Fantasy Baseball Trade Values: Rest-of-season rankings for H2H, Categories leagues; Where's Elly De La Cruz?

The quandary of how to value prized young asset Elly De La Cruz

It's impossible to rank Elly De La Cruz right now for Fantasy Baseball. He's one of the most hyped prospects of the past few years, and he's actually living up to that hype, hitting .296/.352/.510 through the first 20 games of his career – and with a Fantasy-friendly skill set that goes beyond even those impressive triple-slash numbers. 

It was easy to dream on him as a five-category contributor when he got called up, what with the 20 homers and 30 steals in just 85 games between Double-A and Triple-A. But now he's got three homers and eight steals and is the No. 10 hitter in Fantasy since making his debut and has gone from a theoretical star to the real deal. 

But we certainly can't anoint someone as a top-10 player just because they've done it for three weeks, can we? De La Cruz has been outstanding, but it's not as if his game doesn't come without flaws. He's struck out 31% of the time and he's sporting a 63% groundball rate, so even though he hits the ball hard, his expected stats don't nearly back up what he's done to date – a .379 wOBA vs. a .292 expected wOBA. More concerning is his 3-for-21 mark against left-handed pitching with nine strikeouts, an alarming 43% rate!

I'm not actually too worried about those metrics for a player as young and as talented as De La Cruz, especially when there's essentially no chance of a Jordan Walker-esque roster crunch costing him his major-league spot. The Reds are going to ride De La Cruz through whatever bumps there are along the road, and I have little doubt that he's going to be able to overcome them and become a high-end Fantasy player.

Those are nitpicks for a 21-year-old, but you have to pick nits when you're talking about whether De La Cruz belongs in the elite tier of Fantasy players. He may very well, but I can't rank him that way just yet. 

He's not far off, however, especially in Rotisserie leagues. I have him as my No. 38 player right now, and while that might not be as high as some are willing to rank him, it's pretty lofty company. It puts him in a similar tier as the likes of Randy Arozarena and Manny Machado, both of whom have pretty lengthy track records as high-level Fantasy options; he's right behind Wander Franco, whose track record isn't much longer, but who certainly has flashed similar upside and with a comparable pedigree. 

Of course, if I had De La Cruz, I wouldn't give him up for Machado right now, and I'd have to think long and hard about it for Franco and Arozarena. There's some FOMO involved in trading De La Cruz, too, because if what he's shown so far is at all real, he's a first-round pick next season. There's probably regression coming, but if there isn't he's a five-category contributor with top-of-league upside in at least one. His likeliest outcome sees some regression, potentially quite a bit, but his high-end outcome is something only a handful of players can match, and you're playing with house money after adding him off waivers. 

Which is why it's so hard to figure out how to value him. Ranking him as a top-40 player is aggressive, certainly, but I'd guess most reading this probably don't think it's aggressive enough. But I can't bring myself to rank him as high as you might like – there's considerable downside here.

Which is all to say: You might be stuck with Elly De La Cruz if you've got him. Lucky you. 

Here's the latest trade values and rankings heading into Week 15: 

