Mastersball

We’re at the point in the season where teams are going to look to assess their situation and decide if they are buyers or sellers.  Some of them are obvious – the Chicago Cubs, Houston Astros, San Diego Padres, and Colorado Rockies will be sellers while division leaders Washington Nationals, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds, and San Francisco Giants will be looking to shore things up.

With the addition of a second wild card team in each league this year, more teams are in the hunt for the postseason.  Teams like the Atlanta Braves, New York Mets, St. Louis Cardinals, and Los Angeles Dodgers have a realistic chance of making it while the Miami Marlins, Milwaukee Brewers, and Arizona Diamondbacks are on the bubble.

There are about a dozen days left until the non-waiver trade deadline and things could get very interesting.  Some very tough decisions will be made by team executives as they first decide if they’re in or out then decide who to trade and who to trade for.

Just as the MLB trade deadline is fast approaching, the trade deadline in many fantasy leagues will also be approaching and fantasy owners will be in the same boat as their real life counterparts.  They will be taking stock of where they are in the standings and analyzing the categories to see where the realistic chance of gaining points lies.  After this is ascertained, the process of identifying the players that could help and what their owners will want to complete a trade will begin in earnest.

Of course, everyone will want the obvious choices – the Andrew McCutchen’s, the R. A. Dickey’s, and the Ryan Braun’s of the world.  While they certainly could help any fantasy team going down the stretch, they will also demand the most value in return.  In keeper leagues, players of this caliber will require the best of future considerations in return and in single-year leagues you will have to part with talent of equal value.  In either case, the purchase price will be lofty.

So how do you acquire the players you need without breaking the bank?  One way is to look at categories that are more closely contested where a second or third tier player instead of one at the top level could move you up.  Identify a couple categories where this is possible and you could possibly get more bang for your buck.

Another way to tackle this is to look at those players on the disabled list.  If the player has been out for awhile, their owner may be tired of carrying them on their roster for so long and you might get them at some kind of discount.  Even if they’ve only been on the disabled list a short time, that in itself might be enough to sway an owner to pull the trigger on a trade that is to your advantage.

There are many players that could fit the bill – especially in an NL-only league where it might not take much of an improvement at a position to move the category needles.  Some hitters to consider are:

Jonathan Lucroy – The catcher has a fractured right hand and could return at the end of July or beginning of August.

Dee Gordon – The speedy shortstop has a torn thumb ligament that required surgery.  He could be back near the end of August.

Jayson Werth – Nationals' outfielder had a fractured left wrist and could return within the next two to three weeks.

Todd Helton – Colorado first baseman has been sidelined with a hip injury and might return in the next week or so.

There are many more pitchers to consider:

Jonny Venters – The relief pitcher had elbow discomfort and is scheduled to return the last week of July.

Shaun Marcum – The Brewer has been out with elbow tightness and may return in August.

Jaime Garcia – Cardinals' starter had shoulder impingement and is slated to be back in August.

Chad Billingsley – Dodgers' starting pitcher out with elbow inflammation could be back in a week or so.

Ted Lilly – Another starter for Los Angeles; out with shoulder inflammation, could return in one to two weeks.

Frank Francisco – Mets' closer sidelined with an oblique strain could be back in early August.

Drew Storen – Nationals' closer has been out with bone chips in his elbow. His return could be any day now.

Andrew Cashner – Padres' pitcher out with a lat strain should be back by mid-August.

Jhoulys Chacin – Colorado starting pitcher had an injury to a nerve in his chest and may return in mid-August.