Fantasy Baseball: Hitter Trade Market

By Muntradamus

 

BEAST DOME NATION.
In this article I will give you players I would target in trades to BUY or SELL.  Fantasy Baseball is similar to a stock market, there always good buy-low and sell-high opportunities.

 

Before I get into any detail about all the players, I want to talk about:

 

KEVIN YOUKILIS

Now the Youk gets a change of scenery, I think everyone should give him the chance to perform until we get to the All-Star Break.  Yes his season has been horrible up to this point, but batting 5th in that stacked White Sox lineup could lead to some good things.  I would BUY him if I could, I talk more about Middlebrooks down low.

 

PREVIOUS Trade Market Articles:

Fantasy Baseball Trade Market

 

 

BUY:

 

TROY TULOWITZKI

Stats as of 6/24: .287 Average. 8 HR. 27 RBI. 2 SB.

Troy Tulowitzki?! Buy?  Yes that is right.  Now is the time to attack Troy Tulowtizki owners in all leagues where there are playoffs.  If your team is strong enough to make the playoffs with Troy inactive probably through much of August, then you have yourself the possible Playoff MVP joining your team at the perfect time.  Troy is known for being great in September, and this year should be no exception as he will have a lot of numbers to make up.

 

CARLOS SANTANA

Stats as of 6/24: .230 Average. 5 HR. 30 RBI. 2 SB.

Santana was projected by many fantasy sites to be the #1 Catcher in fantasy baseball.  I personally liked Mike Napoli, but neither is inside the top 10.  Santana has a huge market correction coming this way as he was the featured player in BrooklynBums, “Where Your Swag At?”  Santana is struggling right now as his last HR came on May 15th.  Now is the time where you can target him without giving up a superstar.

 

ERIC HOSMER

Stats as of 6/24: .213 Average. 8 HR. 33 RBI. 6 SB.

Hosmer cannot build consistency.  With only 1 HR in the month of May, and only 2 so far in the month of June.  Eric Hosmer is quickly heading towards bust material.  Now is the time to take a risk if you need a fix at 1B.  His production is low, and honestly it cannot get any worst.  I would trade Paul Goldschmidt straight up for him in any league as Hosmer does have 30 HR potential over a course of the full season with some speed.  Eventually he will have a market correction, and eventually it will be too late to make this deal.

 

ADRIAN GONZALEZ

Stats as of 6/24: .263 Average. 6 HR. 28 RBI. 0 SB.

Gonzalez is on the verge of finding himself.  Now with Kevin Youkilis out of the picture, Adrian will be back to comfortably playing 1B everyday.  The Red Sox offense is going to be scoring a lot of runs this season, which means a lot of RBIs for the Adrian no matter where he is in the batting lineup.  I would acquire Adrian as long as I do not have to give up a player who I had to draft in the first four rounds.  He will come back to 1st round value.

 

ANDRE ETHIER

Stats as of 6/24: .294 Average. 10 HR. 55 RBI. 1 SB.

Andre is doing a nice job manning the Dodgers lineup while Matt Kemp is out.  But now that he is returning soon, Ethier becomes one of the most dangerous OF options.  Kemp forces pitchers to revolve their game plan around stopping him, which in return allows Ethier to see better pitches, and more importantly have more runners on base.  Andre was leading the NL in RBI’s easily when Kemp was healthy, soon he will get all those opportunities again.

 

NELSON CRUZ

Stats as of 6/24: .262 Average. 11 HR. 47 RBI. 5 SB.

Cruz has always shown flashes that he is going to be a Fantasy MVP, but usually fades out only to start the process over again in a week.  Now is one of those times where you should BUY and see if you are going to get the real deal.  He is playing the best baseball I have seen him play all season long, and when healthy he plays like a 1st round talent.  I am not telling you to give up 1st round talent to get him, but you should give up a solid player to make it happen.

 

DESMOND JENNINGS

Stats as of 6/24: .238 Average. 3 HR. 19 RBI. 11 SB.

When the season started, everyone including myself saw Jennings as a possible 20 HR/40 SB threat.  So far this season he has been injured, and just not that great.  Which makes now the perfect time to acquire someone who just needs to find his rhythm.  There is still a lot of fantasy basseball left to be played, and if you can give up a Freddie Freeman type player to acquire Jennings, you are in the money.

 

YOENIS CESPEDES

Stats as of 6/24: .270 Average. 7 HR. 30 RBI. 4 SB.

Yoenis is still not 100% from the hamstring injury which will limit his chances of stealing over 15 bases.  Yet he is still a player I would want to acquire if the price is right.  His power potential is huge as he was leading the MLB in HRs before Matt Kemp turned into a monster the third week of April.  Cespedes is a great bat to put in your lineup, with good upside that he will be HUGE when his hamstring returns to 100%.

 

JUSTIN UPTON

Stats as of 6/24: .271 Average. 7 HR. 33 RBI. 8 SB.

Upton is starting to find his swing quickly thanks to BrooklynBums calling out his SWAG last week.  Upton is a player who could carry this Diamondbacks squad by himself if he has too, and now may be that time where he starts to take over.  If you can acquire Justin without giving up a top 4 round talent, I would take the chance he returns to ELITE form.  His power and confidence appears to be all the way back.

 

DAN UGGLA

Stats as of 6/24: .244 Average. 11 HR. 42 RBI. 0 SB.

Uggla was a machine in the second half of the season as it felt like he hit a HR nearly everyday.  Uggla has a huge market correction ahead of him, and I would bet good money on him to finish leading all 2B options in HRs by the end of the season.  It will be a battle of him and Robinson Cano, I expect the HOT Uggla to takeover.  When that day comes for Dan.

 

DUSTIN PEDROIA

Stats as of 6/24: .268 Average. 5 HR. 28 RBI. 3 SB.