H2H Points league Trade Values

Rank	Player	Eligible	Value	Change From Last Week
1	Ronald Acuna	DH-OF	48
2	Jose Ramirez	3B-DH	46
3	Fernando Tatis	OF-SS	46
4	Shohei Ohtani	DH-SP	46	1
5	Mookie Betts	2B-OF-SS	43
6	Juan Soto	OF	41
7	Bo Bichette	SS	41	2
8	Freddie Freeman	1B	38	1
9	Rafael Devers	3B	38	1
10	Julio Rodriguez	OF	38
11	Kyle Tucker	OF	37	-1
12	Mike Trout	OF	37	1
13	Vladimir Guerrero	1B-DH	36
14	Trea Turner	SS	36
15	Paul Goldschmidt	1B-DH	36
16	Bryce Harper	DH	36
17	Corey Seager	DH-SS	36	8
18	Marcus Semien	2B	36	4
19	Pete Alonso	1B-DH	36
20	Corbin Carroll	OF	33	8
21	Austin Riley	3B	33	-1
22	Gerrit Cole	SP	33
23	Matt Olson	1B	32	-1
24	Spencer Strider	RP-SP	32
25	Yordan Alvarez	DH-OF	31
26	Shane McClanahan	SP	29
27	Aaron Judge	DH-OF	28	-18
28	Corbin Burnes	SP	28
29	Randy Arozarena	DH-OF	28
30	Max Scherzer	SP	28
31	Nolan Arenado	3B-DH	28
32	Kevin Gausman	SP	28
33	Jose Altuve	2B	28
34	Wander Franco	SS	28	3
35	Luis Robert	OF	28	3
36	Framber Valdez	SP	25
37	Kyle Schwarber	DH-OF	25	1
38	Luis Castillo	SP	25	1
39	Emmanuel Clase	RP	25	1
40	Josh Hader	RP	24	1
41	Ozzie Albies	2B	24	1
42	Zack Wheeler	SP	24	-4
43	Aaron Nola	SP	24	-4
44	Zac Gallen	SP	23
45	Cedric Mullins	OF	23	1
46	Sandy Alcantara	SP	23	2
47	Bobby Witt	3B-DH-SS	22	-5
48	Justin Verlander	SP	21
49	George Springer	DH-OF	21
50	Will Smith	C-DH	21
51	Joe Musgrove	SP	21	1
52	Devin Williams	RP	20
53	Felix Bautista	RP	20
54	Michael Harris	OF	20	1
55	Jordan Romano	RP	20	1
56	Adolis Garcia	DH-OF	19	1
57	Shane Bieber	SP	19	1
58	Francisco Lindor	SS	18
59	Alex Bregman	3B	18	1
60	Manny Machado	3B	18	1
61	J.T. Realmuto	C	18	-2
62	Christian Walker	1B	17	1
63	Yu Darvish	SP	17	2
64	Starling Marte	OF	16	1
65	Mitch Keller	SP	16	1
66	Cristian Javier	SP	15	-3
67	Clayton Kershaw	SP	15
68	Nate Lowe	1B	15
69	Salvador Perez	C-DH	15	-1
70	Julio Urias	SP	15
71	Max Muncy	2B-3B-DH	15
72	Dylan Cease	SP	15
73	Christian Yelich	DH-OF	15
74	Camilo Doval	RP	15
75	Bryan Reynolds	DH-OF	15	-9
76	Logan Webb	SP	15
77	Joe Ryan	SP	15
78	Teoscar Hernandez	DH-OF	15
79	Byron Buxton	DH-OF	15
80	Nathan Eovaldi	SP	15
81	Pablo Lopez	SP	15
82	Ryan Pressly	RP	15
83	Eloy Jimenez	DH-OF	15
84	Tommy Edman	2B-OF-SS	15
85	Xander Bogaerts	SS	15
86	Logan Gilbert	SP	15
87	Jazz Chisholm	2B-OF	15
88	Adley Rutschman	C-DH	15
89	Sean Murphy	C-DH	15
90	Daulton Varsho	C-OF	15
91	Seiya Suzuki	OF	15
92	George Kirby	SP	15
93	Yandy Diaz	1B-3B-DH	15	1
94	Brandon Woodruff	SP	15
95	Elly De La Cruz	3B-SS	15	9
96	Matt McLain	2B-SS	15	9
97	Dansby Swanson	SS	15
98	Jonathan India	2B-DH	15	1
99	Gunnar Henderson	3B-DH-SS	14
100	Steven Kwan	OF	14
101	Kenley Jansen	RP	14
102	David Bednar	RP	14	1
103	Willy Adames	SS	14	-1
104	Anthony Santander	1B-DH-OF	14	1
105	Rowdy Tellez	1B-DH	14	1
106	Nick Castellanos	DH-OF	13
