Fantasy Baseball Mailbag: Trade Deadline, Xavier Edwards, Devin Williams, Tyler O’Neill

Welcome back to the Fantasy Baseball Weekly Mailbag. The mailbag is an opportunity to ask a FantasyPros analyst anything about the ongoing season to make the best and most informed decisions possible. Questions from fantasy managers this week can be seen below.

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Fantasy Baseball Mailbag

What are your thoughts on the trade deadline?

Main takeaways:

Jack Flaherty will be even better. He is having a great year and is now on a better team. The 52-57 Tigers weren’t that bad. The Dodgers are just a clear upgrade.
Tanner Scott lost a lot of value since he is competing for saves and has an unclear role in the Padres bullpen. He might be a drop in most formats.
Jazz Chisholm is an obvious upgrade to the Yankees’ lineup and gains some value by being there. He seems to love being there — the flashy utility player has already crushed four homers for the Yankees.
Zach Eflin to the Orioles is a nice move and he will become relevant in shallower formats.
Paul Blackburn to the Mets might be a valuable move in deep leagues. Keep an eye out.
Randy Arozarena will lose value after being traded to the Mariners. Their stadium ranks last for right-handed hitters, according to Statcast.
Garrett Crochet not being traded is bad news, as the White Sox lose incentive to push him through his workload.

Is Xavier Edwards legit?

Fantasy managers who own him certainly hope so.

A reliable middle infielder emerging this far into the season could be a game-changer in the playoffs.

The 24-year-old became the second Marlin to ever hit for the cycle on July 30. He is slashing .379 /.462/.494 in 25 games this season. There’s no question he has been good. But can he keep it up?

No. Obviously not. He won’t keep batting .379. Let’s be honest here.

However, Edwards has a career minor-league slash line of .313/.385/.399. He has always been a good contact hitter. Sadly, he has no pop. The Marlin hit just 14 home runs across 461 minor league games. Edwards’ homer in the game he hit for the cycle may very well be his only one for the rest of the season.

Advanced stats indicate Edwards has been lucky. He has a .274 xBA to his actual .380 average. He is hitting the ball very softly. Fellow contact hitter Luis Arraez also hits the ball very softly. This trait is common among contact hitters, including Steven Kwan and Nico Hoerner. All four of these hitters rarely strike out and are great at drawing walks.

Edwards will cool down, but he will remain a viable option if he continues to hit in the ~.280 range and get walks and stolen bases. Remember, he will be limited in power and RBI in the Marlins’ lineup.

Devin Williams or Edwin Diaz?

Edwin Diaz.

Closer is the trickiest position in fantasy baseball. The last thing you need is a closer who is returning from injury. The Brewers have said Devin Williams will not pitch in back-to-back days as he regains full health. While the young star will be good, he will have bad moments — probably more than the usual closer as he adjusts to his return.

Edwin Diaz has had an up-and-down year. He has finally figured it out after returning from a prolonged injury of his own, tossing 8.0 innings to a 1.13 ERA with 10 strikeouts and six saves.

It’s a much better idea to grab a closer on a hot streak at this point in the season.

Pick two: Giancarlo Stanton, Nathaniel Lowe, Jose Miranda and Tyler O’Neill.

Tyler O’Neill and Nathaniel Lowe.

O’Neill is batting .310 with six homers and 17 RBI in July. He is batting .269 on the year and is making incredible contact with the ball (95th barrel percentage). O’Neill’s skills are not in question — his health is. As long as he can stay healthy, he is the best option out of this list.

Lowe is a significantly more boring player. He is batting .272 this year, right in line with his career .273 mark. Lowe’s nine homers and .403 slugging rate this year are below his career .436 rate. Nonetheless, Lowe is a consistent first baseman with a history of success. He is a player managers can put in their lineup and forget about.

Giancarlo Stanton? In 2024? Believe it or not, the slugger is having his best year since 2021. That is less a testament to his bounceback and more a reminder of how dreadful he has been. Grab O’Neill or Lowe instead.

Jose Miranda was elite for a few weeks and has returned to his career numbers. Combined with slight injuries, he is the worst target here.