The trade deadline came and went, with the usual 80 moves being completed right before the deadline. Worst move? Probably the Twins, who gave up an excellent catching prospect in Wilson Ramos and left-handed pitcher Joe Testa for Nationals’ closer Matt Capps . What was wrong with Jon Rauch’s 21-24 save success rate?
The biggest winner? The Rangers, who acquired an ace pitcher (Cliff Lee ), a veteran catcher (Bengie Molina ), a legitimate first baseman (Jorge Cantu ), and quality infield depth (Christian Guzman ). This team is primed for an explosive second half.
But in fantasyland we care more about the individual than the team, so let’s run through some players whose value changed over the break.
2
Stolen bases for Scott Podsednik since joining the Los Angeles Dodgers in a deal that sent prospects Lucas May and Elisaul Pimentel to the Royals. Who would have thought Scotty Pods, who is currently top five in the majors in stolen bases, would be ranked top-65 in Yahoo! leagues at age 34 in Kansas City?
After largely disappearing in Colorado in 2008, he has had a resurgent year and half, batting over .300 and rediscovering his base path magic with 62 stolen bases up to this point. He’s on pace to match totals from his breakout 2003 campaign (100/12/58/43/.314).
Unfortunately, the move to Los Angeles means a serious decrease in playing time. He’ll be valuable until Manny Ramirez returns from the DL in roughly two weeks, but after that he’ll only be useful in NL-only leagues as a high-end bench player.
3
Wins for Ted Lilly in 18 starts this season. Along with Podsednik, the Dodgers acquired the left-handed Lilly and shortstop Ryan Theriot from the Cubs in exchange for Blake DeWitt and two pitching prospects.
The move will do wonders for Lilly who, while leaving the cushy NL Central, will surely post much higher win totals with the playoff-minded Dodgers than he did with the woeful Cubs. He also avoids a move to the American League which would have hurt his value quite a bit. Love him and cherish him the rest of the year.
.298
Batting average in 14 games at PetCo Park for new Padre Ryan Ludwick , who comes over in a three-team deal that sends Jake Westbrook to the Cardinals. He joins a mediocre at-best outfield group consisting of Scott Hairston , Tony Gwynn Jr. , Will Venable and recent fireball Chris Denorfia , so he should have no problem finding playing time.
He also batted in the fourth slot his second game with the team behind major power threat Adrian Gonzalez , which would make up at least some for leaving a line up in which he batted in front of studs Albert Pujols and Matt Holiday .
His value does decrease some due to the change in scenery in PetCo, but if you needed RBIs this move is right up your alley.
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