The Trade Deadline’s Affect on the Fantasy World

Recently I have heard a lot of people wondering what the fantasy impact from the trades that occurred during the trade deadline. So, I will dedicate this article to explaining the effects and what it means to the owners of players involved as I will name some players that have values go up and the ones whose value is going down.

Value Increase

• Mark Teixeira: Tex’s value definitely goes up by going to Atlanta and any of you in NL leagues definitely are affected by his move to the NL. Anyway, now his value is going up because he is in a much better lineup and in a pennant race for the Braves. He will be batting cleanup with much better hitters around him as Renteria and Chipper are better than Sosa and Wilkerson. Expect more runs and RBIs as he will have at least some protection. He is a nice guy to grab if you need first basemen.

• Edgar Renteria, Chipper Jones, Andruw Jones, Brian McCann, Jeff Francouer, and Kelly Johnson: I just picked this guys because those are the players that come to mind that are probably owned Braves hitters unless you are in much deeper leagues. These players definitely have more protection meaning increase in average and more runs. For the last three I mentioned, possibly more RBIs because of the increase in runners on base. (Also, Braves pitchers will probably get more run support, leading to more saves from Wickman. That’s just a thought.)

• Jared Saltalamacchia: His value is going way as it looks like he is going to a starting role in Texas. He has always been a decent player, but now gets a chance to play all the time unleashing his fantasy potential. I think he is a pretty decent option and is a must have for anyone in leagues that require two catchers. Definitely could hold a decent average.

Value Decrease

• Eric Gagne/Octavio Dotel: Obviously Gagne and Dotel’s value is not going up. Both will be lose their closing jobs to act as set up men. Gagne will fill middle relief and set up man for Papelbon, which costs some of his value. On the same token, Dotel will be used to set up Wickman. Unless you are in a holds league or need the low ERA/WHIP, then your best bet is probably setting both of them loose and maybe looking at a guy like C.J. Wilson.