If you hadn’t realized it coming into this season, by this point, you understand that it’s nearly impossible to have a successful fantasy baseball season without making a few trades. Particularly with the 10-day disabled list, teams do not hesitate to sideline their players for injuries that used to be treated with a recommendation of “rub some dirt on it and get out there.”
So as you continually look to augment your roster through the trade market, make sure to keep up to date with our rotisserie league trade chart, updated weekly. To that end, here is your trade chart for Week 11.
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The Injury Movers
A couple of starting pitchers take a nosedive on our trade chart this week, with both Noah Syndergaard (finger) and Stephen Strasburg (shoulder) getting unfortunate injury news. The bright side for both is that neither injury appears serious as of right now. Syndergaard got a second opinion on his injured finger which confirmed a minor ligament issue, and he will continue his rehab. Strasburg got good results on an MRI of his shoulder, which showed only inflammation but no structural damage. But the issue, of course, is that we have no timetable for either pitcher’s return, and given their injury histories, caution is warranted. Either way, a healthy version of the two is better than an injured version of the two (they don’t pay me the big bucks for nothing) and so each one deservedly drops in value.
So too does Yoenis Cespedes, who went from on the verge of returning to having no timetable for his return. If you’re the Mets, you’d have no reason to rush Cespedes back from his injury, as it really makes no difference if you lose 3-0 or 3-1. With chronic leg injuries more apparent than ever, Cespedes’ dynasty value takes a bigger hit than his seasonal value, but neither is fun to look at right now.
But not to worry, there are a couple of Nationals who have seen their values rise thanks to their return from injuries. Specifically, both Adam Eaton and Daniel Murphy have returned after missing most and all of the season thus far, respectively. Eaton has picked up right where he left off, banging out hits like it’s his job . . . which it is, but still. Murphy, on the other hand, looks incredibly rusty, but you probably would too if your knee was totally destroyed and then recreated like you were a superhero (which is just what I’m assuming happened with Murphy?). Murphy will likely not get back to being quite the player he was last year at any point this season, but he should have plenty of value once he gets going, and the fact that he made it back at all is enough to move him back up our trade chart.
The Performance Movers
We’ve got a bunch of risers this week, as several players have earned a boost in value with their recent play. I’m talking most notably about Andrew Benintendi, Cody Bellinger, Jose Berrios, Jose Martinez, Max Muncy, and Evan Gattis. Let’s touch on each quickly:
- Since May 1, Benintendi is slashing a cool .331/.403/.656 with 11 home runs and six steals. He still doesn’t hit the ball all that hard (he has a sub-30% hard contact rate over that span), but you can’t possibly argue with those results.
- It’s an obviously ridiculously small sample, but in the seven games since Dave Roberts equivocated on whether Bellinger could get sent to the minors, he’s batting .375 with four home runs, nine runs scored, seven RBIs, two steals, and a 9:7 K:BB rate. We probably shouldn’t have been as worried as we were.
- Berrios needs little explanation. He’s simply an elite prospect who has improved both his strikeout and walk rates and looks to be ready to take the next step. No reason to avoid him.
- Jose Martinez had a good April, a terrible May, and, thus far, an other-worldly June. The man is a hitter, pure and simple, and it appears he does have the power to play at first after all.
- Max Muncy has gone from “who is this guy” to “I think I should pick this guy up” to “this guy is saving both my fantasy team and the Dodgers!” Muncy’s Minor League track record did not portend this. But he’s done more than enough for fantasy owners to buy into his performance, at least to an extent.
- I would not have argued with you had you wanted to drop Evan Gattis after April. I’m glad nobody asked me if they should. At the end of April, Gattis was on pace for six home runs and 48 RBIs. He’s now on pace for 26 home runs and 87 RBIs. That’s what 10 homers and almost 30 RBIs in a little over a month will do!
As for the fallers, there aren’t too many. But both Gregory Polanco and Michael Conforto continue their drops, largely because I’ve finally accepted that my preseason expectations for both were just wrong. Maybe Polanco just really isn’t that good. After all, other than a few brief spurts, we haven’t ever seen him perform close to an elite player. And Conforto, while talented, seems like he just has not fully recovered from his shoulder injury, which is understandable. I have few long-term concerns with Conforto, but for this season, I’m not overly optimistic.
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Dan Harris is a featured writer for FantasyPros. For more from Dan, check out his archive or follow him on Twitter at @danharris80.