The Trade deadline has come to pass this week and with that could be opening for new guys to help your fantasy teams. There are in fact two guys on this list that I think have new opportunities on their new teams. This week’s article also consists of a guy who was touted as a sleeper coming into the season, and someone who was in a previous edition of wavier wire articles and is still hitting. One note, all stats posted below are over the past two weeks.

Under 50%

Miguel Sano- 3B (MIN)

H / AB R HR RBI SB AVG OPS 14/47 10 5 14 0 0.298 1.091

Miguel Sano was on this list a few weeks ago and I was skeptical of his production before. As you can see over the past two weeks the power has hit a stride and the average has been close to .300. With the season home run total at 18, I can see him reaching 30 by the end of regular season. His average, even with a shortened season of 200 AB is at .248; I would expect it to stay around there if not drop. If you were to take a look at the breakdown of Sano’s hits it can get interesting. So far he has 51 hits, of those 51 hits 18 have been home runs. 20 of the other 33 hits have been singles, that means that if Sano gets a hit it most likely will result in a home run or a single. To go along with that, his is striking out at an insanely high 35.7% of the time. That is not something to rely on for a fantasy starter, though it can be useful as a bench or utility bat. If you were to just look at Sano’s average over the season it would be reasonable to see him with an average around .250. After seeing his break down, he still does worry me. If he stops hitting home runs then the average can drop and quickly. Sano can and should be owned for his power, but be prepared for the average to drop and needing to counter the low average.

Ender Inciarte- OF (ATL)

H / AB R HR RBI SB AVG OPS 9/31 9 2 8 3 0.290 0.952

Inciarte could be a sneaky pick up if he’s available in your league. 2019 has been a rough year with injuries and lots of missed time. So far his average has not been the best (.232 in 155 AB), but as he continues to get at bats I would assume the average would get better. If he finds his stride, it will be a huge pick up for owners. Along with the average, Inciarte also contributes in home runs and stolen bases. He already has 6 stolen bases this season and two of which were over the past seven days. He is hitting towards the bottom of the order right now, but that could easily change over time. Even so, he is contributing in runs and RBI’s even hitting towards the bottom of a good Braves lineup. I think this is the beginning of Inciarte getting his legs under him and now is the time to jump on him. Even if he is owned, you may be able to trade for him on a discount. Overall I see Inciarte as an OF 4 for the rest of this season, but with the potential to outproduce that mark and with ease into the OF 3 tier.

Corey Dickerson- OF (PHI)

H / AB R HR RBI SB AVG OPS 13/30 8 2 6 1 0.433 1.300

The loss of McCutchen for the year was terrible for fantasy owners (myself included) and for the Phillies themselves. On the day of the deadline, the Phillies traded for Dickerson in exchange for a player to be named later (a draft pick from this past FYPD) and cash. With this trade I would suspect for him to take over left field full time, at least for right now. This will take away time from the young Adam Haseley, of which I would’ve liked the Phillies to give Haseley more of a chance. I think long term Haseley will have value and contribute, but 2019 will not be that year. Back to Dickerson, who is hitting over .300 for the season with less than 150 AB. The power this season has been close to minimal (4HR), but in a better lineup and ballpark, we could see an increase in the second half. Dickerson is not a five category outfielder, he will best be used as a bench bat at this point for the rest of the season, but with the high average and good BB and strike out ratios Dickerson can continue to provide value. Another note against Dickerson, is that Jay Bruce is working his way back and may take some at bats away from him as well. Unfortunately Haseley, Bruce and Dickerson are all left handed bats, otherwise there could be a platoon option. Playing time could be decided by who has the hottest bat. Out of the three left fielders Dickerson would be the one to own, and Bruce would be the second.

Under 25%

Teoscar Hernandez- OF (TOR)

H / AB R HR RBI SB AVG OPS 7/23 4 3 5 0 0.304 1.167

The Blue Jays have had some trouble getting production from their outfield this season. The outfielder’s average is less than impressive at .221, but as of late the power has helped him it over .300 over the past two weeks. The power is what is driving the current value with 6 home runs over the last two weeks and half of those coming in the past week. Long term I don’t think Teoscar can keep up close to this pace and will perform similarly to his teammate Randal Grichuk. This is simply a juice the orange situation and not one that will last. There are better options out there, and Teoscar should only be added in very deep or AL only leagues.

Derek Fisher- OF (TOR)

From a fantasy prospective, one of my favorite trades was between the Astros and Blue Jays. The Blue Jays got Derek Fisher in exchange for Aaron Sanchez and Joe Biagini. I loved the possible value increase for Sanchez, but I was really excited for Fisher. Fisher has played part time over the past 3 seasons for the Astros and has not done too much to convince them that he deserved to play full time over others. I think the move to Toronto will take Fisher out of the shadows of other top prospect outfielders in the Astros system and take some pressure off. This season, the Blue Jays have allowed their younger players to grow and develop at the major league level. Fisher was immediately added to the major league roster following the trade and hopefully he will be given the same chance as others. Fisher possesses elite speed and the ability to steal bases while having average hit tool and power. This year between AAA and MLB, Fisher has 15 HR and 12 SB while hitting .274. If he can do that at the major league level, that would make him quite the valuable outfielder. It should be noted that there has been massive struggles at the major league level for Fisher. He has hit around .200 over parts of 3 years with 10 Home runs and 9 Stolen bases. I do not think he makes the type of leap of the production has shown through both levels this year, but I do believe there is value in his speed. 2019 has been a year where it’s been hard to find stolen bases. Fisher can provide some speed for you at the least. Fisher is a big risk/ big reward play for fantasy owners and is in no way a sure bet, but the potential has me very intrigued and will be following him closely or giving him a chance. Even if he does not hit for average and contributes in power and stolen bases I would be willing to give him a chance.

Niko Goodrum- 1B, 2B,SS, OF (DET)

H / AB R HR RBI SB AVG OPS 14/51 5 3 6 2 0.275 0.869

Coming into the season, Niko was touted as a sleeper for fantasy owners everywhere. Last year he displayed a combination of power (16 HR) and speed (12 SB) while hitting with a .245 average. So far in 2019, Niko is pretty much replicating the same numbers with 12 stolen bases and 10 home runs while hitting .246. The problem for Niko is his Left vs Right splits. When facing lefties he hits .375, but only .209 against righties. That is a massive difference and one that can concern fantasy owners. This also could be part of the result for his up and down season. Niko is becoming a platoon hitter and unfortunately the weak side of the platoon. This problem is not just from this season, but through his career. The position eligibility has enough value in and of itself to own him being as he plays just about every position on ESPN, and on Yahoo you can add 3B to his long list of positions. The problem will be the matchups for his success. He plays just about every day, and trading away Nick Castellanos opens up another outfield position to be filled. For the rest of this season, Niko would be a bench bat for plug and play.

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