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The best part of playing fantasy sports is drafting your team. The excitement, the potential to draft your favorite players, and, of course, win a championship. But, chances are you won't win your fantasy league on draft day. That comes from scanning the waiver wire and making trades throughout the season. That is no different in fantasy baseball.
Every week, this article will detail which players you should buy low or sell high on. For the first edition of this article, buy low will look at players struggling out of the gate but who will rebound over the course of the year. For sell-high, though, those are players you should be looking to trade away after a hot start to the season.
Some fantasy managers might think it’s too early to start making trades since the season just started, but it’s never too early. This is a prime opportunity to upgrade your team right off the bat. Moves at the start of the season could go a long way in helping you win a fantasy baseball championship. So, here are five players you should buy low or sell high on after the first week of the MLB season.
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Undervalued Players to Trade For
OF Evan Carter, Texas Rangers
Texas Rangers outfielder Evan Carter is not off to a great start at the plate in 2024. After hitting .264 with two home runs and 10 RBI this spring, it has taken him a little bit to get going in the first five games of the regular season. However, he's a player you should be targeting in trade offers before his value skyrockets -- which could come as soon as this upcoming week.
Carter is currently 0-for-15 at the plate while striking out twice with one RBI. However, there are plenty of positives from the young outfielder in that small sample size. For starters, he has walked six times already, leading to a 27.3% walk rate in the early going. While that high rate won't continue, it's impressive to see a player with just 169 career plate appearances be patient at the plate. Those walks have led to the 21-year-old scoring five runs.
Seeing Carter struggle to start the season is new for any fantasy manager who owns him. When he made his MLB debut at the end of the 2023 season, he hit .306 with five home runs and 12 RBI across 23 games. Even in the postseason, the left-handed slugger went 18-for-60 with one home run and six RBI.
Evan Carter launches a GRAND SLAM for his SECOND homer of the day 😳👑
(via @MLBPipeline)pic.twitter.com/Z7F0PUVwxf
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) March 5, 2024
The outfielder's start to the season has not gone to plan, but he's too talented not to break out of the slump. Carter is also on a top-five offense in baseball, which should lead to more RBI chances and runs scored. Now is the time to buy him before that first hit drops.
1B/OF Nolan Jones, Colorado Rockies
Colorado Rockies outfielder Nolan Jones is another player off to a slow start after playing away from Coors Field to start the season. Jones is hitting just .103 (3-for-29) in the first seven games with one double, one triple, and two RBI. The biggest concern, though, has been his walk-to-strikeout ratio. The 25-year-old has walked just once while striking out 12 times.
Jones wasn't a player I was necessarily targeting in fantasy drafts this year because of his high strikeout numbers and potential for a decline at the plate. But, with the slow start, he's a player you should take a chance on, especially considering his potential to hit 20 HRs and steal 20 bases -- like he did in his rookie season in 2023.
It's easy to panic on Jones in fantasy right away. He hasn't looked great at the plate in the first two series, and his 29.7% strikeout rate from 2023 could continue into 2024. However, let's wait and see what he does back at home at the hitter-friendly Coors Field. Last year, he hit .306 with 10 HRs and 33 RBI in 52 games there.
Take a chance on him now before he plays his first game at Coors Field. A couple of solid days at the plate over the weekend could completely overshadow his slow start. He'll play six straight contests at home, starting with the Tampa Bay Rays, so this will be a real test for him.
OF Julio Rodriguez, Seattle Mariners
Acquiring Seattle Mariners outfielder Julio Rodriguez might be harder than the first two on this list, but his value will never be lower. If the fantasy manager who rosters Rodriguez is impatient with him already, make an offer for him, it can't hurt. I'd also be willing to offer a nice package to acquire him because the slow start shouldn't be concerning at all.
We've seen slow starts from Rodriguez before, as recently as 2023. In the first 44 games of last season, the outfielder hit .204 at the plate with seven HRs, 21 RBI, and 57 strikeouts. Fast forward to the final 111 games, and he hit .302 with 25 HRs and 82 RBI.
It's a much smaller sample size for Rodriguez this year since he has only played in seven games. Nonetheless, he is hitting .185 with just one RBI and nine strikeouts in 29 plate appearances. There's no reason to panic, though. The All-Star outfielder will be just fine when the weather warms up.
2 years ago today, Julio Rodriguez was called up to the big leagues. Safe to say he's lived up to the hype and more.
- 4th in 2023 AL MVP voting
- 7th in 2022 AL MVP voting
- 2022 AL Rookie of the Year
- 2x All-Star
- 2x Silver Slugger
- 1x Gold Glove finalist
- 2x Rookie of the… pic.twitter.com/3barZaaZl9— Cam 🔱 (@Camd3n_10) April 4, 2024
That's why now is the perfect time to acquire him. He's one of the best players in the game and just hit 32 HRs, 103 RBI, and 37 doubles one season ago. His value might never be lower, so make a move for the 23-year-old.
Overvalued Players to Trade Away
3B Ke'Bryan Hayes, Pittsburgh Pirates
Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes was one of the most added players in Yahoo leagues only a couple of days ago after a strong start to the year. In his first five games of the season, he was 9-for-23 at the plate with three doubles, five RBI, and four multi-hit games. As a result, his rostership on Yahoo has surpassed the 80% mark with fantasy managers thinking a breakout could be in store.
But, it might be time to pump the brakes on Hayes and start looking for a trade partner. Following his hot start in those first five games, things have cooled down for the third baseman. He is 0-for-8 in his last two games while striking out twice.
There are a couple of things we have to take into account when looking at Hayes' strong start. For starters, looking at his opponents is a big one, as he faced two bottom pitching staffs in the Miami Marlins and Washington Nationals. On top of that, he hasn't necessarily been hitting the ball hard with an 84.3 mph average exit velocity and a 31.8% hard-hit rate.
Of course, it's an extremely small sample size, but at this point in the season, I would rather trade Hayes for a more surefire fantasy player. With two series approaching against great pitching staffs (Baltimore Orioles and Philadelphia Phillies), now might be the perfect time to trade the Pirates third baseman.
SP Garrett Crochet, Chicago White Sox
What an electric first two starts for Chicago White Sox starter Garrett Crochet. He mowed down the Detroit Tigers on Opening Day by tossing six strong innings of one-run ball and then shut down the Atlanta Braves offense in his next start by striking out eight across seven innings.
In those two starts, Crochet has allowed just two runs on eight hits with 16 strikeouts across 13 innings pitched. Right now, the southpaw is looking like the waiver wire pickup of the year after he went undrafted in most leagues. However, it might be best to trade him immediately for a star pitcher, possibly package him for a pitcher like Luis Castillo -- who is off to a slow start.
There has been nothing wrong with the way Crochet has pitched in his first two starts. It has been impressive to watch, and he honestly looks dominant. But, in a year that Chicago isn't expected to be competitive, how much will the left-hander pitch toward the end of the season?
Braves manager Brian Snitker on Garrett Crochet last night: "(He) was really good. You’re not gonna see much better than that over the course of the summer.”
--@ajc— Chuck Garfien (@ChuckGarfien) April 3, 2024
Crochet has dealt with multiple injuries over his career, which has included undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2022. He threw just 25 total innings between the majors and minors last season and didn't pitch at all the year before that. The southpaw's career high in innings pitched is just 65 -- which he set back in 2019 in college at Tennessee. That is seriously concerning, especially when we hit the later months of the season in August and September. That's why trading him while his value is this high makes a lot of sense.
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