With the MLB trade deadline about a month away, wise fantasy baseball managers will be looking to free up roster space. We will see many players emerge as fantasy factors as a result of deadline deals, and those who have some bench space can add these men right away, and in some cases they may be able to get ahead of the pack by picking up players who could benefit from trades. most commented. To make that happen, managers will want to make 2-for-1 or 3-for-1 trades this month, in which they will give up several useful players in exchange for one difference-maker. And when looking for deals of this nature, here are some players who could find their names involved.
Sell high
Ryan Helsley (RP, St. Louis Cardinals)
There should be a strong market to trade Helsley to a team that needs defensemen. After all, the right-hander leads baseball by a wide margin with 31 saves and also has a 2.54 ERA. But Helsley has been walking a tightrope in securing narrow wins of late, having walked 10 hits in his last 11 starts. The point of including Helsley in this article is not to predict that his season will be due to a major downturn. Instead, the suggestion is that managers trade him for a premium return and then acquire a less coveted replacement or scour the waiver wire for a replacement. Helsley is an excellent reliever, but he benefited from the fact that the Cardinals generated the most save chances (45) of any team. There are clubs with similar records that have generated 10-15 fewer save opportunities.
Buy low
Josh Hader (RP, Houston Astros)
This is getting ridiculous. Hader was healthy all season, held opposing hitters to a .196 average and recorded just one save. And despite taking care of the business he can control, the lefty ranks 16th in baseball with 13 saves. Even a recent Astros hot streak didn’t help much, as Hader recorded just five saves in June. Many fantasy managers will look at his low save total and mediocre 3.82 ERA and conclude he’s having a bad year, but a deeper look shows a remarkable strikeout total of 60, which is the second-highest mark ( behind Mason Miller) of anyone. who won a save this year. It’s easy to imagine a scenario where Hader is the most valuable player in the second half.
Ha-Seong Kim (2B/3B/SS, San Diego Padres)
Even with the rise in steals across the league, it’s difficult to find players who post sizable totals in both home runs and swipes. For example, only eight players have accumulated at least 10 home runs and 15 swipes, and almost all of those men were selected in the first three rounds of the 2024 draft. Kim, Brenton Doyle and Jarren Duran are the outliers of the group, and most managers agrees that Duran and Doyle are in the midst of breakout seasons. Kim will certainly be the easiest man to acquire of the group, and he becomes more attractive when you realize that Statcast gives him a .251 xBA that is 23 points higher than his actual mark.
Buy high
Marcell Ozuna (OF, Atlanta Braves)
As hard as it was to imagine during draft season, Ozuna emerged as the best hitter on a star-studded Braves lineup. We shouldn’t be surprised that the 33-year-old is putting up impressive power numbers, as he’s coming off a 40-home run season. And maybe we shouldn’t be shocked by his .296 average, as he hit .312 in 2017 and .338 in 2020. The key for Ozuna is that he’s absolutely crushing the baseball, as his 93 mph average exit velocity is equal to his mark from the 2020 campaign and up 1.9 mph from last season. Ozuna is behind only Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, and Shohei Ohtani in xSLG, which accurately portrays his second-half power potential.
JD Martinez (OF, New York Mets)
Martinez performed well in June (.874 OPS), but likely wasn’t dominant enough to drastically increase his trade value. The recommendation here is to make a reasonable offer for the 36-year-old, who ranks ninth in baseball in xSLG and could be one of the biggest hitters in baseball this summer. In a perfect world, Martinez is traded this month to a contending team that plays on a bandbox. But even if that doesn’t happen, he could do well enough in the Mets’ surging offense to remain in every fantasy lineup. Martinez missed Tuesday’s game with a sore ankle caused by wearing new cleats, and officials will want to see him back in the lineup before making an offer.
Sell cheap
Alex Bregman (3B, Houston Astros)
While Bregman wasn’t terrible this year, his underwhelming season included just nine home runs, two steals and a .248 average. Additionally, his .702 OPS is 100 points below his marks in each of the previous two seasons. Statcast suggests that the 30-year-old has so far been fortunate to only post average stats, as his xBA (0.235) and xSLG (0.360) are noticeably lower than his actual grades. This looks to be the worst season of the nine-year veteran’s career.
