You’ve been following TDGX. You love TDGX. We all love TDGX. And every week here at The Dynasty Guru, I am going to be bringing you commentary from our flagship experts’ league, directly from the participants themselves. Today we’re going to cover all of the transactions made post-draft, including a few trades–one involving an elite prospect and another involving a potential high-end starting pitcher.
The goal here is to give you insight into the moves made by our group of experts so that you can use this information the next time you need to make a trade or prominent FA move in your league. So let’s not mess around with too much longer of an introduction. We’re going to break this up into three sections: trades, major league additions, minor league additions.
TRADES
Craig Goldstein/Mauricio Rubio trade Arismendy Alcantara and a fourth round pick to Mike Buttil for Yordano Ventura.
Mike: “This one is easy. We don’t want to mess with the elbow. I jokingly tweeted to Craig when the injury happened, asking if he was still interested in Ventura (Craig kind of groaned when we took him in the draft). Pro tip: remember who your league mates liked on draft day for future trades. Serious trade talks ensued and we ended up acquiring Alcantara, a well-rounded 22-year-old middle infielder in the Cubs system with speed as his primary fantasy weapon, although he has launched seven dingers in Triple-A this season as well. Hate to see Yordano go because he is sexy, and Craig and Mauricio were smart to buy low here. We were happy to swap the arm for a bat close to the majors and another pick in next year’s draft. It gives us 14 of the first 100 picks and another surefire keeper of our 20.”
Craig: “This was a difficult decision, as I’ve be Arismendy’s hype-man for a while now. The fact of the matter is that Yordano’s arm injury gave me an opportunity to buy on a guy for a price I otherwise wouldn’t have been able to. The injury is scary, but the payoff is immediate, as the start he missed I couldn’t use anyway. It wasn’t UCL damage either, which is encouraging. I believe Alcantara will be a good baseball player and a better fantasy one, but the bottom line is I don’t know because he hasn’t done anything in the majors. Ventura has, and that, combined with a relatively strong group of hitters and weak group of pitchers, carried the day for me.”
Nick Doran trades Gabriel Guerrero, Jorge Polanco and a fourth round pick to J.P. Breen for Brandon McCarthy
Nick: “McCarthy has a 5.20 ERA but his xFIP is 2.86 so I am expecting better results out of him moving forward. His strikeout and walk rates are good, but he has been unlucky in terms of BABIP and strand rate. He won’t be in my lineup every week but I think he is a solid boost for my pitching staff. I have been working on improving my starting pitching for months now and I am finally happy with my rotation. I don’t have any ace quality pitchers but I have a deep lineup of “not quite an ace” pitchers to mix and match on a weekly basis. The good part is I was able to build this pitching staff without sacrificing any of my league-leading hitting corps. To acquire McCarthy I had to give up prospects Gabriel Guerrero (Vlad’s nephew) and Jorge Polanco along with a 4th round draft pick. Considering I am making a strong run to win the championship this year I feel it was a price well worth paying.”
J.P.: “This is not a trade I was excited to make. Still, coming into the trading season and hearing how much teams are prioritizing bats when discussing trades, I decided this was an opportunity for me to pick up a couple promising hitting prospects. I really like Guerrero, and Polanco has a high chance of making it to the big league level. More importantly, they’re trading chips, as I look to improve my roster heading into the 2015 season. Fewer and fewer bats and prospects will be available as more teams are looking to sell. While it’s serving a larger purpose in my quest to rebuild, I’m unhappy with myself about the trade in an abstract sense.”
Luke Chatelain trades Taijuan Walker, Phil Ervin and Jhoulys Chacin to Noel Baldwin/Andy Barnes for David Price
Luke: “In our push to still make a run in 2014 we decided to send away Taijuan Walker, Phil Ervin and Jhoulys Chacin for David Price. Price, a late 3rd Round draft pick, has been one of my undervalued targets this year in Dynasty Leagues. His age, 28 although he feels older, his injury last year and his slightly elevated ERA (4.27) have really nicked his value this season, but the underlying stats, especially the 90K/9BB ratio and his 2.83 xFIP, scream for regression back to a elite SP. We see him as an integral piece of our team for at least the next 3 seasons. However, to get elite talent you need to send away elite talent, the obvious prize of this deal for Noel/Andy’s team was Walker. Walker is in line to be back on the mound in the majors this week and while that certainly is positive news the shoulder injuries have raised some long term issues about his future health and productivity. Ervin was a top 60ish prospect coming into this season but he’s done nothing to keep the helium going and while he still has a very favorable outlook he doesn’t look to be an immediate impact player. The last piece of the deal Chacin shouldn’t be overlooked either, his 2013 was solid and he seems to have found an approach that can work for Coors Field, throw in his age (26) and he has decent value in a league this deep.
At the end of the day however, we were really happy with this trade, as we turned our late 7th round, early 22nd round and early 24th round picks into a legit ace/3rd round pick.”
