X
Lost password?

Don't have an account?
Gain Access Now

X

Receive free daily analysis

NFL
NBA
NHL
NASCAR
CFB
MLB
MMA
PGA
ESPORTS
BETTING

Already have an account? Log In

X

Forgot Password


POPULAR FANTASY TOOLS

Expert Advice
Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Daily Stats & Leaders
All Pitcher Matchups
Compare Any Players
Player Comparisons
Rookies & Call-Ups
24x7 News and Alerts

Buy Low, Sell High, Trades: Who Should Stay, Who Should Go

July 31, trade deadline day in the MLB, is always one of the most anticipated days of the regular season. A trade can turn a playoff contender into a champion. The same can be said about trades in fantasy baseball. Making the right moves at the right time can make or break a season. Every Wednesday throughout the regular season we will gather relevant trade questions and dig into the trades.. To submit your question, use the RotoBaller chat or hit me up on Twitter @JakeBogey.

With about two weeks in the books, fantasy owners are already salivating over potential trade offers. People love tinkering with their lineups and oftentimes, early in the season, the small sample size that has occurred so far can drastically change fantasy owners outlook on a player. There are two things to remember at this point in the season when considering trades:

  1. Don't freak out! - Most full time players have had about 30 plate appearances thus far this season. That's just 5% of their season total. Do not judge a player by his first week. As long as a player is healthy and his situation hasn't changed, there is really no reason to expect much different than what you did a week ago in the preseason.
  2. Seek out owners who are freaking out - There are going to be people in your league that do let the first week of play warp their opinions on certain players. If someone wants to give you a top-10 player for Adrian Gonzalez after his huge week, be my guest and make the deal. If the Robinson Cano owner is worried about his slow start, take advantage and deal for Cano. Be smart and be aggressive.

With those two points in mind, let's jump into it. Each week we will be looking at a few Buy Low and Sell High candidates as well as reviewing a few real life Rotoballer user trade offers.

 

Buy Low

Alex Gordon

This is one that almost anyone can identify. Gordon has a .314 career BABIP and is currently sitting at .091 for the year. The good news is he's still drawing walks, four in five games, and getting on base (.348 OBP this season). To me, this means that Gordon is seeing the ball just fine, but has been unlucky. With the rest of the Royals lineup looking strong, Gordon should see more men on base and have more protection than ever.

Jon Lester

Lester has been in the news more than any other pitcher in the league thus far and it's not because of his pitching. It's well documented by now that Lester either can't or won't throw over to first base. Guess what, I don't care. Is it going to make for a story throughout the year? Yes. Could it possibly cost the Cubs a game or two at some point? Sure. However, he's coming off the best year of his career and moving from the AL to the NL, generally a good thing for pitchers. He's gotten off to a rough start with a 7.84 ERA, but his FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching) is just 1.62 signalling that he has pitched just fine. Steamer projected Lester for a 3.26 ERA with 13 wins. I think he betters those numbers and finishes a top-15 starting pitcher option.

 

Sell High

Adrian Gonzalez

Adrian Gonzalez just had his best week of the year. You can take that to the bank. Gonzalez blasted five home runs, scoring ten runs and batting .556 in the process. He's a great player, and the run production will be there due to the quality of the Dodgers lineup, but I still see him as the mid-third-rounder as projected in the offseason. Steamer projected Gonzalez for 24 HR in the preseason and I still think that's about right. Aside from the power surge, Gonzalez is sporting an abnormally high BABIP (.526) and a career low strikeout rate. If you can get a top-10 player for Gonzalez, cash-in on the hot start while you still have the chance.

Jason Grilli

What is going on in Atlanta! When the Kimbrel trade went down right before the beginning of the season, my initial reaction on Grilli was to grab him, but don't expect much because Atlanta wouldn't win many games.

Well, thus far Atlanta is making me look very bad. They are 6-1 headed into Tuesday and Grilli has registered a save in four of those wins already. Grilli has a decent track record as a closer, so there is some name value there, and if people believe in this Atlanta team he should have very high trade value. I personally still don't believe in Atlanta, so I'd move Grilli now. Check in with teams that drafted closers who have already lost the closing gig (I'm looking at you Brett Cecil and LaTroy Hawkins) and see if they will bite on Grilli while his value is peaking.

 

Trade Analysis

As mentioned above, each week I'll be reviewing three trades that have either been proposed or completed by RotoBaller users. If you would like to be a part of next week's column please submit relevant questions to Twitter @JakeBoey or in the RotoBaller chat with myself.

