The deadline is done. The trades have been consummated. The second-guessing begins.
Are the Yankees rebuilding? Are the Rangers favorites? Are the Braves serious?
Do I really care?
No! Because none of it has anything to do with Fantasy Baseball. At least not directly.
I'm here to address that side of things, the winners and losers as far as player value is concerned.
We'll stick to the weekend wheelings and dealings (Thursday through Monday, to be clear) just to keep things current.
Biggest winners
Fantasy owners have been calling for this basically since Mariano Rivera retired, and at the start of the year, after the Yankees acquired Aroldis Chapman to pair with Andrew Miller, it couldn't have seemed further from becoming reality. But they've since spread the wealth, leaving Dellin Betances the last ace reliever standing. And nobody fits the description better. Not only is he on pace for his third consecutive 130-strikeout season, which is unheard of for a reliever, but his 1.27 FIP is about half a run better than any other reliever. He's immediately a top-five option in Fantasy, with a real shot at ascending to No. 1.
He's not Betances, but Tony Watson may well be Mark Melancon, the man he's replacing in Pittsburgh. And if his ratios are nearly identical, it stands to reason he'll have similar production for a Pirates team that's more or less still intact. As of the deadline, Melancon was the seventh-best reliever in Head-to-Head points leagues, so calling him must-own is in no way a stretch.
For much of the weekend, Eduardo Nunez looked like he'd be on the other list, the biggest losers, since his acquisition seemed like just a temporary fix for a Giants team awaiting the return of Matt Duffy from a strained Achilles. But then the Giants dealt Duffy himself, freeing up third base for Nunez full time. Hopefully, you waited to see the way things played out with him. AT&T Park may bring his power back in line with his career norms, but he'll remain a plus contact hitter and standout base-stealer -- one with triple eligibility to boot.
The fear for Matt Moore was that his fly-ball tendencies would ruin him away from pitcher-friendly Tropicana Field, but turns out he's going to an even more pitcher-friendly venue -- one that's practically in its own category as far as pitcher-friendliness goes. Plus, he'll no longer have to face the DH every time through the order and is actually helped rather than hurt by his supporting cast. With a 2.39 ERA in his last nine starts, the former top overall pitching prospect may be on the verge of figuring things out. This move can only help him with that.
Though he's not confirmed to be the Brewers' replacement for Jeremy Jeffress in the ninth inning, Tyler Thornburg has a much better case than Corey Knebel, boasting the 13th-best strikeout rate and 25th-best WHIP among all relievers -- two areas, coincidentally, where Jeffress didn't measure up. It's hard to imagine the loss of Jonathan Lucroy alone would greatly impact his number of chances either, and if Jeffress is tied for seventh in baseball with 27 saves so far ...
Honorable mentions: Jake Barrett, RP, ARI; Billy Burns, OF, KC; Andrew Cashner, SP, MIA; Aaron Judge, OF, NYY; Brett Eibner, OF, KC; Freddie Freeman, 1B, ATL; Rich Hill, SP, LAD; Josh Reddick, OF, LAD; Andrew Susac, C, MIL
Biggest losers
It's possible Miller doesn't lose any value if the Indians install him as their closer right away, but their silence on the matter tells me they're looking to get crazy. He's the only left-hander they can really trust with the game on the line, so you can understand why they'd want to deploy him situationally. And hey, a good number of those situations may in fact be save situations, which is why Allen also loses here, but not enough for Miller to remain a top-five reliever in Fantasy.
The Dodgers' acquisition of Josh Reddick apparently means Yasiel Puig is out of a job. The beleaguered outfielder was told Monday that he'd either be traded or sent to the minors and didn't respond well to the news, according to FOX Sports. He did return from a hamstring injury to go 3 for 5 with two doubles Sunday, but amid a second straight season of lackluster production, the opportunity to drop him probably comes as a relief to many Fantasy owners.
The Rangers finally appeared ready to hand over everyday duty to long awaited slugger Joey Gallo, having moved Jurickson Profar to the outfield to free up the DH spot, but then they went and acquired Carlos Beltran from the Yankees. Once again, Gallo is on the outside looking in and may not be long for the majors. The silver lining for those who invested in the 22-year-old is that he was once again looking overmatched, having gone 1 for 15 with nine strikeouts.
After making do with a four-man rotation for a while, the Dodgers needed to add a starter for Saturday's contest, and with Julio Urias' innings piling up and Clayton Kershaw still beset by injuries, top prospect Jose De Leon seemed like the most deserving candidate. The 23-year-old is again dominating the minors with 11.5 strikeouts per nine innings and actually needs to make up some innings after being sidelined early. But instead, the Dodgers added Rich Hill in a deal with the Athletics. Even if Hill isn't over his blister issue by Saturday, he will be soon enough.
Early indications are the Rangers are going to stick with Sam Dyson as their closer, and it's not like he has done anything to lose the job. But Jeffress' stuff would seem better suited for the role, even if it manifests more as ground balls than strikeouts, and he was 27 for 28 in save chances prior to this deal. It may only be a matter of time before manager Jeff Banister makes the switch, which puts Dyson owners on high alert and keeps Jeffress owners handcuffed for now.
Honorable mentions: Michael Conforto, OF, NYM; Shawn Kelley, RP, WAS; Matt Kemp, OF, ATL; Jonathan Papelbon, RP, WAS; Steve Pearce, 1B/2B/OF, BAL