Noel: “Coming out of the draft we thought we could be reasonably competitive this year, but it’s been a tough first two months and we decided it was time to look ahead. In trading our top two starters we were able to get a top prospect, two good prospects with upside, and build some depth by acquiring two guys with years left on their arms. In adding a top prospect to go along with two upside guys with longer paths to the majors we think our prospects look better for 2015-17 than they did before the deals.
Walker was key in the Price deal from our perspective. Shoulder injuries are nothing to sneeze at, but his steady recovery and impending return to the Seattle rotation made it easier to move on him. Ervin and McCullers have some work to do, but both have skill sets that we like.”
Ian Kahn/Tim McLeod trade Drew Smyly and Lance McCullers to Noel Baldwin/Andy Barnes for Matt Cain and a fourth round pick
Ian: “One can never have enough pitching, and trading Smyly and McCullers right now felt like a good value to get a pitcher of Cain’s Pedigree. Kershaw, Tanaka, Ryu, Cain, Cashner, Quintana, and Hughes/Chavez is feeling like a strong rotation for the rest of the season. Hopefully we bought at the right time. We’ll see.”
Noel: “Adding Smyly and Chacin was backfilling in one sense, but they are both young enough and have shown the ability to perform at league average or better in the past, so despite their performances this year we think that they are solid depth.”
Nick Doran trades Jose Berrios to Chris Crawford for Michael Lorenzen
Nick: “I gave up a very good prospect in Jose Berrios to obtain Lorenzen, who was a supplemental 1st round pick last year out of Cal State Fullerton. He was a two-way player in college and was an excellent draft prospect both as a hitter and a pitcher. The Reds opted to make him a full-time starting pitcher and the results have been extremely promising thus far. He is tall and athletic, has a powerful fastball and a great groundball rate. Compared to Berrios, Lorenzen has a higher upside and is closer to the major leagues. Both are excellent prospects but I prefer Lorenzen.”
MAJOR LEAGUE FA PICKUPS
Craig Goldstein/Mauricio Rubio add Brock Holt for $4
“Holt was OPSing 869 heading into Tuesday night’s game. Basically, it’s riding a hot hand until Drew gets called up, and even then he might see time as a platoon bat. He’s not particularly good, but in a league this deep it’s worth a shot.”
Craig Goldstein/Mauricio Rubio add Ronald Belisario for $4
“He’s not very good except for when he is. No one knows who is getting saves in Chicago while Lindstrom is out, and this is just a hedge against someone taking the job and running with it. Belisario blows up as well as anyone but he can put together some dominant stretches as well.”
Mike Newman adds Robbie Grossman for $3
“Desperate for an outfielder, Robbie Grossman returns to Team ROTOscouting as a starting outfielder. Hopefully, he’ll become the player I expected him to be during the draft — a double-digit HR/SB threat. If not, then it’s a warm body who’ll log regular at bats until something better comes along.”
Ian Kahn/Tim McLeod add Shae Simmons for $3
“In hopes of finding the proper handcuff for Kimbrell, as we have for Grilli, we are taking a shot with Simmons. His dominant numbers at AA, as well as his continued Minor League eligibility seemed like a worthwhile risk.”
Mike Newman adds Jake McGee for $2
Mike Newman adds Drew Storen for $2
Mike Newman adds Adam Warren for $2
“In essence, the write up is the same for all three pitchers. Without a starting pitcher to turn to and with a healthy starting four of Cueto, Wheeler, Cole and Ross, it made sense to acquire low ERA/WHIP relievers and lower those numbers. Plus, all three may back into a few saves over the course of the season if an injury to the incumbent closer doesn’t occur first.”
Jason Hunt adds Jerry Sands for $0
“The injury to Wil Myers brought Sands up to the big leagues, and has the potential to see a decent amount of playing time with him now out for longer than expected. He can be a nice source of power if he plays 3-4 times a week, and is a definite improvement over Jason Kubel at the least.”
Wilson Karaman adds Eric Stults for $0
“When I submitted this claim Stults was slated for a home-and-home two-start week against Pittsburgh and Washington, but he ended up getting bumped to last Sunday’s start and losing that eligibility. Still, Stults is a prime example of why pitching at Petco is a desirable thing. Over the course of a 27-start sample in his Petco career he’s put up a 12-6 record with a 3.43 ERA and 1.17 WHIP. On the road he’s gone 17-25 with a 4.50/1.44 line. I like him as a streaming option at home, and with a scuffling Nats offense on the docket I decided to give him the ol’ college try this week.”
J.P. Breen adds Ryan Cook for $0
“This was an opportunity to pick up a reliever who many thought should be closing in Oakland. The Athletics are cruising with Doolittle in the closer’s role, but if he falters down the stretch, Cook could be the leading candidate to replace him.”
