With the dust settling from the trade deadline, I ranked the players who gained and lost the most fantasy value. This is far from being a list of the best players. Instead, it mainly focuses on guys who lost or gained playing time, with a focus on actionable changes.
First, here are some caveats on the data:
- I am 100% sure I missed someone. It's going to happen.
- Most of the movement is based on increased or decreased playing time.
- These ranks are subjective and would matter based on the league format. I ranked them based on a Roto format. In other formats, the closers could have close to no impact.
Rank | Up | Down |
|---|---|---|
1 | George Lombard Jr. | |
2 | ||
3 | ||
4 | ||
5 | ||
6 | ||
7 | ||
8 | ||
9 | ||
10 | ||
11 | Samy Natera Jr. | |
12 | ||
13 | Luis Robert Jr. | |
14 | ||
15 |
Up
George Lombard Jr.: The Yankees promoted the top shortstop prospect with the demotions of Jasson Dominguez and Anthony Volpe. The pair were providing below league-average production. The hope is that Lombard could do more.
Luke Weaver: Traded to the Pirates, where he became
With the dust settling from the trade deadline, I ranked the players who gained and lost the most fantasy value. This is far from being a list of the best players. Instead, it mainly focuses on guys who lost or gained playing time, with a focus on actionable changes.
First, here are some caveats on the data:
- I am 100% sure I missed someone. It's going to happen.
- Most of the movement is based on increased or decreased playing time.
- These ranks are subjective and would matter based on the league format. I ranked them based on a Roto format. In other formats, the closers could have close to no impact.
Rank | Up | Down |
|---|---|---|
1 | George Lombard Jr. | |
2 | ||
3 | ||
4 | ||
5 | ||
6 | ||
7 | ||
8 | ||
9 | ||
10 | ||
11 | Samy Natera Jr. | |
12 | ||
13 | Luis Robert Jr. | |
14 | ||
15 |
Up
George Lombard Jr.: The Yankees promoted the top shortstop prospect with the demotions of Jasson Dominguez and Anthony Volpe. The pair were providing below league-average production. The hope is that Lombard could do more.
Luke Weaver: Traded to the Pirates, where he became their closer.
Hector Rodriguez: The power-hitting Reds' prospect, who hit 27 homers for Triple-A Louisville, was promoted and started in one of the first two games.
Jackson Jobe/Drew Anderson/Ty Madden: Someone has to take the spots which used to belong to Casey Mize and that Tarik Skubal guy. I'm unsure who ends up with one of the spots, but Anderson got the first shot on Wednesday, and it has been reported that Jobe will start this weekend. Madden is probably the best pitcher of the three.
Dylan Smith: The 26-year-old (3.10 ERA, 4.60 xFIP, 1.33 WHIP, 10.6 K/9) is most likely the closer in San Francisco.
Angel Genao: The Guardians promoted their top prospect to fill in at third base with Jose Ramirez dealing with a hand injury.
Hunter Dobbins: Dobbins joined the Cardinals rotation. So far, he has a 3.60 ERA (4.02 xFIP), 1.30 WHIP, and 8.1 K/9.
Abimelec Ortiz: With Luis Garcia Jr. traded to the Yankees, Ortiz (18 homers in Triple-A) takes over the strong-side of a first base platoon, with Andres Chaparro facing lefties.
Moises Ballesteros: Now on the Angels, the "catcher" can get regular at-bats again. Ballesteros' defense is suspect, and he has only started at DH in his first two games.
Cade Povich: Povich was promoted and inserted into the Orioles rotation. He has put up league-average numbers while in the majors (3.91 ERA, 4.65 xFIP, 1.34 WHIP, 6.8 K/9)
Samy Natera Jr.: With Ryan Zeferjahn traded away, Natera (2.28 ERA, 3.31 xFIP, 0.89 WHIP, 13.7 K/9) is the most likely closer candidate for the Angels.
Blade Tidwell: Tidwell joins the Giants rotation while posting average stats on the season (3.18 ERA, 4.33 xFIP, 1.18 WHIP, and 6.9 K/9).
Kevin Gausman: He now has the league's best defense behind him.
John Rave: With Lane Thomas traded away, Rave started eight straight games and has a .961 OPS on the season.
Luis Robert Jr.: With Tyrone Taylor gone, Robert (.587 OPS) should take over the Mets centerfield job, but in three games since the trade, Robert sat once.
Down
Gregory Soto: With Weaver joining the team, Soto lost his hold on the closer's role.
Brandon Sproat: With the addition of Dustin May and Kyle Harrison getting healthy, Sproat (5.27, 4.30 xFIP, 1.42 WHIP, and 9.4 K/9) was optioned to Triple-A.
Emmet Sheehan: That Skubal guy shows up on the Dodgers, so Sheehan (5.29 ERA, 3.99 xFIP, 1.29 WHIP, 10.2 K/9) got optioned to Triple-A.
Jasson Dominguez/Anthony Volpe: Both were producing at 20 percent below the league average with no signs of improvement, so the team optioned them to Triple-A.
Erik Miller: Miller (2.73 ERA, 3.41 xFIP, 1.36 WHIP, 12.6 K/9) was the Giants' closer but will just be a setup man for the Red Sox.
Jorge Soler: The Angels released Soler (12 HR, .203 AVG) in order to free up the DH spot for Ballesteros.
Lane Thomas: In Kansas City, Thomas (10 HR, 7 SB, .228 AVG) played every game, but with the Braves, he'll be a short-side platoon bat.
Ryan Zeferjahn: He went from being the Angels' closer to a setup man with the Cubs. I'm a little higher on him than most because the Cubs plan to use him in high-leverage situations.
Luis Castillo: Castillo has struggled when not throwing in Seattle (3.22 home ERA, 4.33 away ERA from 2023 to 2026).
Brenton Doyle: Doyle no longer plays half his games in Colorado and might just be on the short side of an outfield platoon.
Jo Adell: There are not enough outfield at-bats to go around in Cleveland, so Adell may only face lefties (.921 OPS vs LHP, .588 OPS vs RHP).
Tyler Wells: Wells (2.60 ERA, four saves) is no longer part of the closer-by-committee in Baltimore and is now just a bullpen arm in Tampa.
Slade Cecconi: With the addition of Foster Griffin, SLADE (4.75 ERA, 1.45 WHIP, 7.2 K/9) was optioned to Triple-A.
Kyle Manzardo: With the addition of Nathaniel Lowe, Manzardo (13 HR, .684 OPS) was demoted.
Jarren Duran/Ian Happ: Reports are out that each could be in the strong side of a platoon.
