SAGNOF: Trade Deadline Reactions

What’s poppin, Razzpimples?

Thought I’d throw together a quick little ditty on how the past couple days of trade action have affected bullpens across the league, and then how that impacts your fantasy lineups. Won’t be deep-diving or anything, just a gut-check response to the craziness.

Don’t forget, the Razzball Bullpen Chart is manned by yours truly and updated like every single second (not really, but I stay on top of thangs for the most part).

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AL East

Baltimore Orioles: Traded away stud closer Jorge Lopez, opening the door for Felix Bautista to probably be the primary guy there. He’s basically been every bit as good as Lopez without the saves, so you should prioritize this dude imo.

Boston Red Sox: No changes other than shipping out Jake Diekman, who has great strikeout stuff but can’t always control it. He wasn’t a big factor anymore anyway.

New York Yankees: Added both Scott Effross and Lou Trivino. Only one of those guys matters, and you know which one it is. Should figure into late-inning work straight away, making him a good holds source ROS.

Tampa Bay Rays: No changes to this pen. Pick your poison on any given night as to who gets the ball in the 9th.

Toronto Blue Jays: Brought back setup man Anthony Bass, who was pretty bad last year and seems to have fixed things this year. Good chance he’s a regular holds source ROS. I know ERA doesn’t tell even half the story, but I can’t look at Bass’ 1.41 and not be impressed.

 

AL Central

Chicago White Sox: Added Jake Diekman. Miiiight factor in for some holds, but I’m not even bothering with him. Kendall Graveman and Joe Kelly are your best bets for White Sox holds, though Kelly will get bumped down when Aaron Bummer eventually returns.

Cleveland Guardians: No changes here either. Emmanuel Clase should be elite ROS, while Trevor Stephan seems to have resurfaced as the best setup option for now.

Detroit Tigers: Traded away Michael Fulmer, which opens a slot for Alex Lange to get more regular late-inning work methinks. But don’t discount Joe Jimenez, who’s looking a whole lot better in 2022 and has 3 HD in just the last five days.

Kansas City Royals: No changes. Scott Barlow stays put, thus his fantasy stock carries on as usual.

Minnesota Twins: Big changes here! Jorge Lopez and Michael Fulmer join the ranks, and you gotta figure Lopez is the primary closer given the season he’s having. Jhoan Duran could still mix in, but I’m not really counting on it. Duran and Fulmer should be your main setup guys.

 

AL West

Houston Astros: Brought in Will Smith, but I don’t think he’ll factor in too much at all for fantasy purposes. Ryan Pressly is 100000% the closer, and Rafael Montero and Hector Neris have been so very good as setup men.

Los Angeles Angels: Oof, rough times for Angels fans. Just ask Coolwhip. Raisel Iglesias was traded to Atlanta for Jesse Chavez, which means Ryan Tepera becomes the favorite closing option. Even so, Jose Quijada was the one to get the first save in this new Dark Era. Given he’s a lefty and Tepera’s a righty, it could be a matchup-based thing moving forward. Who knows. All I know is the Angels are in a rough place after such an amazing start to the season. Hard to predict who gets regular holds…Jimmy Herget? Aaron Loup? Jesse Chavez? Andrew Wantz? I’d just avoid this pen entirely tbh. Except Tepera/Quijada if desperate for saves.

Oakland Athletics: Traded away Lou Trivino, and Dany Jimenez was activated, so it might be a three-headed closing committee with Jimenez, A.J. Puk, and Zach Jackson. Or it could just be Jimenez is the full-time closer again and Jackson/Puk setup.

Seattle Mariners: No changes. Paul Sewald is your closer and Andres Munoz is the best setup man.

Texas Rangers: Traded away one Matt (Matt Bush) and kept another (Matt Moore). Moore has had a great 2022 and is 100% a high-leverage guy for Texas. He will see save chances, I just don’t know how regular they’ll be with Jonathan Hernandez and Brock Burke in the mix too. I would lean Hernandez for saves if I had to pick. Might be better off just looking elsewhere for now until things solidify. Cuz Joe Barlow is due back soon, too.

