Fantasy owners are making some tough decisions this time of the year. With the number of injuries and disappointments from star players, adjustments have and will continue to be made.
The All-Star break can be a reset for fantasy managers. They can take stock of where their team currently sits. Hopefully, your season isn’t a wash and you can still make some moves to make a run for the title. If it is a wash, look at getting a jump start on next season. Let’s see if these six buy-low/sell-high players can be useful in your league.
- Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Advice
- Fantasy Baseball Trade Advice
- Fantasy Baseball Start/Sit Lineup Advice
- MLB Prop Bet Cheat Sheet
Fantasy Baseball Trade Advice (Week 16)
Buy Low
Colt Keith hasn’t lived up to the hopes many fantasy owners had when they drafted him. He was a popular late-round pick. Depending on the depth of your league he might’ve been dropped after the first month of the season. He rebounded in the month of May hitting, .342 with two home runs but then fell in June hitting just .220 with an additional two homers.
On the season, Keith has a .245 average with seven home runs. For the last seven days, he’s hitting .370 with three homers. One needs to remember he’s a rookie and will struggle but Keith could put it all together. Once he does his value will increase.
Last week I mentioned Ronald Acuna Jr. as a buy-low player in dynasty leagues. This week it’s Julio Rodriguez’s time. Rodriguez has been a dud this year considering he was a first-round pick for many. His .249 average and eight home runs are lacking that first-round appeal. Rodriguez had an injury scare this past weekend but now seems ok. That’s the main reason I added his name here. The potential for an injury could have been the final straw for many of his owners. Even with that not being the case, Rodriguez still finds his way here.
I would prefer to buy low on Rodriguez in dynasty leagues but even in redraft leagues I would try and buy low. Rodriguez appears to be just a good week away from getting back on track. Nothing shows he can’t turn it around. It might still cost you a decent amount, but it’s still cheaper than before this season started. The last days to buy low on Rodriguez are here.
Sean Manaea has a 3.43 ERA in 89 innings pitched. He has allowed three earned runs or fewer in 14 of his 17 starts. That’s not bad and should result in more than just five wins for him. One can hope better luck will find Manaea in the second half.
He won’t always go deep into games. Manaea has gone six innings or more only five times this year. He has pitched over 100 innings in the three past seasons and has pitched over 150 in two of those three. We are not looking at an innings limit situation for Manaea. Even if the Mets decide to move him into a spot start or long relief role, which they have not indicated they will, Manaea still holds some fantasy relevance.
Manaea has RP eligibility and that can be a good way to get some extra stats/points in category or points leagues. He did have a rough June with an ERA over 5.00 but in two starts in July he has a 0.69 ERA and 11 strikeouts in 13 innings. Manaea won’t cost you much and he would be a nice extra arm to have down the stretch.
Sell High
Brady Singer has a 5-5 record with a 2.93 ERA on the year. After his first start of the season, where he went seven innings with zero earned runs and 10 strikeouts, fantasy owners thought that they might’ve gotten a hidden gem in the later rounds. Singer hasn’t been terrible since and has had some bumps along the way.
Singer is allowing over a 40% hard hit rate this year and is getting just around a league average in K%. Teams are hitting just .230 against him but the expected average is .263. The scariest stat on his Statcast page is his expected ERA.
As I mentioned earlier, his ERA is 2.93, the expected ERA is 4.52. That’s a big jump. Better days are probably not in the future for Singer. He’s coming off a strong seven-inning, seven-strikeout performance in Coors field. Now is the time to deal him to a pitching needy team in your league.
I had Zach Wheeler listed here before he left his last game with lower back tightness. However, that does highlight my reason to sell him even more. It’s hard to trust pitchers that start to have back problems. That’s an injury that lingers.
For many fantasy owners, Wheeler is considered the top fantasy pitcher this season. He does have great numbers with a 10-4 record, an ERA at 2.70 and a WHIP of 0.99. Wheeler has been hit hard at times but it’s by no means consistent. Wheeler’s velocity is down this year compared to last season with his fastball and sweeper. Wheeler’s expected ERA is around 3.00, so that’s not a horrific jump from where it is now.
Perhaps I’m nitpicking here but I’m just not sold on Wheeler being the best fantasy pitcher for the future. He is definitely up there and that’s why I would move him if it’s possible for your team. He’s not a sell as quickly as you can by any means but if you can get a king’s ransom for him or re-stock your team, I would consider it.
Jose Miranda is an interesting player thanks to his great contact skills and low strikeout percentage. Playing time has been a concern but after the week he put in, his playing time is safe for the foreseeable future.
Miranda tied a record that no hitter has done since 1952 by getting a hit in 12 consecutive at-bats. Miranda is currently on a 12-game hitting streak and has reached base successfully with a hit in 21 out of the last 25 games.
He is currently hitting .332 with an expected batting average of .293. That’s still great but his hard-hit% and barrel% are barely at league average. Miranda has a bad chase rate at over 33% but his K% is fantastic at 13%.
He can’t continue with this current pace, but he is seeing the ball very well right now. I’m sure Miranda was a waiver wire add for many owners out there, so selling high and getting some good value for him now would make sense.
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