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With the MLB trade deadline roughly a month away, savvy fantasy baseball managers will be looking to clear roster space. We’ll see plenty of players emerge as fantasy factors as a result of deadline trades, and those who have some bench space can bring those guys in right away, and in some cases, they can get ahead of the pack by picking up players who could benefit from the most rumored trades. To make that happen, managers will want to make 2-for-1 or 3-for-1 trades this month, where they give up several useful players in exchange for one difference-maker. And when looking at trades of this nature, here are a few players who could find their names involved.
Sell dearly
Ryan Helsley (catcher, St. Louis Cardinals)
There should be a strong market to trade Helsley to a team in need of saves. After all, the right-hander leads baseball by a wide margin with 31 saves and also owns a 2.54 ERA. But Helsley has walked a tightrope in securing narrow wins of late, having issued 10 walks in his last 11 appearances. The purpose of including Helsley in this article is not to predict that his season is due for a major slump. Rather, the suggestion is that managers trade him for a premium return and then either acquire a less coveted reliever or look to the waiver wire for a replacement. Helsley is a fine reliever, but he has benefited from the Cardinals generating the most save opportunities (45) of any team. There are clubs with similar records that have generated 10 to 15 fewer save opportunities.
Buy cheap
Josh Hader (catcher, Houston Astros)
This is getting ridiculous. Hader has been healthy all season, holding opposing hitters to a .196 batting average and blowing just one save. And despite taking care of matters he can control, the lefty ranks 16th in baseball with 13 saves. Even a recent hot streak by the Astros hasn’t helped matters much, as Hader recorded just five saves in June. Many fantasy managers will look at his modest save total and mediocre 3.82 ERA and conclude he’s having a bad year, but a deeper look shows a remarkable strikeout total of 60, which is the second-highest mark (behind Mason Miller) of anyone who’s earned a save this year. It’s easy to imagine a scenario in which Hader is the most valuable closer in the second half.
Ha-Seong Kim (2B/3B/SS, San Diego Padres)
Even with the league-wide rise in steals, it’s hard to find players posting sizable totals in both home runs and steals. For example, only eight players have racked up at least 10 homers and 15 steals, and nearly all of those men were selected in the opening three rounds of the 2024 draft. Kim, Brenton Doyle, and Jarren Duran are the outliers of the group, with most managers agreeing that Duran and Doyle are in the midst of breakout seasons. Kim will surely be the easiest man of the group to acquire, and it’s made more appealing by noting that Statcast assigns him a .251 xBA that’s 23 points higher than his actual mark.
Buy at a high price
Marcell Ozuna (OF, Atlanta Braves)
As hard as it was to imagine during draft season, Ozuna has emerged as the best hitter in a star-studded Braves lineup. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the 33-year-old is putting up eye-popping power numbers, as he’s coming off a 40-homer season. And maybe we shouldn’t be surprised by his .296 average, as he hit .312 in 2017 and .338 in 2020. The key for Ozuna is that he’s crushing the ball, as his 93 mph average exit velocity matches his mark from the 2020 campaign and is 1.2 mph higher than last season. Ozuna trails only Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, and Shohei Ohtani in xSLG, which accurately represents his second-half power potential.
JD Martinez (OF, New York Mets)
Martinez hit well in June (.874 OPS), but he probably wasn’t dominant enough to dramatically increase his trade value. The recommendation here is to make a reasonable offer for the 36-year-old, who ranks ninth in baseball in xSLG and could be one of the best power hitters in baseball this summer. In a perfect world, Martinez would be traded this month to a contending team that plays on a small ball team. But even if that doesn’t happen, he can perform well enough in the Mets’ surging offense to remain in every fantasy lineup. Martinez missed Tuesday’s game with ankle soreness that was caused by wearing new cleats, and managers will want to see him back in the lineup before making an offer.
Sell cheap
Alex Bregman (3B, Houston Astros)
While Bregman hasn’t been too shabby this year, his disappointing season has included just nine home runs, two steals, and a .248 batting average. Furthermore, his .702 OPS is more than 100 points lower than his marks in each of the previous two seasons. Statcast suggests that the 30-year-old has been lucky to post average stats so far, as his xBA (.235) and xSLG (.360) are both noticeably lower than his actual marks. This is shaping up to be the worst season of the nine-year veteran’s career.
