Who Should I Trade?

Esmerlyn Valdez for Michael Busch (2026)

Summary
Stats
Projections
News & Notes
Schedule

Who Should I Trade? Player Summaries
	Experts' Pick
	Michael Busch 1B - CHC	Esmerlyn Valdez 1B,LF,RF - PIT
Expert Recommendation	67% Recommended by 4 of 6 experts	33% Recommended by 2 of 6 experts
Rankings

Rest of Season	# 75	# 171
VBR	# 106	# 257

Projections

Runs	28	19
Home Runs	9	7
RBI	30	21
Stolen Bases	1	1
Batting Average	.249	.237

Misc

Injury Alert	-	-

Expert Ranks

Scott Pianowski Yahoo! Sports	# 46	# 120

Dalton Del Don The Deep Shot	# 74	‐

Mike Maher BettingPros	# 77	‐

Kelly Kirby FantasyPros	# 90	# 199

Chris Welsh FantasyPros	# 109	# 99

Kevin Spinelli KevScores	# 133	# 128

Who Should I Trade? Player Statistics
	Michael Busch 1B - CHC	Esmerlyn Valdez 1B,LF,RF - PIT
2026 Stats


At Bats	388	123

Runs	47	26

Hits	96	36

Singles	63	14

Doubles	18	7

Triples	2	1

Home Runs	13	14

RBI	56	36

Stolen Bases	2	0

Caught Stealing	1	1

Walks	66	19

Strikeouts	109	54

Batting Average	.247	.293

On Base Pct	.368	.385

Slugging Pct	.405	.707

On-base Plus Slugging	.772	1.092

Who Should I Trade? Player Projections
	Michael Busch 1B - CHC	Esmerlyn Valdez 1B,LF,RF - PIT
2026 Projections


At Bats	192	135

Runs	28	19

Hits	48	32

Singles	28	19

Doubles	9	6

Triples	1	0

Home Runs	9	7

RBI	30	21

Stolen Bases	1	1

Caught Stealing	0	0

Walks	25	15

Strikeouts	54	45

Batting Average	.249	.237

On Base Pct	.346	.320

Slugging Pct	.452	.441

On-base Plus Slugging	.798	.761

Who Should I Trade? Player Notes
	Michael Busch 1B - CHC	Esmerlyn Valdez 1B,LF,RF - PIT
News
	Michael Busch went 3-for-6 with two RBI in Saturday's 11-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Nicholas Rodriguez Sun, Jul 26th	Esmerlyn Valdez went 2-for-3 with a home run in the Pirates 8-7 win over the Cubs on Sunday. Ari Koslow Mon, Jul 27th
	Michael Busch went 1-for-4 with a home run, a walk, one run scored and an RBI in Monday's 8-6 loss to the Detroit Tigers. Nicholas Rodriguez Tue, Jul 21st	Esmerlyn Valdez went 1-for-3 with a home run in the Pirates 8-5 loss against the Yankees on Monday. Ari Koslow Tue, Jul 21st
	Michael Busch went 3-for-5 in a 10–1 win over the Twins with two runs scored and one RBI. Chris Schommer Mon, Jul 20th	Esmerlyn Valdez went 1-for-4 with a home run in the Pirates 7-1 win in Game 1 of Saturday's doubleheader against the Guardians. Ari Koslow Sun, Jul 19th
	Michael Busch went 1-for-4 with a home run, a walk, two runs scored and an RBI in Saturday's 6-2 win over the Minnesota Twins. Nicholas Rodriguez Sun, Jul 19th	Esmerlyn Valdez went yard three times across Saturday's doubleheader against the Brewers. Ari Koslow Sun, Jul 12th
	Michael Busch went 3-for-4 with a double and one run scored in Saturday's 5-3 win over the Cincinnati Reds. Nicholas Rodriguez Sat, Jul 11th	Esmerlyn Valdez went 1-for-4 with a home run in the Pirates 10-5 loss against the Braves on Thursday. Ari Koslow Fri, Jul 10th
Notes
There are no recent notes for these players

