided to trade for Tommy Pham. They also acquired Jake Diekman to bolster their bullpen.Luke Weaver is now a Royal. |
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| Who's hot |
| Salvador Perez is back, baby. And it's starting to feel like after a disappointing first half that included an IL stint, Perez is going to get red hot for these final two months. Perez hit his 14th home run on Monday and he now has three homers in four games since returning from the IL. |
| Who's not |
| JJ Bleday is not having a rookie season to remember so far. On Monday, Bleday went 0 for 4 with three more strikeouts. He is now batting .167 with a whopping 37% strikeout rate. |
| A player to send trade offers for |
| How about Eloy Jimenez? The Fantasy Baseball trade deadline is also approaching, and if you need upside at a reasonable cost look no further than Eloy. He may finally be healthy and playing like it. Since returning from the IL, Jimenez has a 95 mph average exit velocity, a 32% barrel rate and a 39% ground ball rate. What we've seen from hitters who are making hard contact and elevating the baseball is typically big-time box-score stats to follow. |
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| Fantasy news, injuries and notes |
| For a complete recap of every injury, update and more make sure you're locked into the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast where Frank, Scott and Chris dive deep into every player note. For the CliffsNotes version, we'll recap the biggest news and notes you need to know right here: |
| Fernando Tatis felt good taking batting practice Monday and expects to begin a rehab assignment later in the week.Bryce Harper had his pins removed from his left thumb Monday. We're looking at a mid-late August timeline. Austin Riley signed a 10-year, $212 million contract, with a club option for 2033. Kris Bryant was placed on the IL with plantar fasciitis in his left foot. Luis Severino was transferred to the 60-day IL Monday, which means he's not eligible to return until September 13. He can be dropped in leagues with no IL spots.Dustin May is set to make two more rehab starts before returning from the IL. He threw 46 starts in his most recent rehab outing. He's up to 74% rostered.What a rough season for Franmil Reyes. The Guardians are expected to option Reyes to Triple-A prior to Tuesday's gameAlex Bregman was placed on the paternity list and will miss 1-3 days. Tarik Skubal left his start with left arm fatigue. He went five shutout innings against the Twins before leaving.Jon Gray left his start with left side discomfort. Trevor Rogers is scheduled to throw a bullpen session Tuesday or Wednesday. He was placed on the IL last Friday with lower-back spasms. Will Benson was promoted by the Guardians on Monday. He's definitely one to watch in deeper leagues, maybe add in AL-only. |
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