This week in ‘the author feels old and can’t handle it’: hamstrings. I pulled a muscle/ligament/whatever your hamstring is in a freaking slow-pitch softball game. Like, how unathletic do you have to be to do that? Made a quick-twitch in left-center during the first inning of Game 1 of a doubleheader last week and POP.

I have never pulled, broken, or sprained anything before. I am very good about stretching and just not having an injury history in general. Nonetheless, it happened and I feel old. Maybe all of my fake high school reunion friends from last week’s intro will console me.

Nonetheless, we are here! I don’t need a hamstring to write about fake baseball. We had many trades this week and I’m prepared to tell you what it means from a prospect perspective. If you’re wondering how this all materializes from a major league standpoint, consult my good friends Keith & Joe’s article regarding just that.

I will be listing teams in order of whose prospect hauls I personally liked the best. No, this isn’t the clickbait-y “Grading the trade deadline deals” article that 5,043,789 sites have already done. This is strictly ranked based on prospect returns and fantasy impact in the future. I have the right to be wrong here. Onward!

2019 Fantasy Baseball Week 18 Prospect Report

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Arizona Diamondbacks

An expensive ace for a full house

The Diamondbacks had the most impressive deadline for me among contenders and rebuilders. Or whatever they claim to be? No idea. Regardless, they took calculated risks on players they could afford to wait on and I loved it for them. Additionally, in this particular deal, they got the Astros to take on two-thirds of Greinke’s contract. Wowza.

They received JB Bukauskas, Corbin Martin, Seth Beer, and Josh Rojas. Starting with the pitching prospects, Bukauskas projects as a back-end arm by many scouting profiles. I haven’t seen him in person, but I still think there’s something there as a starter. Call me crazy. I know it’s there for Martin, but the Tommy John surgery-goer will have to wait at least a year from now to get back on the mound. Arizona seems willing to be patient on him though.

This is a huge move for Beer, who has been straight-up dominating Double-A competition this year. There’s good pitching in the Texas League too, so it’s no fluke. I am sad that I won’t be seeing him in a Hooks uniform here this summer, but his path to playing time is much clearer in Arizona than it ever would’ve been in Houston. Rojas is an interesting player in deeper dynasty leagues as well.

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What’s the price per Gallen?

In dynasty leagues, we would call this a ‘challenge trade’. The Diamondbacks sold their top prospect at his lowest value for Zac Gallen at his highest value.

This was by far the most interesting deal of the day for me. The Diamondbacks liked what they saw from Gallen between two levels this year. The Marlins are stockpiling toolsy position players. More on that in a second.

Gallen makes a ton of sense for a team that has a ton of position players already. I tend to lean towards Gallen’s 3.58 FIP as an identifier for what he could be in the future rather than his ERA and xFIP. The acquisition of Gallen by the D-Backs keeps them in the playoff hunt even though they gave up Greinke. His rest-of-season value goes up ever-so-slightly just because of team context.

Miami Marlins

Jazz & Jesus are all I need

Arizona doesn’t get off that easy though. Jazz Chisholm is a great prospect and I’m not ready to pivot off of him because of one lousy half-season.

I’m very curious about Chisholm because of his walk-to-strikeout rate. We’ve seen multiple prospects brought into Miami’s system with high K-rates and right the ship. Monte Harrison and Isan Diaz come to mind. Say what you will about the Marlins, but their player development over the last couple of years has been fantastic. Give Jazz a couple of years and be patient.

As fas ar Jesus Sanchez goes, I’ve always been a huge fan of his as a minor leaguer. This year hasn’t been kind to him, but perhaps a change of scenery will do him good as well. I remember a year ago when Jon Lester was rehabbing and Sanchez popped a bomb on him. I knew then that he could be a special player.

Miami has done well to buy low on these guys. From a fantasy perspective, you would like to see these guys go to situations where their path to playing time becomes clearer. Miami has seven open spots in its offense (if you take out Jorge Alfaro at catcher), so it’s the best landing spot. If you can buy low in your dynasty leagues before the fantasy trade deadline hits, give it a shot.

San Diego Padres

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It’s pronounced “Truh-mell”

It’s funny to me that the rich prospect systems get richer and nobody seems to notice or care. The Padres have been fantastic about evaluating prospect talent and should absolutely get the benefit of the doubt.

Acquiring Taylor Trammell should be no different. Trammell possesses all the tools you want from an outfield prospect. Therefore, you should absolutely trade Franmil Reyes, who does not project to be a great defensive player in a DH-less National League, for a potential superstar. Even if Trammell doesn’t pan out, they have all the darts to throw at the dartboard. They are just increasing their chances of hitting the bullseye on an elite player.

Trammell’s dynasty value goes up with the trade. I don’t think it goes up a ton, but up nonetheless.

Toronto Blue Jays

Every pitch begins with Kay

How corny can I be with that title? As I’ve alluded to before, single guy here making idioms about getting hitched. Where is Alanis Morrissette when you need her?

The Marcus Stroman deal netted two very interesting pitching prospects for the Blue Jays this week. I don’t know enough about Simeon Woods-Richardson to make an educated statement, but his repertoire is extremely intriguing and gives Toronto a reasonable upside play.

Anthony Kay has been talked about over the last couple of months as a spot starter for the Mets. The 24-year-old has secondary pitches that can play up to the major league level. I’ll be curious to see how quickly Kay can make an impact for the Jays. However, I would be cautious about counting on ML production until 2020. His dynasty value flatlines in my eyes.

Cleveland Indians

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Never trust a man with two first names

This is the first player on the list that I have actually seen in person. Hooray!

I watched Logan Allen pitch in the Texas League in 2018. While I was not impressed by the sheer stuff, he was a bulldog on the mound and never gave in to batters. The southpaw possesses pitchability and longevity that you want in a starter, even if he’s not going to do it at an elite level.

I don’t see Allen as anything more than a consistent quality start kind of guy. There’s some value in that for our deeper leagues out there, but I would prefer to chase the upside pitchers. If you can gain some value out of this deal from Allen, now might be your time to pounce.

Texas Rangers

Solak & Kolby jack

When the Rangers finally give up on Rougned Odor, newly-acquired Nick Solak will be there to pick up the slack. The high hit-tool prospect gives the Rangers a potential leadoff hitter for the future in front of the many sluggers they possess. Solak is the perfect player to set the table for the Rangers. Even if he is only a utility player long-term, the Rangers will be happy about this deal.

Additionally, this Braves fan is curious as to how Kolby Allard will fit in the Texas farm. The Rangers did very well to acquire Allard for reliever Chris Martin, who was having an outlier season. Allard’s groundball profile should fit in well with the new ballpark and it gives Texas a chance to groom a starter to what they already have in Mike Minor. I appreciated this deal for the Rangers and have a gut feeling that it will work out for them in the long run.

Check out the rest of our 2019 Fantasy Baseball content from our great team of writers.