Fantasy baseball trades are hard. The season is long, players are hot and cold, some injured.
The players below are highlighted due to their current value being different than their average value.
DeJong is the everyday number three hitter for the Cardinals and enjoyed a solid start to the year. Lately, he has been the complete opposite and has zero hits through his last 25 at-bats. This seems like something that he’ll break out of though due to his steady hard contact rate. It’s possible that fantasy owners can grow impatient in DeJong making now the time to send offers.
For DeJong one could offer Ketel Marte, Adam Eaton, or Jonathon Villar
Ketel Marte is currently on pace to double his home runs, RBI and runs scored. He’s been pulling the ball more, hitting it harder, and hitting more fly balls. He has increased his batting average from .260 to .276.
The negatives for Marte are the strikeouts and low contact percentage. His strikeout rate is up four percentage points. He swings more often and makes less contact on those swings. This rings true especially for pitches outside the strike zone.
It seems like he is making it harder on himself and now could be his highest value. Trevor Story, Chris Paddack and Max Fried are quality additions over Marte.
An awesome 2018 brought Markakis into the fantasy spotlight. His 2018 consisted of fewer strikeouts than the previous four seasons in addition to his combined RBI and runs being the highest since 2009. Those statistics made Markakis a hot commodity late in fantasy drafts this year. He’s done well so far in 2019 and is on pace for more runs, RBI and home runs than 2018.
His March and April were really good but in May he is batting only .225. This current slump is the time to get a solid outfielder who can produce the rest of the year. Offer Hunter Pence, Trey Mancini or Ryan Braun.
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Kepler is currently on a 10 game hitting streak with four home runs, 16 RBI, 15 runs, .452 avg and .495 OBP. He is seeing more pitches in the strike zone and making use of that by swinging more and keeping a steady contact rate. He already has 12 home runs however he hit seven in April and only five in May even with more at-bats in May.
Fantasy owners have seen Kepler rise and fall in value, he should be traded before his value falls again. Try getting players such as Charlie Blackmon, Austin Meadows or Zack Wheeler.
One of the best power hitting infielders Baez has continued where he left off last year. Batting .307 through 2019 and only .207 in the last seven days. His strikeouts have been incredibly high as of late too, and has a sore right heel. Look for his strikeouts to lower and his average to return to normal, but right now Baez could be traded for Jorge Polanco, Eduardo Escobar and Ketel Marte
The top prospect is on pace to hit about 50 home runs. That number is likely not going to happen. Plenty of rookies have performed well in their first MLB action but have struggled after a month and been sent down. Obviously, it’s too early to tell how good he will be but someone with Riley’s potential is worth testing on the fantasy trade market. Try going for solidified pitchers similar to Mike Minor, and Mike Soroka. Or for batters Marcell Ozuna, or Kris Bryant.
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