 

NL East

Atlanta Braves: Brought in elite RP Raisel Iglesias. Don’t worry, Kenley Jansen owners, your guy is still the closer on one of the best squads in baseball. Iglesias owners in SV-only leagues are distraught, however. Obvs his SVHD value remains great, but you can wave bye bye to saves, sadly.

Miami Marlins: Shipped out Anthony Bass and also activated Anthony Bender from the IL. So Bender slots back into setup duties and could even see save chances again if Tanner Scott can’t fix his free pass problem. Scott has 13 BB in his last 13.2 IP. Yikes.

New York Mets: Added Mychal Givens, who figures to slot right into setup duties for now. Trevor May is gonna be ready soon, though, so we’ll have to see how things shake out. I would still expect good holds from Givens the rest of the way. Probably.

Philadelphia Phillies: It was pretty much a given that David Robertson would get dealt, and it ended up being the Phillies who acquired him. It’s kind of a three-headed beast back there now between him, Brad Hand, and Seranthony Dominguez. Very annoying. Robertson’s SV-only stock takes a big ol’ hit for now. Could be he pulls ahead later on.

Washington Nationals: No changes here. Kyle Finnegan is the man for saves if you want to bother. Avoid everyone else.

 

NL Central

Chicago Cubs: After shipping out three guys, Rowan Wick is left as the guy for saves. And like Finnegan, he’s only there if you want to bother. The Cubs are atrocious, and the rest of this pen is full of names I’ve genuinely never heard of for the most part. Avoid everyone except Wick, if desperate.

Cincinnati Reds: Thought Hunter Strickland would move, but he stays put, so he’s still in the saves mix. Alexis Diaz is as well, but his value is more of the SVHD variety. Can’t trust him much for saves given 1). Strickland is ahead of him and 2). the Reds are poopy.

Milwaukee Brewers: Woo boy. They traded one of the best in the game (I don’t care about his recent struggles) but got one of the better guys in the game in Taylor Rogers, who’s also struggled mightily lately. Brewers also added Matt Bush, who could factor into some holds here and there, but this will probably be the Devin Williams + Taylor Rogers show. I’m not counting Rogers out for saves, especially given he’s a lefty, allowing Craig Counsell to play matchups. Oh yeah, and they got Trevor Rosenthal, who’s injured, from the Giants. Might be holds guy later on? Kinda doubt it. He woulda been in an okay spot in San Fran, but the Brew Crew pen is too crowded for my taste.

Pittsburgh Pirates: David Bednar remains a Pirate, which really isn’t surprising. Lower back is bothering him, though, so he may land on the IL soon. Wil Crowe is your man if that happens. Chris Stratton was traded to the Cardinals, but that doesn’t matter one way or the other.

St. Louis Cardinals: Added Chris Stratton. Meh. So what. Won’t be a fantasy factor unless the injury bug strikes multiples times. This pen is the same as it was a few days ago as far as fantasy is concerned.

 

NL West

Arizona Diamondbacks: No changes.

Colorado Rockies: Also no changes, surprisingly. Or is it even surprising, coming from the Rockies? The one guy they should have traded was instead extended. At the ripe old age of 37. Daniel Bard remains a strong fantasy option, at least!

Los Angeles Dodgers: Added Chris Martin, but that doesn’t matter. No changes from a fantasy perspective.

San Diego Padres: Wooooo boy. Josh Hader (and that Juan Soto guy)! What a deadline for the Dads; daddies went ham. Hader will be the closer, so setup duties remain the same down the line. Garcia is the best option.

San Francisco Giants: Remember when the Giants signed Trevor Rosenthal for a minute? Well, they traded him. Not sure he was gonna be a fantasy factor anyway. This pen doesn’t change from a fantasy viewpoint.

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