Matt Olson Traded to Braves: Fantasy Baseball Takeaways & Implications (2022)

Another day, another significant Major League Baseball trade. This time, a slugger is heading to the National League and an improved hitting environment. Joe Pisapia — co-host of Leading Off, our daily in-season fantasy baseball podcast — is here to provide his rapid fantasy baseball reaction to the deal.

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Matt Olson to the Braves may officially end the tenure of Freddie Freeman in Atlanta. The 27-year-old Olson is one of the premier sluggers in baseball and is moving to a far more power-friendly environment compared to Oakland. I would bid on Olson approaching 35+ HR with 100 R/RBI potential with a BA in the .260 range.

Fun fact: Olson is +3000 bet to lead the majors in HRs. That may be worth an early sprinkle as he does have the upside of 40+ dingers.

The prospects going back to ATL in this deal: OF Cristian Pache (all glove, no stick), C Shea Langeliers (nice power for a catcher), RHP Ryan Cusick, and RHP Joey Estes (still 2-3 years away at least) make this a win for the Braves for at least the next three years.
– Joe Pisapia

The most important aspect of the Matt Olson trade, at least from a fantasy perspective, is getting Olson out of Oakland. The A’s appear to be in the early stages of a fire sale, and the last thing we want as fantasy managers is Olson left as the last man standing with no lineup protection and no one on base in front of him. According to Baseball Savant’s Park Factors Leaderboard, the Oakland Coliseum ranks 26th for left-handed hitters, while Atlanta’s Truist Park comes in at 8th overall for lefties. The Braves appear likely to lose Freddie Freeman in free agency, but they add the younger Olson who has thrived in Oakland over the last few years despite playing in that ballpark. Olson hit 39 home runs in 156 games in 2021, and the move to Atlanta will move some home run projections for the veteran slugger into the 40s.
– Mike Maher

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