Pedroia has been battling injuries all season long, which makes now the time to acquire him before the price-tag gets too high.  Dustin is still a top 5 2B option because of his ability to score runs, give you some pop, and hopefully give you that .300+ batting average.  Now is a time where you could possibly give up an over performing player and a solid pitcher to acquire the 2nd round talent.

 

J.J. HARDY

Stats as of 6/24: .243 Average. 11 HR. 29 RBI.

It has been a while since J.J. had one of those HR power streaks.  Hopefully the owners who have him do not see him as anything more than a short-term power guy, because he is the real deal.  If you can acquire Hardy while he is this cold, you will be very happy in the long-run as he has top 5 SS potential when hot.

 

WILL MIDDLEBROOKS

Stats as of 6/24: .326 Average. 9 HR. 24 RBI. 2 SB.

With Kevin Youkilis being moved to the White Sox, this is the perfect time to do whatever you can to acquire Middlebrooks before it is too late.  It might already be too late, but Middlebrooks is going to love his lineup situation especially if Adrian Gonzalez starts to get going.  Middlebrooks will be putting up the numbers Youkilis owners were hoping for before the injuries, and now the trade.

 

 

ALEX RODRIGUEZ

Stats as of 6/24: .264 Average. 12 HR. 33 RBI. 6 SB.

A-Rod is far from done this season.  He is not as consistent as some owners would hope, but when he has the right match-up..He is a threat for a HR and a lot of RBIs batting cleanup in maybe the best offense in baseball.  A-Rod currently stands at 12 HRs, and I would be very surprised if he did not double that by the end of the season.  His RBI total of 33 is way too low, and he could easily approach 100 RBIs total for the season.

 

 

SELL:

 

ADAM LAROCHE

Stats as of 6/24: .251 Average. 13 HR. 44 RBI. 1 SB.

ALR.  The guy is as streaky as anyone, and he appears to be a player that has had more hot streaks than anyone could expect.  Yes he once had 40 HR potential, but those days are long over and you would be lucky to get anywhere near 30.  I expect his final number to be 25 HRs, which shows now is a good time to package him in a trade with a SP to improve your pitching staff.  I did not even mention Tyler Moore who has some pop in his bat and will eventually platoon some games with LaRoche.

 

BRYAN LAHAIR

Stats as of 6/24: .286 Average. 13 HR. 28 RBI. 1 SB.

If you are counting on LaHair to be your everyday option at  1B, you are probably living under a rock as he will now have to deal with Anthony Rizzo who is getting called up this Tuesday.  LaHair will have trouble cracking the lineup consistently and I would honestly take whatever starting pitcher looks good at this point.  Sell him now!  Each day that passes he losses more and more value.

 

OMAR INFANTE

Stats as of 6/24: .290 Average. 7 HR. 25 RBI. 8 SB.

Infante is one of those players who started out the season season really hot, and fantasy owners just accepted that it was normal.  No it is not normal, this guy has zero pop and zero speed.  The fact he was fortunate enough to hit a HR gives you the perfect opportunity to sell him now.  I would rather own/start Brian Robert or Gordon Beckham than Omar Infante who already matched last seasons HR total with 7.  Upgrade Omar while you can.

 

KYLE SEAGER

Stats as of 6/24: .262 Average. 10 HR. 45 RBI. 6 SB.

Seager is a player who has been over-performing.  I will open with that sentence, and luckily for you I will not close with that sentence.  Seager does have some potential no doubt, and he already is much better than Dustin Ackley will be in the next few years.  However Kyle does not seem to be a player I would want on my fantasy team if I had the chance of having a legitimate SS like Ian Desmond instead.  See what offers you can get for Seager as he is not a player I think of very highly based off watching him play, and that death valley ball park in Seattle.

 

TREVOR PLOUFFE

Stats as of 6/24: .246 Average. 15 HR. 26 RBI.

Right now you probably own the best hitting SS, one of the top hitting 3B options, an ELITE OF option for the past two weeks, and wherever else he qualifies he is doing great.  But just like magic, Plouffe it will be gone.  Right now is a great time to see what you can get for a player who is playing out of his mind.  Does not necessarily mean accept the offer, but expecting more than 12 HRs for the rest of the season is a huge stretch, and I would take a superstar for him if I had the depth to replace his versatility.  He has Bryan LaHair written all over him.

 

RYAN ZIMMERMAN

Stats as of 6/24: .223 Average. 3 HR. 23 RBI. 3 SB.

3 HRs on the season, and Ryan finally complains about his shoulder.  Now that the word is out, now would be the perfect time to sell him for whatever you can get.  It would be hard to imagine him getting more than 10 HRs after admitting his shoulder of all body parts are injured.  Hard to generate much power with a bad shoulder..

 

DEXTER FOWLER

Stats as of 6/24: .274 Average. 9 HR. 32 RBI. 7 SB.

Dex will show some flashes of being a solid fantasy option.  But for the most part, he is not a player you would want to trust on a championship team.  The Rockies are loaded with depth in the OF, so when Fowler gets cold, or Colvin gets hot, it is hard to get everyday PT.  I would look to move Fowler for a player like Dayan Viciedo who will be a consistent source of power the rest of the season.

 

CARLOS BELTRAN

Stats as of 6/24: .308 Average. 20 HR. 56 RBI. 7 SB.

Sure Beltran is playing like a MVP right now.  This is very similar to what happened last season as he completely fell off the map in the second half due to injuries.  Beltran is obviously a player that is labeled as, “INJURY PRONE.”  But a lot of poeple will not ignore that fact because he is playing at such an ELITE level.  If you can acquire Mark Trumbo for Beltran, you will be happy in the long-run of this season.