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Grading Trades: Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, Giancarlo Stanton

Grading Trades: Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, Giancarlo Stanton

It’s that time again, but this time I’m taking the liberty of switching things up. We’re practically a third of the way through the fantasy baseball season, and we’re likely seeing some legitimate separation between contenders and pretenders at this point.

That’s not to say your team can’t get on a roll and come roaring back into playoff contention with the right moves. Believe me; we’ve all probably been there at some point with a seemingly crap team we squeeze gold out of with some timely trades and waiver wire pickups.

This week’s Grading Trades column is going to focus on the “What can I get for…” submissions. If you’d like a solid primer on fantasy player trade values, our own Dan Harris is keeping his Fantasy Baseball Trade Value Chart updated weekly – check it out here.

Now on to some valuing!

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My team is 12 games out of a playoff spot, and other owners are trying to get me to sell early. I think I can turn this around, but I don’t know if I should trade one or two of my best players to fill out my roster and hope for the best. This is a 12-team keeper league, H2H standard categories. My best player is Giancarlo Stanton, but I also have three solid closers in Craig Kimbrel, Alex Colome, and Raisel Iglesias.

I’m not a big fan of punting categories, but in this instance, you should keep Giancarlo Stanton and dismantle your saves to make your team more competitive in other categories. Just make sure you have an idea of what categories you want to go after first.

It never fails, at this point in every fantasy baseball season, there are teams that are in desperate need of just one additional closer to help solidify their relief pitching slots. Take advantage of that.

If you believe that you have a pretty solid shot at taking ownership of home runs, since you’ve already got Stanton on your team, then target hitters that will light up the scoreboard with their power. If you can flip one or two of your closers for an Eric Thames, Chris Davis, Justin Bour, Khris Davis, plus another piece – do it. Just don’t be fooled into thinking guys like Aaron Judge, Miguel Sano, and Ryan Zimmerman are going to keep doing what they’re doing all season long with BABIPs at or above .400 on the season so far.

You are actually in a pretty solid position as far as trading is concerned. Closers, especially the excellent ones, fetch a pretty penny as we inch closer to the trade deadline in leagues. The fact of the matter is you have the best closer in the American League on your team in Kimbrel, and he alone should net you a solid power bat and maybe even a secondary piece in a trade.

If you do decide to trade your closers, though, I recommend replacing them with relievers who have tons of upside and ability to strike opposing batters out. Don’t just fill your RP slots with whoever is available. Go after the non-closers who strike tons of hitters out.

If I wanted to trade Bryce Harper in my redraft league, what exactly is good value in return? It’s a 14-team, H2H 5×5 league. My team is a playoff contender, but I don’t know if it’s good enough to win the whole thing.   

Well, what do you feel you need? Start with answering that question and go from there.

Bryce Harper is having one hell of a season and is about to make some serious bank – to the tune of a $400 million contract in the very near future. His fantasy value couldn’t be much higher either.

If it were me, I’d expect a closer, a superb starting pitcher, and either a power hitter or on-base machine in return. Maybe that means you settle for one of those pieces in return being a top-tier piece, then the other two being more mid-tier pieces. That’s perfectly fine.

Don’t do anything silly and get sucked into the belief that receiving four players in return for Harper is better than three. Focus on the quality of players as opposed to quantity, and you won’t lose in a trade here. Just make sure you’re helping yourself in categories you need, or would completely dominate (such as saves or stolen bases), before accepting anything.

What is Mike Trout’s value now that he’s going to be out for all but probably the final month of the regular fantasy baseball season? We’re in a keeper league where you can keep a player for three seasons before he goes back into the draft pool. He has one season of keeper eligibility left after this season. H2H, 12-team league.

Boy, this is a loaded question. Even with his injury, he’s still Mike Trout – the greatest player many of us have ever witnessed play short of Barry Bonds. Sure, he’s going to be out for a while, but when he comes back he’s still going to contribute across the board, and he’ll be a force come playoff time for the team that owns him.

That said, even with the injury, I wouldn’t accept anything less than a first-round talent in return for him and a minimum of two to three other pieces. I’d start pitching a Trout trade to the current playoff-bound teams in your league and see who bites.

You may get an offer that blows you away; you might not. It never hurts to ask, and I’d always start any discussion of trading Trout for the other person’s best player.

Don’t be afraid to ask for Paul Goldschmidt, Joey Votto, or Kris Bryant to start out. You could probably get a package headlined by someone like Goldschmidt or even Carlos Correa and still pickup a Charlie Blackmon in the deal, right along with a top closer or starting pitcher. Ask for pretty much anything you want because he’s Mike “Freaking” Trout and he still has one year of keeper eligibility left.

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To satisfy that fantasy baseball itch that is making trades, we’re grading and providing feedback on them as you submit them. Tweet us at @FantasyProsMLB with the trade details and use #FantasyBaseballTrades and we’ll let you know what we think about the deal.

Lance Rinker is a correspondent at FantasyPros. For more from Lance, check out his archive or follow him @LanceMRinker.

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