Nick Doran adds Josh Collmenter for $0
“I now have 3/5 of the DBacks rotation on my team (Collmenter, McCarthy and Miley. You can keep Arroyo). Collmenter was a successful reliever the past year and a half, but he was pressed into action as a starter due to injury and ineffectiveness amongst the Arizona staff. So far he has put up a 4-2 record with a 3.34 ERA and ranks as the 164th ranked overall player in CBS leagues (pitchers and hitters combined). I don’t expect Collmenter to continue to produce quite as well as he has so far this year, but he does have a career 3.39 ERA in 400 innings, so he is not a small sample size fluke of luck. He can be a nice boon to my pitching staff if used strategically based on the matchups each week. With 20 teams with 40 man rosters and a 3 man disabled list there are about 850 rostered players in this league, so getting a pretty good pitcher like Collmenter for free off the waiver wire is a nice steal for a contending team.”
Mike Buttil adds David Buchanan for $0
“Not many starters out there on the waiver wire. He replaces Carter Capps (injured) in our pitching rotation. There isn’t much upside, but he could eat some innings and at least he plays for our favorite team.”
Mike Buttil adds J.D. Martinez for $0
“Brandon Barnes’ playing time all but vanished when Cuddyer returned, so we needed somebody to fill the void. Martinez has at least semi-regular playing time and could contribute some counting stats in our outfield.”
Mike Buttil adds Kevin Kiermaier for $0
“Looking for a cheap bat off the wire in a 20-team, 40-man roster dynasty league? Look no further than Kevin Keirmaier! With Barnes on the bench and Pollock on the DL, we needed to pick up two outfielders this week. We bid on Robbie Grossman as well, but he went to Mike Newman. I hope Keirmaier plays well, and I also hope never to have to spell his name again in a post. He could see playing time against right-handers with the injury to Wil Myers, and he does have two home runs in limited plate appearances this season. Now I just need to get him and Arruebarrena together for a Scrabble tournament.”
MINOR LEAGUE FA PICKUPS
Craig Glaser/Tom Trudeau add Eugenio Suarez for $2
“I’m not sure why Eugenio Suarez was left off Tigers top prospect lists or how he was unowned to this point. He’s always posted healthy walk rates and hit for decent power. During his worst stint in the minors at the plate he posted a 102wRC+. A June call up seems very possible.”
Craig Glaser/Tom Trudeau add Michael Feliz for $1
“Michael Feliz has a big arm and his 11.15 K/9 represents the fourth straight year his strikeout rate has gone up. A lot can go wrong, but there’s a chance for a nice return via trade.”
Luke Chatelain adds Seth Mejias-Breen for $0
“Brean is a bit old for High-A ball as he just turned 23 but he has hit at every level he’s played at so far so it’s hard to fault him for the organization taking it slowly with his development. So far in 2014 Brean has mixed his power and speed nicely putting up 9 HRs and 7 SBs, couple that with his outstanding BB% (14.4) and above average K% (14.8) and you’ve got the makings of a solid big-leaguer.”
J.P. Breen adds Mitch Nay for $0
“Baseball Prospectus had Nay as one of the potential breakout prospects in the Blue Jays system this year. Position players often struggle when making the jump from rookie ball to full-season ball, so I’m not worried about the slow start. I’m more worried about his ability to stay at third base, as that puts massive pressure on his bat to be elite. Still, it didn’t cost anything. Those moves carry little (if any) risk.”
Nick Doran adds Dariel Alvarez for $0
“The 25 year old Cuban defector signed with Baltimore last year. He has an .895 OPS in AA ball with 10 homers so far this year. He put up good stats in the Cuban League but is still a relative unknown. He could get a shot in the major leagues soon.”
Mike Buttil adds Austin Hedges for $0
“After trading d’Arnaud for a bunch of picks, we kind of figured (hoped) a catcher would surface somehow in a one-catcher league (even one this deep). Sure enough, we were able to scoop Hedges off the free agent market without much competition. He’s 21 years old, ranked #18 overall at BP coming into this season, and plays good enough defense to rise quickly at a position that typically takes a while to develop.”
Luke Chatelain adds Christian Walker for $0
“Walker struggled in his short stint at AA last year but was still named to the Futures game for his solid showing at high-A. 2014 has been a whole different dance for Walker as he has absolutely destroyed AA pumping out 15 HRs and a 165 wRC+ through the first 55 games. He’ll probably always be a bat first kind of guy but that’s exactly who you’re looking for in fantasy leagues.”
Nick Doran adds Clint Coulter for $0
“The Brewers’ 2012 1st round pick is having a breakout season with the stick. The 20 year old catcher is putting up a .978 OPS in the Class A Midwest League. He has an awesome 33:38 BB:K ratio, which I really like. Coulter also has 10 homers in 178 ABs. He is climbing the prospect charts quickly.”
Nick Doran adds Andrew Susac for $0
“The 24 year old backstop is showing he is ready for the major leagues by putting up a .296/.395/.531 slash line for a .926 OPS in AAA ball. Susac has always been a good hitter and has shown major statistical improvement at every step up the minor league ladder, which is a strong indicator of future success.”
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