Who Should I Trade? Player Schedules
Date	Opp	Opp Pitcher	VBR	Opp	Opp Pitcher	VBR
	Michael Busch 1B - CHC			Esmerlyn Valdez 1B,LF,RF - PIT
Thu, Mar 26th	vs WSH	Cade Cavalli (7-4)	#55	@ NYM	Freddy Peralta (5-9)	#43
Sat, Mar 28th	vs WSH	Miles Mikolas (3-7)	#332	@ NYM	David Peterson (5-7)	#66
Sun, Mar 29th	vs WSH	Jake Irvin (2-4)	#182	@ NYM	Nolan McLean (7-7)	#31
Mon, Mar 30th	vs LAA	Ryan Johnson (2-5)	#177	@ CIN	Chase Burns (12-1)	#22
Tue, Mar 31st	vs LAA	Jose Soriano (9-6)	#44	@ CIN	Brandon Williamson (2-3)	#409
Wed, Apr 1st	vs LAA	Yusei Kikuchi (0-3)	#127	@ CIN	Andrew Abbott (5-6)	#97
Fri, Apr 3rd	@ CLE	Joey Cantillo (8-6)	#80	vs BAL	Kyle Bradish (7-9)	#42
Sat, Apr 4th				vs BAL	Shane Baz (4-9)	#63
Sun, Apr 5th	@ CLE	Parker Messick (8-6)	#51	vs BAL	Chris Bassitt (4-4)	#266
Mon, Apr 6th	@ TB	Shane McClanahan (9-6)	#30	vs SD	German Marquez (4-2)	#376
Tue, Apr 7th	@ TB	Mason Englert (0-3)	#174	vs SD	Nick Pivetta (1-2)	#120
Wed, Apr 8th	@ TB	Joe Boyle (0-1)	#206	vs SD	Michael King (6-7)	#52
Fri, Apr 10th	vs PIT	Carmen Mlodzinski (6-3)	#135	@ CHC	Shota Imanaga (7-8)	#27
Sat, Apr 11th	vs PIT	Braxton Ashcraft (10-4)	#35	@ CHC	Edward Cabrera (5-4)	#117
Sun, Apr 12th	vs PIT	Bubba Chandler (3-8)	#124	@ CHC	Jameson Taillon (2-6)	#103
Mon, Apr 13th	@ PHI	Cristopher Sanchez (13-4)	#4	vs WSH	Cade Cavalli (7-4)	#55
Tue, Apr 14th	@ PHI	Aaron Nola (3-8)	#59	vs WSH	PJ Poulin (3-0)	#288
Wed, Apr 15th	@ PHI	Jesus Luzardo (9-5)	#8	vs WSH	Jake Irvin (2-4)	#182
Thu, Apr 16th				vs WSH	Foster Griffin (12-2)	#49
Fri, Apr 17th	vs NYM	Kodai Senga (0-7)	#190	vs TB	Nick Martinez (10-2)	#108
Sat, Apr 18th	vs NYM	Freddy Peralta (5-9)	#43	vs TB	Drew Rasmussen (9-5)	#20
Sun, Apr 19th	vs NYM	Tobias Myers (0-2)	#214	vs TB	Shane McClanahan (9-6)	#30
Tue, Apr 21st	vs PHI	Jesus Luzardo (9-5)	#8	@ TEX	Kumar Rocker (3-8)	#94
Wed, Apr 22nd	vs PHI	Kyle Backhus		@ TEX	Jack Leiter (3-7)	#132
Thu, Apr 23rd	vs PHI	Cristopher Sanchez (13-4)	#4	@ TEX	Jacob deGrom (7-6)	#7
Fri, Apr 24th	@ LAD	Emmet Sheehan (4-7)	#36	@ MIL	Brandon Woodruff (2-2)
Sat, Apr 25th	@ LAD	Roki Sasaki (4-5)	#102	@ MIL	Jacob Misiorowski (11-4)	#9
Sun, Apr 26th	@ LAD	Justin Wrobleski (11-2)	#65	@ MIL	Kyle Harrison (8-2)	#54
Mon, Apr 27th	@ SD	Randy Vasquez (6-6)	#268	vs STL	Dustin May (5-7)	#45
Tue, Apr 28th	@ SD	Walker Buehler (6-5)	#242	vs STL	Kyle Leahy (7-4)	#115
Wed, Apr 29th	@ SD	Matt Waldron (1-2)	#265	vs STL	Andre Pallante (11-6)	#136
Thu, Apr 30th				vs STL	Hunter Dobbins (2-1)	#168
Fri, May 1st	vs ARI	Zac Gallen (3-9)	#180	vs CIN	Brady Singer (5-9)	#157
