As sellers pawn their relievers, fantasy baseball players will rush to the waiver wire in a mad dash for the ninth-inning benefactors. Gamers competing in holds leagues can take their time and pick up the scraps.
The Oakland Athletics and Chicago White Sox may not build many leads to protect during the second half, and they each acquired a replacement reliever when trading two of their top options. Yet both bullpens are now lands of opportunity down the stretch.
More moves should follow before July 31’s non-waiver trade deadline. The ensuing bullpen makeovers will allow fresh faces on the league’s laggards to earn better billing as a seventh- or eighth-inning specialist. Look for these players to boost their stock in light of completed and forthcoming midseason moves.
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After shipping David Robertson and Tommy Kahnle to the New York Yankees, a once formidable White Sox bullpen now features Anthony Swarzak, the newly acquired Tyler Clippard, and tumbleweeds.
White Sox manager Rick Renteria will give Clippard—who has surrendered 16 runs since the start of June—first dibs at the ninth inning, but it’s easy to imagine Swarzak quickly poaching the gig unless he’s also sent out of town. Everything else is up for grabs.
Chris Beck and Dan Jennings are the likely setup candidates alongside Swarzak, but neither warrants any fantasy appeals with respective K-BB percentages of 7.7 and 7.1. Juan Minaya could at least have some fun in the role.
Although the 26-year-old has allowed 10 runs in 18 innings, he has also collected 27 strikeouts with an 11.6 swinging-strike percentage. His nine walks and career 4.7 BB/9 in the minors are red flags, but he also wields a 3.08 FIP and 14.3 infield-fly rate to fend off his fly-ball tendencies.
Minaya is a shot-in-the-dark add in AL-only formats to carefully watch in mixed formats. After unloading so many major league contributors, the White Sox might as well let their young talent sink or swim.
Oakland also took a struggling big league reliever when moving two of its primary options, receiving Blake Treinen from the Washington Nationals when trading Ryan Madson and Sean Doolittle. This is the rare summer deal where the contender changes its ninth-inning plans while the seller instead must address the middle innings.
Despite always displaying the peripherals of a top-rate reliever, Liam Hendriks’ ERA never falls in line due to inconsistency. Anyone who adds him gets a possible setup man with a 3.21 FIP and 11.80 K/9, but they also must endure the lows of someone who surrendered seven combined runs without recording an out in June 26 and July 7 appearances.
The A’s instead turned to Treinen to preserve a 3-2 lead on Tuesday night. He succeeded, but Santiago Casilla blew the save.
Before envisioning Treinen’s path back to the ninth inning, where he started the season as Washington’s closer, let’s examine his 5.45 ERA. He hasn’t received any assistance from a .366 BABIP, an unusually high mark considering his elite 60.5 ground-ball rate. Although he has struck out nearly one fewer batter per inning than last year—when he submitted a 2.28 ERA—his walk rate has also dropped from 4.16 to 3.18.
Even if the sinkerballer pitched over his head last year, performing to his 3.74 FIP and 3.81 SIERA should make him the eighth-inning man in Oakland’s barren bullpen. He’s also the next man up if Casilla falters or follows his fellow teammates out the door.
Highlighted once before this season, Paul Sewald hasn’t stood out as a viable mixed league option. Yet underneath a 4.50 ERA and 1.29 WHIP lies a skilled producer who will operate a meaningful role by default.
The 27-year-old rookie has registered 45 strikeouts and 10 walks in 37 innings to tally a 2.79 FIP. On June 2, he coughed up five of his 17 runs against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He pitched six innings in the previous eight days, including an outing the day after handling two frames.
Also, the New York Mets have nobody else. Their bullpen holds MLB’s second-worst ERA in front of Washington, and things will only get worse if they trade Addison Reed before the deadline.
Unless they receive a viable replacement in return, the Mets would then have little alternatives but to let Sewald serve as the stopper. Jerry Blevins—who also could get dealt—is deployed as a left-handed specialist. Perhaps Fernando Salas gets the nod because he recorded 24 saves six years ago, but there must be some limit on the “closer experience” fallacy. As the Mets continue to learn by trotting out a pitcher with a 6.46 ERA, you don’t win friends (or games) with Salas.
Sewald’s consensus ownership rate rounds down to zero, so it’s remarkably easy to stash a solid middle reliever who will likely ascend to closing duties in a week or two.
Jarlin Garcia and Nick Wittgren (MIA)
Although the Miami Marlins are unlikely to orchestrate a fire sale until changing ownership, they still may trade David Phelps and/or A.J. Ramos, who both enter free agency after the 2018 season. If they follow Chicago and Oakland’s lead, fantasy players must scramble to figure out the fallout.
Since veterans Junichi Tazawa and Brad Ziegler have ERAs of 5.00 and 6.52, respectively, Miami should let their youth flourish. Kyle Barraclough’s stuff would likely elevate him to the ninth, leaving Jarlin Garcia and Nick Wittgren chances for work the seventh and eighth.
Garcia has already accumulated 10 holds with a 0.99 WHIP and .192 opposing batting average. He has also, however, relied on a .202 BABIP and allowed five runs this month.
While he’s noteworthy for the potential opportunity, Nick Wittgren’s skills command a look. Despite walking his first batter since July 3 during a rough Wednesday outing, he sports a 4.56 K/BB ratio. The 26-year-old righty’s 3.38 FIP still leads all Marlins relievers.
Keep them on the radar as trade gossip escalates in Florida. Phelps has compiled 18 holds, so don’t assume the 42-51 squad won’t present enough leads for his replacement to make a dent.
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Note: All advanced statistics courtesy of FanGraphs.
Andrew Gould is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Andrew, check out his archive and follow him @andrewgould4.