Trade 1: Sonny Gray, Alex Wood and Paul Goldschmidt FOR Josh Donaldson, Matt Harvey, Garrett Richards and Koji Uehara

I don't like giving up top-10 players without getting one back. This user needed pitching, and he's trying desperately to chase it down by trading from a place of excess. However, this early in the season, there is no need to try to chase what you perceive as a "need." Let the season shake out a bit before you go shopping for your perceived weaknesses. How can you truly know what your team's weakness is this early in the season? In this case, I'm holding on to my assets (especially the top 10 commodity in Goldschmidt) and will look to trade in a few weeks when I have a better feel for my team.

Trade 2: Edwin Encarnacion and Kris Bryant FOR Miguel Cabrera

19:31 Guest - Bethanie: i really want Miggy in my team, what deal can i work out? (main guys i have: felix, lester, harvey, EE, betts)...i can overpay for miggy but dnt wanna cripple myself...i offered EE+kris bryant first

This is a situation we see so often in fantasy. You love a player and want them on your fantasy team. Many fantasy writers will tell you that fantasy is for fun and if having that specific player on your team makes it more fun and it's a semi-realistic deal then go for it. I don't completely disagree, I just think winning is more fun, so I'm rejecting this deal for Cabrera. Encarnacion and Cabrera were ranked around the same spot on pre-draft big boards. Even though Cabrera is off to a scorching start I'm going to trust that Encarnacion will return similar value as expected and Bryant will be up in a few weeks making him one of the most sought after young players in fantasy.

 

 Trade 3: Max Scherzer and Lorenzo Cain FOR Carlos Gomez

19:23 Guest - Earlean: Should i trade Scherzer and Cain for Gomez?

Generally speaking, I want to grab as many top 10 players as possible and Carlos Gomez is certainly that. However, this is a trade where I'm going to keep the pieces (Scherzer and Cain) over the stud (Gomez). Part of my reasoning is that Scherzer is a stud in his own right. He's a top 10 SP with the potential to be the #1 pitcher in the game. He's on a great team that should help him rack up a bunch of wins while maintaining his traditionally great ERA and K numbers.

Scherzer aside, what really intrigues me in this deal is the potential of Lorenzo Cain. His trajectory is remarkably similar to Carlos Gomez. Both players came up as speed-first light hitting defensive outfielders. Gomez eventually developed the power we expect of him today, launching 19 HR during his sixth season in the bigs after having never reached double digits in the previous five years. Cain is entering his sixth season this year, also having never reached double digit homers, and while he is a little older than Gomez was at the time of his breakout, Cain has shown early this season that he is capable of hitting the long ball. He launched a home run in the first week of this season after hitting just four all of last year. Cain has already proven that he can hit for average (.301 in 2014) and tear up the basepaths (28 SB in 2014). If Cain can develop into even a 12-15 HR guy (something teammates believe is possible based on a story told on the 4/13 ESPN Fantasy Focus) he could return 90% of the value that Gomez gives you. Add Scherzer to that mix and you can't make this deal.

 

 

MLB & Fantasy Baseball Chat Room

[iflychat_embed id="c-12" hide_user_list="yes" hide_popup_chat="no" height="700px"]

 




POPULAR FANTASY TOOLS

Expert Advice
Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Daily Stats & Leaders
All Pitcher Matchups
Compare Any Players
Player Comparisons
Rookies & Call-Ups
24x7 News and Alerts

REAL-TIME FANTASY NEWS

Macklin Celebrini19 mins ago

Tallies Two Assists In Thursday's Loss
Nikita Kucherov28 mins ago

Comes Up With Three Assists Versus Blue Jackets
Sean Monahan39 mins ago

Finishes Thursday's Win With Four Points
Zach Werenski43 mins ago

Enjoys Career Night With Five Points Against Lightning
Jack Hughes50 mins ago

Posts Three Assists Versus Hurricanes
Joonas Korpisalo57 mins ago

Records 21-Save Shutout Versus Utah
Jerry Jeudy3 hours ago

Leads Browns In Receiving In Week 12 Win
Nick Chubb4 hours ago

Scores Two TDs In TNF Win Over Pittsburgh
NFL8 hours ago

Kevin Stefanski, Andrew Berry Likely Returning To Browns In 2025
Deshaun Watson8 hours ago

Likely To Remain With Browns, Could Face Competition
Cedric Tillman8 hours ago

Enters Concussion Protocol
Cedric Tillman10 hours ago

Suffers Head Injury On Thursday Night
Wendell Carter Jr.11 hours ago

Out Against Lakers
Anthony Davis12 hours ago

Available Versus Magic On Thursday
Rui Hachimura12 hours ago

Unavailable Thursday
Carlos Ulberg12 hours ago

Looking To Cement Himself As A Title Contender At UFC Macau
Volkan Oezdemir12 hours ago