Sat, May 2nd	vs ARI	Ryne Nelson (3-5)	#204	vs CIN	Rhett Lowder (3-7)	#273
Sun, May 3rd	vs ARI	Merrill Kelly (8-8)	#123	vs CIN	Chase Burns (12-1)	#22
Tue, May 5th	vs CIN	Andrew Abbott (5-6)	#97	@ ARI	Eduardo Rodriguez (9-3)	#107
Wed, May 6th	vs CIN	Brady Singer (5-9)	#157	@ ARI	Michael Soroka (8-3)	#71
Thu, May 7th	vs CIN	Rhett Lowder (3-7)	#273	@ ARI	Zac Gallen (3-9)	#180
Fri, May 8th	@ TEX	Kumar Rocker (3-8)	#94	@ SF	Robbie Ray (9-6)	#68
Sat, May 9th	@ TEX	Jack Leiter (3-7)	#132	@ SF	Landen Roupp (7-8)	#60
Sun, May 10th	@ TEX	Jacob deGrom (7-6)	#7	@ SF	Tyler Mahle (2-9)	#85
Tue, May 12th	@ ATL	Grant Holmes (6-4)	#158	vs COL	Michael Lorenzen (3-9)	#432
Wed, May 13th	@ ATL	JR Ritchie (1-2)	#291	vs COL	Jose Quintana (2-3)	#425
Thu, May 14th	@ ATL	Chris Sale (11-6)	#5	vs COL	Chase Dollander (3-3)
Fri, May 15th	@ CWS	Sean Burke (7-5)	#86	vs PHI	Aaron Nola (3-8)	#59
Sat, May 16th	@ CWS	Davis Martin (9-5)	#95	vs PHI	Cristopher Sanchez (13-4)	#4
Sun, May 17th	@ CWS	Erick Fedde (5-6)	#404	vs PHI	Zack Wheeler (10-2)	#6
Tue, May 19th	vs MIL	Jacob Misiorowski (11-4)	#9	@ STL	Matthew Liberatore (5-7)	#96
Wed, May 20th	vs MIL	Kyle Harrison (8-2)	#54	@ STL	Michael McGreevy (4-8)	#90
Thu, May 21st				@ STL	Dustin May (5-7)	#45
Fri, May 22nd	vs HOU	Spencer Arrighetti (7-5)	#161	@ TOR	Kevin Gausman (4-10)	#28
Sat, May 23rd	vs HOU	Kai-Wei Teng (5-6)	#241	@ TOR	Patrick Corbin (3-4)	#287
Sun, May 24th	vs HOU	Peter Lambert (8-5)	#137	@ TOR	Dylan Cease (7-5)	#12
Mon, May 25th	@ PIT	Carmen Mlodzinski (6-3)	#135	vs CHC	Ben Brown (4-2)	#99
Tue, May 26th	@ PIT	Braxton Ashcraft (10-4)	#35	vs CHC	Jordan Wicks (0-2)	#225
Wed, May 27th	@ PIT	Bubba Chandler (3-8)	#124	vs CHC	Jameson Taillon (2-6)	#103
Thu, May 28th	@ PIT	Paul Skenes (9-9)	#3	vs CHC	Colin Rea (7-7)	#192
Fri, May 29th	@ STL	Andre Pallante (11-6)	#136	vs MIN	Taj Bradley (9-4)	#58
Sat, May 30th	@ STL	Kyle Leahy (7-4)	#115	vs MIN	Bailey Ober (7-3)	#93
Sun, May 31st	@ STL	Matthew Liberatore (5-7)	#96	vs MIN	Zebby Matthews (4-8)	#116
Tue, Jun 2nd	vs ATH	Gage Jump (3-6)	#88	@ HOU	Mike Burrows (4-9)	#238
Wed, Jun 3rd	vs ATH	Jeffrey Springs (3-10)	#142	@ HOU	Spencer Arrighetti (7-5)	#161
Thu, Jun 4th	vs ATH	J.T. Ginn (8-6)	#146	@ HOU	Kai-Wei Teng (5-6)	#241
Fri, Jun 5th	vs SF	Robbie Ray (9-6)	#68	@ ATL	Martin Perez (6-6)	#169
Sat, Jun 6th	vs SF	Landen Roupp (7-8)	#60	@ ATL	Spencer Strider (4-2)	#300
Sun, Jun 7th	vs SF	Trevor McDonald (3-7)	#244	@ ATL	Bryce Elder (6-6)	#149
Tue, Jun 9th	@ COL	Tomoyuki Sugano (10-4)	#433	vs LAD	Eric Lauer (5-5)	#362