107	Tyler Glasnow	SP	13	1
108	Blake Snell	SP	13	5
109	Tim Anderson	SS	13	-2
110	Nico Hoerner	2B-SS	13	-2
111	Anthony Rizzo	1B	13	1
112	Brandon Nimmo	OF	12	1
113	Ian Happ	OF	12	1
114	Jeremy Pena	SS	11	1
115	Ketel Marte	2B-DH	11	1
116	Carlos Correa	SS	10
117	Raisel Iglesias	RP	10
118	Hunter Brown	RP-SP	10	1
119	Paul Sewald	RP	10	1
120	Ty France	1B	10	1
121	Nestor Cortes	SP	9
122	Masataka Yoshida	DH-OF	9
123	Matt Chapman	3B	9	-5
124	Alexis Diaz	RP	9
125	J.D. Martinez	DH	9
126	Thairo Estrada	2B-SS	9
127	Jose Abreu	1B-DH	9
128	Jose Berrios	SP	9	4
129	Alex Verdugo	OF	9	1
130	Giancarlo Stanton	DH-OF	8	-2
131	Josh Bell	1B-DH	8
132	Sonny Gray	SP	8
133	Jesus Luzardo	SP	8
134	Charlie Morton	SP	8
135	Gleyber Torres	2B-DH	8	-7
136	Lance Lynn	SP	8
137	Ryan Helsley	RP	8
138	Chris Bassitt	SP	8	1
139	Josh Jung	3B	7
140	Carlos Rodon	SP	7
141	Ryan Mountcastle	1B-DH	7
142	Lucas Giolito	SP	7	1
143	Hunter Renfroe	OF	6
144	Ryan McMahon	2B-3B	6
145	Freddy Peralta	SP	6	-7
146	Luis Severino	SP	6	1
147	Tony Gonsolin	SP	6	1
148	Jordan Westburg	SS	6	6
149	Brandon Lowe	2B	6	1
150	Jhoan Duran	RP	5
151	Spencer Steer	1B-3B-OF	5	2
152	Josh Naylor	1B-DH	5
153	Jordan Montgomery	SP	5
154	Alec Bohm	1B-3B	5
155	Lourdes Gurriel	DH-OF	5
156	Andrew Vaughn	1B-DH-OF	5	1
157	Jordan Walker	3B-OF	5	2
158	Luis Arraez	1B-2B-DH	5	1
159	Willson Contreras	C-DH	5	-1
160	Kris Bryant	DH-OF	4	-10
161	David Robertson	RP	4
162	Jorge Soler	DH-OF	4
163	Justin Turner	1B-3B-DH	4
164	Bobby Miller	SP	4
165	William Contreras	C-DH	4
166	Cody Bellinger	1B-OF	4
167	Javier Baez	SS	4
168	Ke'Bryan Hayes	3B	4
169	C.J. Cron	1B-DH	4
170	Ezequiel Duran	3B-DH-OF-SS	4	4
171	Amed Rosario	SS	4	1
172	Max Fried	SP	4	1
173	Henry Davis	C-OF	3	3
174	Jorge Polanco	2B	3
175	Jake Cronenworth	1B-2B	3
176	Jeff McNeil	2B-OF	3
177	Bryce Miller	SP	3
178	Merrill Kelly	SP	3
179	Brandon Drury	1B-2B-3B-DH	3	2
180	Nolan Gorman	2B-3B-DH	3
181	Jon Gray	SP	3
182	Riley Greene	OF	3
183	Andrew Heaney	SP	3
184	Jarred Kelenic	OF	3	-5
185	Joey Gallo	1B-OF	3
186	Clay Holmes	RP	3
187	Andrew Chafin	RP	3
188	Ezequiel Tovar	SS	3
189	Ranger Suarez	SP	3	2
190	Andres Gimenez	2B	3	-5
191	Lars Nootbaar	OF	3
192	Reid Detmers	SP	3	1
193	Christopher Morel	2B-DH-OF	3	3
194	Carlos Estevez	RP	3	1
195	Nolan Jones	1B-OF	3	1
196	Marcus Stroman	SP	3	1
197	Tyler Stephenson	1B-C-DH	2	-1
198	MJ Melendez	C-DH-OF	2	-2
199	Zach Eflin	SP	2
200	Adam Duvall	OF	2	2
201	Francisco Alvarez	C	2
202	Royce Lewis	3B-SS	2
203	Whit Merrifield	2B-OF	2
204	Ramon Laureano	OF	2
205	Bryce Elder	SP	2
206	Austin Hays	OF	2
207	Jose Alvarado	RP	2
208	Alejandro Kirk	C-DH	2	-1
209	Peter Fairbanks	RP	2
210	Jack Suwinski	OF	2	2
211	Taylor Ward	OF	2
212	James Outman	OF	2	-1
213	Esteury Ruiz	OF	2
214	A.J. Puk	RP	2
215	Luis Matos	OF	2
216	Bryson Stott	2B-SS	2