Eyes Another Knockout At UFC Macau
Gabriella Fernandes12 hours ago

A Big Underdog At UFC Macau
MMA12 hours ago

Cong Wang Puts Undefeated Record On The Line At UFC Macau
Deiveson Figueiredo12 hours ago

Looks To Extend Win Streak At UFC Macau
Petr Yan12 hours ago

A Favorite At UFC Macau
Yves Missi13 hours ago

Listed As Questionable For Friday
CJ McCollum13 hours ago

Not Likely To Play Friday
Alexander Mattison13 hours ago

Zamir White Miss Practice Again
Brandon Ingram13 hours ago

Questionable For Friday
Shohei Ohtani14 hours ago

Named National League MVP In 2024
Aaron Judge14 hours ago

Wins American League MVP Award
Ja'Kobe Walter14 hours ago

Ready To Go Thursday
Donte DiVincenzo14 hours ago

Available Thursday
Mike Conley14 hours ago

Will Not Play Thursday
Jordan Clarkson14 hours ago

Sits Out Thursday's Game
Ausar Thompson14 hours ago

Won't Play On Thursday
Zach Collins14 hours ago

Cleared To Play Thursday
Domantas Sabonis14 hours ago

Gets Through Full Practice
Chris Paul14 hours ago

Good To Go Thursday
Brock Purdy14 hours ago

Limited Again On Thursday
Malik Monk14 hours ago

Making Progress
George Kittle14 hours ago

Limited Again On Thursday
Tre Mann15 hours ago

Good To Go On Thursday
Miles Bridges15 hours ago

Won't Play On Thursday
Vince Williams Jr.15 hours ago

Out At Least A Month
Scottie Barnes15 hours ago

Returning On Thursday
Alex Ovechkin15 hours ago

To Miss 4-6 Weeks With Fractured Fibula
Paul George15 hours ago

Out At Least Two Games
Aaron Gordon15 hours ago

Availability In Question For Friday
Zach Hyman15 hours ago

Expected To Miss 4-7 Days
Kent Johnson15 hours ago

Back For Blue Jackets Thursday
Yaroslav Askarov15 hours ago

Makes Sharks Debut Thursday
Jalen Hurts15 hours ago

Practices In Full On Thursday
Mikael Granlund16 hours ago

Good To Go Thursday
Alexandar Georgiev16 hours ago

Returns To Action Versus Capitals
TB16 hours ago

Nicholas Paul Will Miss Thursday's Game
Frederik Andersen16 hours ago

To Miss 8-12 Weeks
Jake Ferguson16 hours ago

Still Not Practicing
Sam LaPorta16 hours ago

Looking Good For A Week 12 Return
Sam Darnold16 hours ago

Upgrades To Full Participation, On Track To Play
Isiah Pacheco16 hours ago

Remains Limited On Thursday
D'Andre Swift17 hours ago

Upgrades To Limited Participant On Thursday
CeeDee Lamb17 hours ago

Sidelined During Thursday's Practice
Ladd McConkey17 hours ago

Does Not Practice On Thursday
Mike Evans17 hours ago

Logs Full Practice On Thursday
DeVonta Smith18 hours ago

Misses Another Practice
Cody Bellinger19 hours ago

Cubs Looking To Trade Cody Bellinger?
Brandin Cooks19 hours ago

Preparing To Play In Week 12
CeeDee Lamb19 hours ago

Not Seen At Thursday's Practice
19 hours ago

Blake Snell Has Met With Red Sox, Dodgers
Chandler Stephenson22 hours ago

Registers Three Assists Versus Predators
Jason Robertson22 hours ago

Totals Three Points In Wednesday's Win
Nils Lundkvist22 hours ago

Exits Early With A Lower-Body Injury
Matthew Knies23 hours ago

Sustains An Upper-Body Injury
Mikael Granlund23 hours ago

Exits Late With Injury Wednesday
Patrik Laine23 hours ago

Returns To Practice
Chris Sale1 day ago

Wins National League Cy Young Award
Tarik Skubal1 day ago

Wins 2024 American League Cy Young Award
Austin Eckroat1 day ago

Heads To The RSM Classic After Win
Harris English1 day ago

Finding Form Heading To The RSM Classic
Ben Griffin1 day ago

Continues Playing Well Heading To The RSM Classic
Denny McCarthy1 day ago

Returns to The RSM Classic
Seth Jones2 days ago

Expected To Miss Four Weeks
Ludvig Aberg2 days ago

Looks To Defend RSM Classic Title
Si Woo Kim2 days ago

An Intriguing Option At RSM Classic
Maverick McNealy2 days ago

In Solid Form Ahead Of RSM Classic
Eric Cole2 days ago

Chasing First Tour Victory At RSM Classic