Wed, Jun 10th	@ COL	Michael Lorenzen (3-9)	#432	vs LAD	Shohei Ohtani (8-2)	#1
Thu, Jun 11th	@ COL	Ryan Feltner (3-5)	#431	vs LAD	Justin Wrobleski (11-2)	#65
Fri, Jun 12th	@ SF	Landen Roupp (7-8)	#60	vs MIA	Sandy Alcantara (10-6)	#57
Sat, Jun 13th	@ SF	Trevor McDonald (3-7)	#244	vs MIA	Lake Bachar (1-2)	#197
Sun, Jun 14th	@ SF	Logan Webb (5-7)	#19	vs MIA	Max Meyer (9-1)	#87
Mon, Jun 15th	vs COL	Michael Lorenzen (3-9)	#432	@ ATH	J.T. Ginn (8-6)	#146
Tue, Jun 16th	vs COL	Ryan Feltner (3-5)	#431	@ ATH	Jack Perkins (2-5)	#111
Wed, Jun 17th	vs COL	Sean Sullivan (0-3)	#417	@ ATH	Aaron Civale (5-7)	#186
Fri, Jun 19th	vs TOR	Kevin Gausman (4-10)	#28	@ COL	Kyle Freeland (2-10)	#260
Sat, Jun 20th	vs TOR	Patrick Corbin (3-4)	#287	@ COL	Tomoyuki Sugano (10-4)	#433
Sun, Jun 21st				@ COL	Michael Lorenzen (3-9)	#432
Tue, Jun 23rd	@ NYM	Kodai Senga (0-7)	#190	vs SEA	George Kirby (8-8)	#21
Wed, Jun 24th	@ NYM	Sean Manaea (2-5)	#76	vs SEA	Bryan Woo (7-7)	#14
Thu, Jun 25th	@ NYM	Freddy Peralta (5-9)	#43	vs SEA	Bryce Miller (4-5)	#41
Fri, Jun 26th	@ MIL	Jacob Misiorowski (11-4)	#9	vs CIN	Andrew Abbott (5-6)	#97
Sat, Jun 27th	@ MIL	Kyle Harrison (8-2)	#54	vs CIN	Chase Burns (12-1)	#22
Sun, Jun 28th	@ MIL	Brandon Woodruff (2-2)		vs CIN	Brady Singer (5-9)	#157
Mon, Jun 29th	vs SD	Griffin Canning (1-9)	#176	@ PHI	Aaron Nola (3-8)	#59
Tue, Jun 30th	vs SD	JP Sears (3-3)	#150	@ PHI	Cristopher Sanchez (13-4)	#4
Wed, Jul 1st	vs SD	Walker Buehler (6-5)	#242	@ PHI	Zack Wheeler (10-2)	#6
Thu, Jul 2nd				@ PHI	Alan Rangel (0-3)	#309
Fri, Jul 3rd	vs STL	Andre Pallante (11-6)	#136	@ WSH	Foster Griffin (12-2)	#49
Sat, Jul 4th	vs STL	Kyle Leahy (7-4)	#115	@ WSH	Carson Palmquist (0-1)	#308
Sun, Jul 5th	vs STL	Matthew Liberatore (5-7)	#96	@ WSH	Cade Cavalli (7-4)	#55
Tue, Jul 7th	@ BAL	Shane Baz (4-9)	#63	vs ATL	Hurston Waldrep (0-1)	#299
Wed, Jul 8th	@ BAL	Dean Kremer (1-3)	#89	vs ATL	Grant Holmes (6-4)	#158
Thu, Jul 9th	@ BAL	Trevor Rogers (6-7)	#81	vs ATL	Bryce Elder (6-6)	#149
Sat, Jul 11th	@ CIN	Nick Lodolo (3-2)	#82	vs MIL	Shane Drohan (5-4)	#74
Sun, Jul 12th	@ CIN	Andrew Abbott (5-6)	#97	vs MIL	Robert Gasser (3-4)	#114
Sat, Jul 18th	vs MIN	Taj Bradley (9-4)	#58	@ CLE	Logan Allen (0-0)	#167
Sun, Jul 19th	vs MIN	Zebby Matthews (4-8)	#116	@ CLE	Joey Cantillo (8-6)	#80
Mon, Jul 20th	vs DET	Jack Flaherty (3-8)	#73	@ NYY	Ryan Weathers (4-7)	#67
Wed, Jul 22nd	vs DET	Keider Montero (7-5)	#145	@ NYY	Max Fried (4-3)	#13
Fri, Jul 24th	@ PIT	Jared Jones (2-1)	#50	vs CHC	Matthew Boyd (6-1)	#38
Sat, Jul 25th	@ PIT	Paul Skenes (9-9)	#3	vs CHC	Shota Imanaga (7-8)	#27