Rotisserie/Categories leagues Trade Values 

Rank	Player	Eligible	Value	Change From Last Week
1	Ronald Acuna	DH-OF	44
2	Fernando Tatis	OF-SS	43
3	Shohei Ohtani	DH-SP	42
4	Jose Ramirez	3B-DH	41
5	Bo Bichette	SS	35	2
6	Mookie Betts	2B-OF-SS	35	3
7	Freddie Freeman	1B	35
8	Juan Soto	OF	35	1
9	Julio Rodriguez	OF	35
10	Rafael Devers	3B	33	2
11	Paul Goldschmidt	1B-DH	32	1
12	Bryce Harper	DH	31	2
13	Corbin Carroll	OF	29	2
14	Trea Turner	SS	31
15	Mike Trout	OF	29
16	Kyle Tucker	OF	29	-2
17	Bobby Witt	3B-DH-SS	27	-2
18	Austin Riley	3B	27
19	Vladimir Guerrero	1B-DH	32	3
20	Matt Olson	1B	27
21	Yordan Alvarez	DH-OF	27
22	Gerrit Cole	SP	26
23	Marcus Semien	2B	26
24	Aaron Judge	DH-OF	25	-15
25	Spencer Strider	RP-SP	24
26	Pete Alonso	1B-DH	24
27	Randy Arozarena	DH-OF	24
28	Corey Seager	DH-SS	24
29	Shane McClanahan	SP	24
30	Nolan Arenado	3B-DH	23
31	Jose Altuve	2B	23
32	Corbin Burnes	SP	22
33	Max Scherzer	SP	22
34	Wander Franco	SS	21
35	Kevin Gausman	SP	21
36	Luis Robert	OF	21
37	Luis Castillo	SP	21
38	Framber Valdez	SP	21	1
39	Elly De La Cruz	3B-SS	21	7
40	Manny Machado	3B	20
41	Kyle Schwarber	DH-OF	20
42	Adolis Garcia	DH-OF	20	1
43	Josh Hader	RP	20	1
44	Zac Gallen	SP	19
45	Ozzie Albies	2B	19	1
46	Emmanuel Clase	RP	19	2
47	Cedric Mullins	OF	18	1
48	Sandy Alcantara	SP	17
49	Justin Verlander	SP	17
50	Aaron Nola	SP	17	-4
51	Zack Wheeler	SP	16	-4
52	George Springer	DH-OF	16
53	Joe Musgrove	SP	16
54	Felix Bautista	RP	16
55	Devin Williams	RP	16
56	Will Smith	C-DH	16
57	J.T. Realmuto	C	16
58	Mitch Keller	SP	15
59	Michael Harris	OF	15
60	Yu Darvish	SP	15
61	Jordan Romano	RP	15
62	Jazz Chisholm	2B-OF	15
63	Salvador Perez	C-DH	15
64	Starling Marte	OF	15
65	Nate Lowe	1B	15
66	Alex Bregman	3B	15
67	Francisco Lindor	SS	15
68	Gleyber Torres	2B-DH	15
69	Christian Walker	1B	15
70	Christian Yelich	DH-OF	15
71	Clayton Kershaw	SP	15
72	Shane Bieber	SP	15
73	Eloy Jimenez	DH-OF	15
74	Camilo Doval	RP	15
75	Joe Ryan	SP	15
76	Seiya Suzuki	OF	15
77	Max Muncy	2B-3B-DH	15
78	Logan Webb	SP	15
79	Nathan Eovaldi	SP	15
80	Dylan Cease	SP	15
81	Adley Rutschman	C-DH	15	1