2 days ago

Guardians' Stephen Vogt Named AL Manager Of The Year
Milwaukee Brewers2 days ago

Pat Murphy Named NL Manager Of The Year
3 days ago

Nick Pivetta Declines Boston's Qualifying Offer
Jose Siri3 days ago

Mets Acquire Jose Siri From The Rays
3 days ago

Phillies To Meet With Juan Soto
3 days ago

Luis Severino Rejects Qualifying Offer From Mets
3 days ago

Willy Adames Declines Brewers Qualifying Offer
3 days ago

Teoscar Hernandez Declines Qualifying Offer From Dodgers
3 days ago

Juan Soto Declines Yankees' Qualifying Offer
Luis Gil3 days ago

Wins AL Rookie Of The Year Award
Paul Skenes3 days ago

Named 2024 NL Rookie Of The Year
Brady Singer4 days ago

Reds, Royals Discussing Jonathan India, Brady Singer
4 days ago

Sean Manaea To Reject Mets' Qualifying Offer
4 days ago

Braves Have Interest In Walker Buehler
4 days ago

Astros Interested In Willy Adames
Charles Oliveira4 days ago

Gets Back In The Win Column
Michael Chandler4 days ago

Gets Dominated At UFC 309
Karine Silva4 days ago

Suffers Her First UFC Loss
Viviane Araujo4 days ago

Gets Back In The Win Column
Mauricio Ruffy4 days ago

Extends His Win Streak To Six
James Llontop5 days ago

Loses Clear-Cut Decision In Thrilling Fight At UFC 309
Paul Craig5 days ago

Loses Decision At UFC 309
Bo Nickal5 days ago

Remains Undefeated With Lackluster Performance At UFC 309
Stipe Miocic5 days ago

Retires After UFC 309 Loss
Jon Jones5 days ago

Gets TKO Win At UFC 309 To Defend Heavyweight Title

RANKINGS

QB
RB
WR
TE
K
DEF
RANKINGS
C
1B
2B
3B
SS
OF
SP
RP

MORE RECENT ARTICLES

 
Josh Downs - Fantasy Football Rankings, Draft Sleepers, NFL Injury News

WR/CB Matchups to Upgrade and Downgrade - Fantasy Football Week 12 (2024)

Welcome back to our WR/CB Matchups for Week 12 of the 2024 fantasy football season. For those unfamiliar, this weekly series looks at fantasy football matchups for wide receivers versus the cornerbacks who are projected to cover them. The data we access for offensive and defensive players continues to skyrocket. Though we mainly focus on offensive […]


Houston Texans Defense D/ST Streamers, Rankings, Waiver Wire - Derek Stingley Fantasy Football IDP

D/ST Strength of Schedule: Best Fantasy Football Defense Streamers and Matchups (Weeks 12-17)

Ahh, the good old Defense/Special Teams (DST) position in fantasy football. It is a controversial inclusion in fantasy lineups for some fantasy players, but strategizing around DSTs is one of my favorite aspects of the in-season fantasy football experience. In the article below, I will present the strength of schedule (SOS) for the fantasy Defense/Special […]


NFL DFS: FanDuel Daily Fantasy Football Picks for Week 12 - Top Lineup Plays Include Jayden Daniels, Jahmyr Gibbs, Jared Goff, Puka Nacua

It’s already Week 12, although the end of the 2024-25 campaign can’t come soon enough for teams like the Jaguars, Raiders, Giants, and Panthers, to name a few. On the other hand, clubs like the Bills, Chiefs, and Lions are only a few weeks away from officially punching their tickets to the postseason.   In […]


Bo Nix - Fantasy Football Rankings, QB, NFL Rookies, Draft Sleepers

The King's Week 12 Lineup Rankings and Analysis (Premium Content)

RotoBaller senior writer Scott "The King" Engel shares his Week 12 fantasy football lineup rankings for PPR, half PPR, and standard scoring league participants. He also provides an analysis of the rankings at every skill position. Regular starting options are included to highlight that some of your must-start players have a good chance of supplying […]


Courtland Sutton - Fantasy Football Rankings, Draft Sleepers, NFL Injury News

Week 12 DraftKings NFL DFS Picks - Main Slate (2024): Anthony Richardson, Brian Robinson Jr., Courtland Sutton, and more