Sun, Jul 26th	@ PIT	Braxton Ashcraft (10-4)	#35	vs CHC	Jameson Taillon (2-6)	#103
Mon, Jul 27th	@ STL	Matthew Liberatore (5-7)	#96	vs ARI	Merrill Kelly (8-8)	#123
Tue, Jul 28th	@ STL	Michael McGreevy (4-8)	#90	vs ARI	Brandon Pfaadt (5-1)	#77
Wed, Jul 29th	@ STL	Dustin May (5-7)	#45	vs ARI	Eduardo Rodriguez (9-3)	#107
Thu, Jul 30th	@ STL	Andre Pallante (11-6)	#136	@ CIN	Hunter Greene (2-2)	#16
Fri, Jul 31st	vs NYY	Will Warren (7-5)	#62	@ CIN	Andrew Abbott (5-6)	#97
Sat, Aug 1st	vs NYY	Gerrit Cole (3-5)	#25	@ CIN	Chase Burns (12-1)	#22
Sun, Aug 2nd	vs NYY	Max Fried (4-3)	#13	@ CIN	Brady Singer (5-9)	#157
Mon, Aug 3rd	vs LAD	Eric Lauer (5-5)	#362	@ MIL	Logan Henderson (4-1)	#48
Tue, Aug 4th	vs LAD	Roki Sasaki (4-5)	#102	@ MIL	Shane Drohan (5-4)	#74
Wed, Aug 5th	vs LAD			@ MIL
Thu, Aug 6th	vs TOR	Dylan Cease (7-5)	#12	@ MIL
Fri, Aug 7th	@ KC			vs NYM
Sat, Aug 8th	@ KC			vs NYM
Sun, Aug 9th	@ KC			vs NYM
Tue, Aug 11th	@ WSH			@ MIA
Wed, Aug 12th	@ WSH			@ MIA
Thu, Aug 13th	@ WSH			@ MIA
Fri, Aug 14th	vs STL			vs BOS
Sat, Aug 15th	vs STL			vs BOS
Sun, Aug 16th	vs STL			vs BOS
Mon, Aug 17th	vs CWS			vs DET
Tue, Aug 18th	vs CWS			vs DET
Wed, Aug 19th	vs CWS			vs DET
Fri, Aug 21st	@ SEA			@ LAD
Sat, Aug 22nd	@ SEA			@ LAD
Sun, Aug 23rd	@ SEA			@ LAD
Mon, Aug 24th	@ ARI			@ SD
Tue, Aug 25th	@ ARI			@ SD
Wed, Aug 26th	@ ARI			@ SD
Fri, Aug 28th	vs CIN			@ STL
Sat, Aug 29th	vs CIN			@ STL
Sun, Aug 30th	vs CIN			@ STL
Tue, Sep 1st	vs MIL			vs SF
Wed, Sep 2nd	vs MIL			vs SF
Thu, Sep 3rd	vs MIL			vs SF
Fri, Sep 4th	@ MIA			vs LAA
Sat, Sep 5th	@ MIA			vs LAA
Sun, Sep 6th	@ MIA			vs LAA
Tue, Sep 8th	@ MIL			@ CWS
Wed, Sep 9th	@ MIL			@ CWS
Thu, Sep 10th				@ CWS
Fri, Sep 11th	vs PIT			@ CHC
Sat, Sep 12th	vs PIT			@ CHC
Sun, Sep 13th	vs PIT			@ CHC
Tue, Sep 15th	vs ATL			vs MIL
Wed, Sep 16th	vs ATL			vs MIL
Thu, Sep 17th				vs MIL
Fri, Sep 18th	@ CIN			vs KC
Sat, Sep 19th	@ CIN			vs KC
Sun, Sep 20th	@ CIN			vs KC
Tue, Sep 22nd	vs MIA			vs STL
Wed, Sep 23rd	vs MIA			vs STL
Thu, Sep 24th	vs MIA			vs STL
Fri, Sep 25th	@ BOS			@ DET
Sat, Sep 26th	@ BOS			@ DET
Sun, Sep 27th	@ BOS			@ DET
Mon, Apr 20th	vs PHI	Aaron Nola (3-8)	#59
Mon, May 4th	vs CIN	Chase Petty (1-2)	#419
Mon, May 18th	vs MIL	Brandon Sproat (3-5)	#148
Fri, Jul 10th	@ CIN	Hunter Greene (2-2)	#16
Fri, Jul 17th	vs MIN	Bailey Ober (7-3)	#93
Tue, Jul 21st	vs DET	Framber Valdez (5-7)	#33
Mon, Aug 31st	vs MIL
Mon, Sep 7th	@ MIL
Mon, Sep 14th	vs ATL

Who Should I Trade?

Esmerlyn Valdez for Michael Busch (2026)

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