Fantasy Baseball Mailbag, Week 19

You can reach Ray Flowers on Twitter (@baseballguys).

In a Roto OBP, trade away Kyle Seager and Jay Bruce for Bryce Harper? Trying to open a roster spot for streaming pitchers.
@JR9779

Seager has been stupendous. He has a .284 batting average which is better than Adrian Beltre (.278). Seager has 21 homers which is more than Miguel Sano (20). Seager has 72 RBI which is more than Kris Bryant (70). Seager has 63 runs scored which is more than Todd Frazier (62). Seager has a .873 OPS which is better than Evan Longoria (.848). He’s been terrific.

Let’s compare Bruce to Harper directly.

Harper also has a neck issue that has knocked him out of action for three days now, and it’s possible he could be DL bound though the team is maintain that he should be fine. No debate on any level – Harper is a better talent than Bruce. Also not debatable, other than the steals, that Bruce has been the equal or better of Harper.

Open up that roster spot but this isn’t the right deal to make in order to do that.

Is Raisel Iglesias the closer in Cincinnati now?
@Anthony13439

Tony Cingrani has a 7.11 ERA and 1.42 WHIP his last seven outings. His last 30 outings the numbers are better, but only by comparison: 4.45 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 5.34 K/9, 1.20 K/BB. He’s terrible.

In 15 games since returning to action Iglesias has a 10.08 K/9, a 0.65 ERA and a 0.87 WHIP. He’s simply pitching better than Cingrani and he’s also more talented than Cingrani. Don’t know who would debate that.

Iglesias had his first save Tuesday for the Reds.  “I want to be the closer. I feel proud of myself, I feel as proud as when they told me I was going to be the Opening Day starter. I feel really, really happy right now,” said Iglesias. Manager Bryan Price said the following. “He’s stepped it up and I think we’re looking at a role that could be very comfortable for him and something we’ll have to weigh moving forward between starter and reliever.”

So to answer your question Iglesias is not the “closer” of the Reds, but he is likely the closer of the Reds. I would favor him over Cingrani at this point.

I need speed, and I have eight closers. Who should I deal for Hernan Perez, David Robertson or Tony Watson?
@OmeedExperience

I wish I had eight closers. OK, maybe that’s too many. I wish I just had three closers in every league. Guess “experts” leagues are simply more challenging. Obviously eight closers is totally unnecessary so dealing four is probably fine.

I wrote about Robertson and his struggles in this Daily Trends piece.

Watson has been uneven since taking over the 9^th inning for the Pirates. He has allowed a run in two of his last four outings, but he’s also picked up three saves and a win in that time, so even with some uncertainty from pitch to pitch, the results have been tremendous.

Perez has been stupendous since the All-Star game. Over his last 22 games Perez has a .329-4-17-17-10 fantasy line. He’s not “that guy” in any one of those five categories, but since the Break he’s been one of the 10 most productive bats in the game.

You can trade either arm to get your bat. I would deal Robertson.

Michael Fulmer and Jose Bautista for Joey Votto in a keeper points league? I will be able to add Iwakuma off waivers given my concern for Fulmer’s innings pitched limit. I wouldn’t be keeping Fulmer.
@jblackstead2

Fulmer has a soft innings cap of 160-65 or so innings. At least that’s what has been reported previously. He’s been stupendous for months (see this Daily Trends piece). If you’re not keeping him next season he’s a very strong trade chip.

Iwakuma is an excellent replacement for Fulmer. I wrote about how good he has been on Tuesday.

Bautista is hitting .222 with a .793 OPS this season. He’s appeared in 15 games since returning from injury hitting .190 with a .701 OPS. He’s way off his game and at this point the only thing he’s likely to better Joey V. in is in the homer column.

Votto is a star, even if people doubt him every year. Since June 1^st he has a .361/.498/.572 slash line with a .454 wOBA. Since July 1^st he has a .398/.526/.592 slash line with a .472 wOBA

Go for it and do the deal. Votto and Iwakuma should be yours.

NOTE: Bautista has been placed on the DL with a knee issue.
 

Andrew McCutchen has struggled this year, but could end the year strong. Neil Walker is still hitting at a ridiculous level. Justin Morneau deserves your attention if he stays healthy. See the BIG 3 VIDEO.

I need to drop 1, if not both, but who would you rather keep rest of season: Carlos Gomez or Michael Saunders? 12tm H2H, thanks.
@benjamin_09

Ugh. Tough call.

Gomez and Saunders both stink right now. Saunders has been better this season by a ton, but of late, not so much. Since the All-Star break…

I’ll say hold on to Saunders, but he’s just not the guy we saw in the first half this season.

* Note: Gomez has been designated for assignment by the Astros. 

Drop Odubel Herrera (Phillies) or Tyler Naquin (Indians) for Alex Dickerson (Padres)?
@IronMetalRoses

Herrera has hit .239 with a .300 OBP and .380 SLG since the All-Star break (25 games). At least he’s stolen five bases. That’s actually no different than he has been since the start of July. Over his last 35 games Herrera is batting .235 with a .289 OBP and .394 SLG. His bat has looked nothing like the star we saw the first two months.

Naquin has been tremendous with a .313/.382/.594 slash line with 13 homers over 76 games. He’s been terrific. The last 18 games he’s hit .310 with four homers, 13 RBI and 12 runs scored. Still, the .420 BABIP is absurd as is the 30.2 percent HR/FB ratio. No person who ever lived has posted numbers like that consistently. Both numbers could cave the rest of the way.

Dickerson has appeared in 39 games for the Padres with seven homers, 22 RBI, a .295 average and .920 OPS. He also has one homer in eight games. He’s a solid homer bat, but not this elite level power stroker. In fact, the last four seasons Dickerson has hit 13, 17, 3 and 12 homers. He has 17 this season in 101 games between the Padres and Triple-A.

Hard to go away from Herrera, but I’ll suggest that Naquin is the best guy to own at the moment.

Ray Flowers can be heard Monday through Friday, 8 PM EDT, on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear Ray Sunday nights at 11 PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).