How's it going, RotoBallers? Welcome back to our DraftKings Main Slate article. Known around the fantasy football world as "Bye-Mageddon," Week 12 certainly offers up some unique challenges from a DFS perspective. Don't worry, we'll work through those difficulties to find the best plays we can on this slate. These DraftKings lineup recommendations are based […]


Brian Robinson Jr. - Fantasy Football Rankings Running Backs, Waiver Wire Sleepers, NFL DFS Picks

Bold Predictions for Fantasy Football Week 12: Tua Tagovailoa, Rhamondre Stevenson, Brian Robinson Jr., Ladd McConkey, Will Dissly

Week 12 is here, and I’m back with another edition of fantasy football bold predictions. This week’s list of bold predictions will include Tua Tagovailoa, Rhamondre Stevenson, Brian Robinson Jr., Ladd McConkey, and Will Dissly. Every week, I will provide some fun and bold fantasy football predictions. While these bold predictions aren’t the most likely […]


Ladd McConkey - Fantasy Football Rankings, Rookies, Draft Sleepers, NFL Injury News

Booms and Busts - Fantasy Football Starts and Sits for Week 12 Lineups Include Tua Tagovailoa, J.K. Dobbins, Ladd McConkey

Week 11 was pretty kind to us in this space. We correctly labeled Justin Herbert as a boom pick. He threw for 297 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 65 yards on the ground. It culminated with a QB8 finish. We also nailed Kirk Cousins and Tony Pollard as busts. Cousins and the Falcons […]


Chuba Hubbard - Fantasy Football Rankings, Draft Sleepers, Waiver Wire Pickups

Week 12 Fantasy Football Busts? Players Who May Disappoint Include Jayden Daniels, D'Andre Swift, Chuba Hubbard, Mark Andrews

Welcome back, RotoBallers, to our Week 12 fantasy football busts, or players who may disappoint for fantasy lineups this week. It's a strange week in the NFL with six teams taking their bye week. That could mean lineups are gridlocked and fantasy managers don't have the luxury of analyzing matchups to decide their starters. Potential […]


Josh Downs - Fantasy Football Rankings, Draft Sleepers, NFL Injury News

PrizePicks NFL DFS Prop Picks - Over/Under Props for Week 12 (Sunday Main Slate)

Hello everybody, and welcome to our PrizePicks NFL DFS prop picks for Week 12 - Sunday Main Slate! The 2024 NFL season is now past the midpoint, and our friends over at PrizePicks have a TON of great DFS plays we can look to take advantage of. Our partners at PrizePicks offer some of the […]


DeVon Achane - Fantasy Football Rankings, NFL DFS Picks, Injury News

Fantasy Football Start 'Em, Sit 'Em - Week 12 Matchups Analysis

Welcome back, RotoBallers, to another start'em and sit'em piece as we look ahead to Week 12! There will be a whopping six teams on bye this week (Atlanta Falcons, Buffalo Bills, Cincinnati Bengals, New Orleans Saints, Jacksonville Jaguars, and New York Jets), so that means fantasy managers might need to look deeper on their benches. This Week 12 matchups […]


Bo Nix - Fantasy Football Rankings, QB, NFL Rookies, Draft Sleepers

Fantasy Football Matchups We Love - Start 'Em, Sit 'Em Picks for Week 12 Include Bo Nix, De'Von Achane, Quentin Johnston, Calvin Ridley, more

It seems as though fantasy managers were either incredibly disappointed or incredibly excited in Week 11. The output was modest for most players. However, if you had a monopoly on a select few players such as Cooper Kupp, Taysom Hill, or the Detroit Lions, you likely won your week. With the fantasy playoffs roughly three weeks […]


Najee Harris - Fantasy Football Rankings, Draft Sleepers, NFL Injury News

NFL Week 12 Predictions: Picks and Analysis for Every Game Including Thursday Night Football

After some high-octane matchups over the last couple of Thursday nights, Week 12 kicks off in a more old-school fashion with a classic rivalry game between the Steelers and Browns. There are some fun matchups on this Week 12 slate, however, "Bye-Mageddon" certainly does take a little of the sizzle away, as six teams will […]


TJ Watt - IDP, Pittsburgh Steelers, DST, Defense, Fantasy Football Def

Week 12 Fantasy Football Team Defense Rankings: Steelers D/ST, Chiefs D/ST, Vikings D/ST, Eagles D/ST, Commanders D/ST, Texans D/ST, Broncos D/ST

Fantasy football defenses are largely matchup-dependent, so many fantasy managers opt to stream a different defense each week. If you're in that boat, use our Week 12 fantasy football defense (D/ST) rankings for 2024 to find the top available option. There are just three weeks of the fantasy football regular season left, so it's never […]