82	Bryan Reynolds	DH-OF	15	-6
83	Daulton Varsho	C-OF	15
84	Jonathan India	2B-DH	15
85	Ryan Pressly	RP	15	1
86	Pablo Lopez	SP	15	1
87	Logan Gilbert	SP	14
88	Cristian Javier	SP	14
89	George Kirby	SP	14
90	Tommy Edman	2B-OF-SS	14
91	Gunnar Henderson	3B-DH-SS	14
92	Teoscar Hernandez	DH-OF	14
93	Julio Urias	SP	14
94	Byron Buxton	DH-OF	14
95	Nick Castellanos	DH-OF	14
96	Xander Bogaerts	SS	14	-1
97	Yandy Diaz	1B-3B-DH	14
98	Matt McLain	2B-SS	14	4
99	Masataka Yoshida	DH-OF	14	1
100	Sean Murphy	C-DH	14	1
101	Willy Adames	SS	14	-1
102	Dansby Swanson	SS	14	-1
103	Tim Anderson	SS	14	-1
104	Nico Hoerner	2B-SS	13	-1
105	Anthony Santander	1B-DH-OF	13
106	Thairo Estrada	2B-SS	13
107	David Bednar	RP	13
108	Ty France	1B	13
109	Kris Bryant	DH-OF	13	1
110	Jeremy Pena	SS	13	1
111	Kenley Jansen	RP	12
112	Matt Chapman	3B	12
113	Anthony Rizzo	1B	12
114	Brandon Nimmo	OF	12
115	Tyler Glasnow	SP	12
116	Alex Verdugo	OF	12
117	Ketel Marte	2B-DH	12
118	Alexis Diaz	RP	12	1
119	J.D. Martinez	DH	12	1
120	Brandon Woodruff	SP	11	-3
121	Ian Happ	OF	11
122	Rowdy Tellez	1B-DH	11
123	Giancarlo Stanton	DH-OF	11	-3
124	Raisel Iglesias	RP	11
125	Carlos Correa	SS	11	1
126	Paul Sewald	RP	11	1
127	Christopher Morel	2B-DH-OF	10
128	Blake Snell	SP	10
129	Charlie Morton	SP	10
130	Josh Naylor	1B-DH	10
131	Chris Bassitt	SP	10	1
132	Josh Jung	3B	10	1
133	Steven Kwan	OF	10	-3
134	Lourdes Gurriel	DH-OF	9
135	Ryan McMahon	2B-3B	9
136	Jose Abreu	1B-DH	9
137	Josh Bell	1B-DH	9
138	Esteury Ruiz	OF	9
139	Jesus Luzardo	SP	9
140	Sonny Gray	SP	9
141	Hunter Renfroe	OF	9
142	Lucas Giolito	SP	9
143	Amed Rosario	SS	9
144	David Robertson	RP	9
145	Nestor Cortes	SP	9
146	Spencer Steer	1B-3B-OF	9	3
147	Jhoan Duran	RP	9	1
148	Tony Gonsolin	SP	9	1
149	Hunter Brown	RP-SP	8
150	Justin Turner	1B-3B-DH	8
151	Bobby Miller	SP	8	1
152	Bryce Miller	SP	8	1
153	Carlos Rodon	SP	8	1
154	Ryan Mountcastle	1B-DH	7
155	Jeff McNeil	2B-OF	7
156	Lance Lynn	SP	7
157	Freddy Peralta	SP	7	-4
158	Javier Baez	SS	7
159	Carlos Estevez	RP	7
160	Jorge Soler	DH-OF	7
161	Ezequiel Duran	3B-DH-OF-SS	7	2
162	Jordan Walker	3B-OF	7	7
