Fantasy Baseball Trade Advice: Buy Low & Sell High (Week 15)

With fantasy baseball league trade deadlines approaching, will you be an aggressive dealer or a passive one?

Perhaps doing nothing and trying to win with what you already have is your approach. Or, perhaps, you will make a series of trades to put yourself in the best position to win your league.

Decisions will need to be made, and for this week, I have six players for consideration to buy low or sell high.

Fantasy Baseball Trade Advice (Week 15)

Buy Low

Adolis Garcia (OF – TEX)

Adolis Garcia is hitting .221 on the season with 16 HRs. After starting off the season strong, hitting .292 with eight HRs in March and April, Garcia followed it up by hitting just .165 in May and .198 in June.

The strikeout percentage could use some work at 26%, but that’s manageable if the tradeoff is some power. Last season, Garcia hit 39 bombs, and it’s doubtful he does that again, but we should get over 30 from him this season. In the last seven days, Garcia is hitting .250 with two HRs. In the last 10 games, Garcia has hit safely in nine of them. I expect a slightly higher batting average, around .240, to finish the year and perhaps mid-30s in HRs.

Garcia tends to get overlooked sometimes by managers looking for power. Perhaps some are annoyed with the low average. If that’s the case in your league, I would make an offer sooner rather than later.

Reese Olson (SP – DET)

Reese Olson has a 3.32 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP this season. Those are not bad ratios, but he only has a 2-8 record on the year. He started last month by losing his first three starts and never finishing over 5.1 innings in either of those three starts. In those combined 14.2 innings, he gave up 17 ERs and struck out 14.

His last three starts are a different story. In 18.1 innings he has allowed only four ERs and struck out 20. Olson has a good chase rate on his pitches at over 32%. He also has nearly a 52% ground ball rate. Another nice stat is that he has only allowed four HRs on the year.

Hopefully, Olson’s record will improve, and his numbers shouldn’t scare you away. Some fantasy managers could be only paying attention to his win/loss record, and if that’s the case for your league, then you could obtain Olson at a discount.

Ronald Acuna Jr. (OF – ATL)

Before having surgery and missing the entire season, Ronald Acuna Jr. was struggling and had some fantasy managers concerned.

He was hitting .250 with only four HRs before hitting the IL in late May. Buying low on Acuna Jr. is, of course, only suggested in dynasty/keeper leagues. Whoever has Acuna Jr. in your league could be trying to make the playoffs, and perhaps they would move him for some immediate help. It won’t cost you nothing, and, of course, you have to be in a position to take a player who is on the IL for the rest of the season.

This could be the best time to acquire a first-round talent at a discount, one that won’t be there at the beginning of next season.

Sell High

Lance Lynn (SP – STL)

Lance Lynn has a 4-3 record with a 3.59 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP this season. After a terrible season last year, he has been slightly more reliable this year. Although he hasn’t been a great starter this year, his HRs allowed are better than this time last year, and he has 84 Ks in just over 87 innings.

However, in 17 games started, Lynn has only five quality starts and two of those have come in his last two starts. I don’t see Lynn being a reliable starter for the rest of the season, and you will probably get worse starts than good ones. I would try to capitalize on his two recent starts and trade him to a pitching-needy team in your league.

Jared Jones (SP – PIT)

Jared Jones started off his rookie season hot. In his first month, Jones had a 2.86 ERA, 0.91 WHIP and over a 10.00 K/9 in April. For the year, Jones has a 3.66 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP. Teams are only hitting .219 against him this year.

Jones has pitched over 100 innings in the previous two seasons but never over 126 innings. He currently sits at 86 innings. Let’s say he gets 150 innings this year; we are looking at around 11 more starts. That could get you into September but won’t get you through the fantasy playoffs. He’s a young pitcher, and even though it looks promising, we have a long season ahead of us, and more info is needed. Selling now before any unknowns creep in could be beneficial.

Jones has only pitched over five innings twice in his last five starts. He did just pitch seven innings for a quality start last time out, so now could be the time to move him. He could bring a nice return in a dynasty league or even a redraft league.

Willi Castro (UTIL – MIN)

What position can Willi Castro not play? I have to admit, I love having these players on my team. Other than being able to play about every position, Castro is hitting .273 with seven HRs and 10 SB. The Twins keep finding ways to get Castro in the lineup, and he keeps producing.

Is he a long-term answer, though?

Castro strikes me as being a bench utility player – a greater asset in real baseball than in fantasy.
He has never played in over 125 games in the Majors. The Twins also have some younger prospects on the horizon. You have to imagine that they would cut into Castro’s playing time.

It would hurt to lose the versatility of a player like Castro, but some managers could be willing to pay a heavy price for him. He will get you SBs. He had 33 last year but has never had double-digit HRs, and his current .273 batting average is a career-high. Don’t let his versatility blind you from his actual numbers.