Kason Gabbard moves
to Texas as part of
the Eric Gagne deal on
Tuesday. Kason upped his trade value considerably with two perfectly
timed
strong starts in mid July. He had his strong change working in both of
those
starts and did well, but that could very well be the best stretch of
his MLB
career. Kason strikes out a
representative amount of hitters (6.3/9 this year) and throws ground
balls
(1.7) but he still walks a lot of guys and he has been helped by an
incredibly
favorable .224 BHIP% this year. Texas
may not be as challenging for him as some pitchers due to his ability
to throw
GBs, but his value is diminished by the move considerably. Kason can
still be
an effective back of the rotation starter who won’t kill you
most nights, but
don’t be fooled into thinking his any more than that.
The
Rangers also acquired OFs David
Murphy and Engel
Beltre
in the Gagne deal. Murphy is not an impact player and
projects as a platoon
player or 4th OF. Beltre
is a 17-year-old who is the lottery ticket
in this deal. One of the more highly coveted players in last
year’s
International signing period, Beltre will start climbing our annual
prospect lists.
He is too far away to even project as a probable major leaguer, but he
does
have impact potential. The problem is that we may not know what he is
going to
be until Fenway turns 100 in 2012.
The
Mariners acquired Jesus
Merchan from the Phillies in
exchange for Julio Mateo
on Tuesday, the baseball equivalent of the
philosophical question about trees falling in the woods. You hear
anything? Me
neither.
It
was bizarro trade deadline trading in the AL East on
Tuesday. The Red Sox passed on getting a bat and traded for a reliever
and the
Yankees passed on a reliever and got a bat. The Bombers gave up Scott Proctor
to the Dodgers for Wilson
Betemit. This is small help for the Yankees and Betemit
will only register on the fantasy impact meter if a Yankee goes down
somewhere
along the line. Otherwise, he’ll scavenge for ABs vs. RHP at
first base.
Joakim Soria returns
to the closer role in KC as a result of
the trade of Octavio Dotel to the Braves. Joakim is 10- for -13 in save
opps
this year with a 2.44 ERA and 1.04 WHIP in 44.1 IP. His 10.3 K/9 is
closer
worthy, as is his 0.4/9 HR rate and .199 OBA (with a fairly neutral
.281
BHIP%). He does walk 3.0/9 and sports just a 0.85 GB ratio but those
could be
worse. Most importantly, he has been handed the Royals primary closers
job with
only Zach Grienke
around to apply pressure. Soria should be owned in all
formats.
The
Rangers finalized the much-anticipated Mark Teixeira
deal on Tuesday receiving Jarrod
Saltalamacchia, Elvis Andrus, Neftali Perez,
Matt Harrison and Beau Jones in return. Jon Daniels did
fairly well in this
deal if all of these players turn into who we think they can be. Again
though,
I fall back on the Braves’ uncanny ability to trade prospects
who seem better
than they are. Andrus (SS) and Perez (SP) are teenagers with tremendous
up
side. Andrus should develop into a terrific MLB SS but he may not be a
terrific
fantasy property unless he maximizes his offensive potential.
Starters Harrison and Jones are good solid
MLB prospects but they have not yet gained a ton of traction. Harrison is also
battling shoulder tendonitis. The good news
here is that the Rangers are aimed at using Salty as a catcher even if
it is
not going to look like it this year. His value is improved by the move
to the AL, and to Arlington
in particular, and he should be a valuable catching property going
forward. We
will have more on the prospects involved in this deal and all of the
deadline
deals as WE go forward.
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