163	Royce Lewis	3B-SS	7
164	Luis Arraez	1B-2B-DH	7
165	Ke'Bryan Hayes	3B	7
166	James Paxton	SP	7
167	Cody Bellinger	1B-OF	7	1
168	Jordan Montgomery	SP	6
169	Jose Berrios	SP	6
170	C.J. Cron	1B-DH	6
171	Jon Gray	SP	6
172	Merrill Kelly	SP	6
173	Willson Contreras	C-DH	6
174	William Contreras	C-DH	6
175	Andrew Vaughn	1B-DH-OF	6
176	Jordan Westburg	SS	6	6
177	Marcus Stroman	SP	6	1
178	Jarred Kelenic	OF	6	-3
179	Riley Greene	OF	6
180	Jake Cronenworth	1B-2B	6
181	Will Smith	RP	6
182	Andres Gimenez	2B	6	-5
183	Brandon Drury	1B-2B-3B-DH	6	3
184	Zach Eflin	SP	6
185	Nolan Jones	1B-OF	6
186	Nolan Gorman	2B-3B-DH	6
187	Joshua Lowe	DH-OF	6	6
188	Andrew Heaney	SP	6
189	Austin Hays	OF	6
190	Max Fried	SP	5
191	Whit Merrifield	2B-OF	5
192	Michael Conforto	DH-OF	5
193	Jorge Polanco	2B	5
194	Luis Severino	SP	5
195	Joc Pederson	DH-OF	5	-1
196	Ranger Suarez	SP	5	3
197	Brandon Lowe	2B	5
198	Jack Suwinski	OF	5	1
199	Scott Barlow	RP	5
200	Evan Phillips	RP	5
201	Adam Duvall	OF	5	5
202	Tyler Stephenson	1B-C-DH	5
203	MJ Melendez	C-DH-OF	5
204	Lars Nootbaar	OF	5	1
205	Francisco Alvarez	C	4
206	Ezequiel Tovar	SS	4
209	Clay Holmes	RP	4
210	Giovanny Gallegos	RP	4
211	Bryce Elder	SP	4
212	Luis Matos	OF	4
213	Andrew Chafin	RP	4
214	Harrison Bader	OF	4
215	Jorge Mateo	SS	4
216	Eduardo Rodriguez	SP	4
217	Reid Detmers	SP	4
218	James Outman	OF	4	-1
219	Alex Lange	RP	4
220	Joey Gallo	1B-OF	4	-1
221	Craig Kimbrel	RP	4	1
222	Miles Mikolas	SP	3
223	Isaac Paredes	1B-2B-3B	3
224	Jake Fraley	DH-OF	3
225	A.J. Puk	RP	3
226	Kodai Senga	SP	3
227	Taylor Ward	OF	3
228	Michael Kopech	SP	3
229	Eury Perez	SP	3
230	Tarik Skubal	SP	3	3
231	Charlie Blackmon	DH-OF	3
233	Peter Fairbanks	RP	3
234	Bryson Stott	2B-SS	3
235	TJ Friedl	OF	3
236	Cal Raleigh	C-DH	3
237	Bryan De La Cruz	OF	3
238	Randal Grichuk	DH-OF	3
239	Spencer Torkelson	1B	3
240	Edward Cabrera	SP	3
166	Alec Bohm	1B-3B	2
207	Ryan Helsley	RP	2
241	Emmet Sheehan	SP	2	2
242	Tyler O'Neill	OF	2
243	Chris Taylor	2B-3B-OF-SS	2
244	Travis d'Arnaud	C-DH	2
245	Jose Siri	OF	2
246	Tanner Bibee	SP	2
247	Gavin Williams	SP	2
248	Eugenio Suarez	3B	2	-4