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Trade Jose Abreu for Jackie Bradley Jr.? I have Carlos Santana to replace Abreu. My outfield is Yoenis Cespedes, Khris Davis and one of those Upton’s (he didn’t say which one). Jose Bautista is also on the DL for my club.
@jayv21212121

Abreu has had a down season overall. Yep, he has. However, he’s still on pace to hit more than 20 homers with 95 RBI. Not bad, but not up to expectations. Never fear though. He’s been much better of late. Check out his numbers in June: .306/.355/.531. His career numbers are .295/.355/.516 by the way. Yep, he was the same guy as always in June. He’s started off the same way in July (.318/.348/.455). He will be fine.

Since Bradley lost his hitting streak 33 games ago he’s hit .228. He continues a maddening trend of alternating great work with barely moderate levels. He’s still posted a .340 OBP and .472 SLG in those 33 games, but I think we can say with a good degree of certainly that Bradley isn’t the .293/.378/.551 performer he’s been all season long.

Santana has been great with 19 homers tying his mark from last season, but he’s not likely to keep up that homer pace and his batting average could be at least .050 points lower than Abreu the rest of the way. He’s an adequate replacement, nothing more.

I want Abreu, even though it would be wise to add another outfielder to help you until Bautista returns. Plus, with only three outfielders starting in your league the need to deal Abreu to add another outfield option is far from acute.

10-team dynasty points league. Kenta Maeda for Jung Ho Kang and Ellsbury. What side would you take?
@GarretReedy23

Maeda has made 17 starts with a 3.07 ERA and 1.15 WHIP. He’s struck out 94 batters in 96.2 innings with a decent 1.17 GB/FB ratio. He also pitches in a solid home park for a hurlers. There’s that concern with his arm which caused a reshuffling of his contract this past offseason, but his on the field performance has been impressive.

Kang has an off the field issue of alleged sexual assault. It could be nothing. It could be the sign of a deviant. We will have to let that situation play out. What we do know is that over a 150 game season, Kang is on a 30-90 type of pace, an elite level or production for a guy who qualifies up the middle. Through 175 big league games he owns a .279/.348/.477 slash line. He’s a good offensive player.

Ellsbury is nearly 33 years of age and is a shell of his former self. Still, he’s effective. Hitting .273, Ellsbury is on pace for 30+ steals, something that is becoming very difficult to find – a guy who can use his legs on the bases. His .342 OBP would also be a three year high. Solid, but nothing more.

I honestly have no way of knowing what your team looks like, or your needs, so very hard to know for sure, but I would say at this point that Maeda is who you want with the aging/oft injured Ellsbury and the in trouble with the law Kang presenting concerns.

Masahiro Tanaka and Craig Kimbrel for Noah Syndergaard in a 14-team mixed league?
@31Gibbons

Syndergaard is the best option here in terms of his total upside. He’s been a beast this season with nine wins, a 2.41 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and 123 strikeouts in 101.0 innings. I do have concerns about his arm though. That arm is just so… risky, don’t care what folks say. He might be just he same star in the second half he was in the first, but you have to have brass balls to 100 percent believe that.

Tanaka is no Noah, and he too has arm concerns (his UCL isn’t close to 100 percent), but he’s been very effective this season; Tanaka is 6-2 with a 3.12 ERA and 1.05 WHIP. Those numbers are closeish to Noah. Tanaka loses the K-game though with just 88 punchouts in 112.1 innings, but Tanaka’s 4.40 K/BB ratio is still an all-star caliber number. Tanaka also has upped his 47 percent ground ball rate his first two years to 50 percent this season.

Kimbrel is, as always, a star. He’s converted 17-of-19 save chances. His 13.50 K/9 mark is massive. His 3.66 BB/9 rate is just about what it’s been the last two years. His 1.06 WHIP is a bit high for the dominating righty, but it’s still an all-star number. Yes, the ERA is 3.66, but before Tuesday the mark was 2.53. Nothing wrong here.

I’ll take the duo. So should you.

C.J. Cron has been hot lately, but will it doesn’t look like it will last. Maikel Franco has been hot as well, but there are still some concerns. Marcus Semien is quietly having a nice season despite always hitting low in the order. CHECK OUT THE BIG 3 VIDEO.

12-team roto would you pick up Vince Velazquez that somebody dropped? I would give up Jameson Taillon.
@therealhotrod

Velasquez has never thrown 125-innings in a season. Only once in seven outings has he thrown six innings in an outing. He simply doesn’t go deep into games. He’s also allowed six homers his last six starts and that 0.88 GB/FB ratio makes me a bit nervous that the homers could be an issue. The strikeouts are great, 10.78 per nine, but I’m just so nervous despite his arm talent.

Taillon is on the DL with a tired shoulder, something I wrote about the other day in this Daily Trends piece. It sounds like a relatively minor deal, but questions about his workload and potential production in the second half abound.

Neither will likely help you in September. I’d go with Taillon, but hard to trust either.

Jose Ramirez or Jurickson Profar? 12 tm H2H league.
@benjammin_09

Ramirez has been an out of nowhere fantasy star. Each time it seems like he’s about to fade he comes back strong. Ramirez is batting .299 with a .355 OBP and .425 SLG and he’s also stolen 10 bases and scored 41 times over 284 plate appearances. He qualifies at third base, shortstop and outfield in all leagues, and with seven games played at second base he might even qualify there too. That’s a ton of flexibility that brings value.

Profar also wears a bunch of gloves with 10 games at third, nine at second, six at first and four in the outfield. His slash line is even better than Ramirez at .333/.373/.468. He’s obviously the better hold. Well, not so much. Profar doesn’t have a steal this season. Profar isn’t hitting lefties at all (.194/.256/.194). In fact, he’s nearly an automatic out against portsiders. Moreover, he’s not playing on a daily basis anymore as he’s started in just three of five games in July and over his last 12 games he’s had more than one plate appearance just seven times in those 12 games.

I would go with Ramirez here.

Is it time for me to drop Carlos Rodon and/or Prince Fielder or do you see any hope of a turnaround for those guys?
@jorlando_26

I wrote about my thoughts with Rodon today in the Daily Trends piece.

As for Fielder, he’s not living up to expectations this season. Move on from that line of thought, it’s not happening. However, that doesn’t mean he can’t be useful the rest of the season. Pull back from the season long failure and look at what he is doing of late. I don’t know why you would bail on Prince now since he’s hit .295 with a .377 OBP and .459 SLG the last 17 games. To compare, his career marks are .283/.382/.507. I’m not saying he’s “back” but now is certainly not the right time to be dropping him.  

 

Ray Flowers can be heard Monday through Friday, 7 PM EDT and Friday on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear Ray Sunday nights at 7 PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).