Fantasy Baseball Trade Targets For Week 14
As week 14 and the month of July begin, it’s still important to monitor your league for potential trades that can improve your team. We are still only halfway through the season and players still have plenty of time to change their fantasy value. Identifying potential second-half risers and fallers early on will help improve your team, so here are five players you should be looking to trade for or trade away in the upcoming weeks.
Buy-Low Candidates
Julio Rodriguez, OF, Mariners
Julio Rodriguez has been by far the biggest non-injury-related bust of the season. He is slashing just .247/.297/.327 with 37 R, 7 HR, 29 RBI, and 17 SB. I featured him as a buy-low candidate all the way back in my week 3 article, where I mentioned that his value was at the lowest it would be all season. That was clearly not the case, as two and a half months have passed and he still hasn’t turned it around. It’s not all bad for Rodriguez, who has slightly better expected stats of a .272 xBA and a .424 xSLG to go along with a hard-hit rate of 48.1%. While these numbers are better than his current production would suggest, they are still nowhere near the caliber you’d expect from a first-round fantasy talent. But, at the same time, his 17 stolen bases have still been incredibly useful, and he possesses the upside that most players can only dream of. After looking like a superstar for his first two seasons, there simply isn’t a valid explanation for the 23-year-old becoming this bad of a player. Hopefully, the All-Star break in a couple of weeks will give him a necessary mental reset, and he will be back to himself for the second half of the season. If your fantasy team is sitting in the bottom half of the standings and you’re losing hope of any success this year, he is the perfect target in a trade. You can hopefully get him at a good discount, and he is one of the few players who could single-handedly carry your team up the standings.
Maikel Garcia, 3B, Royals
Maikel Garcia has cooled off since his hot start and batted just .147 in the month of June. His season slash line is down to .229/.282/.339, and all the hype around him at the start of the year has seemingly cooled off. However, his BABIP in the month of June is only .179 even though he is still hitting the ball decently hard. His hard-hit rate on the year remains at 44.5%, and his plate discipline is still good with a 16.6% strikeout rate, 22.2% chase rate, and 16.6% whiff rate. The biggest thing for Garcia’s fantasy value is that he still provides steals while in a slump at the plate. He stole 8 bases in June, bringing his season total up to 21. He will also still get the chance to score a lot of runs at the top of the Kansas City lineup, and I don’t think one bad month should tank his value as much as it had. I trust that his good exit velocities and plate discipline will lead to a rebound in the second half, so now is a good chance to buy low.
Devin Williams, RP, Brewers
Devin Williams is still working his way back from his preseason back injury, but the best window to trade for him is beginning to open. There are rumors that he could return before his initial mid-to-late July recovery timeline, but even that isn’t too far away. Once he’s close enough to begin a rehab assignment, the Williams owner in your league will already be reluctant to give him up, so this may be your last chance to buy low. He has begun throwing bullpen sessions, with his most recent being 20 pitches. Once he is back and healthy, he will instantly become one of the most valuable relief pitchers for fantasy. In 2023, he recorded 36 saves with a 1.53 ERA and 0.92 WHIP with 87 strikeouts in 58.2 innings. If your team is lacking in saves, Williams could be exactly what your team needs.
Sell-High Candidates
Byron Buxton, OF, Twins
Byron Buxton has been on fire, batting .556 with 4 home runs all in the past week. Over the past 14 days, he is batting .359 with 10 runs, 4 home runs, 12 RBI, and 2 stolen bases. However, at the end of the day, he is still the same guy who hit under .250 with 3 home runs for the first 2 months of the year. More importantly, he is the same guy who can’t stay on the field. He has already had one IL stint this season and hasn’t played in more than 100 games since 2017. He still strikes out too much and rarely walks, and this can be chalked up to a simple hot streak. He will come back down to earth eventually due to just bad production or an injury, so now is a chance to trade him before that happens.
Gavin Stone, SP, Dodgers
Gavin Stone was one of the best pitchers in baseball in the month of June, putting up a 1.97 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, and 29 strikeouts in 32 innings. His best start came during his last start against the White Sox on June 26th, where he pitched a complete game shutout with 7 strikeouts. He hasn’t given up more than 3 earned runs in a start since May 21st and has only two such outings all season. He looks like one of the best young pitchers in the game, however, there is still some cause for concern. For starters, he has had a remarkably easy schedule over the past couple of months. I already mentioned that his complete game shutout came against the White Sox, and he also faced the abysmal Rockies twice, the Mets while they were still in the midst of their slump, a pitcher-friendly park in San Francisco, and a weak Marlins lineup. Of course, that’s not a reason to erase all of his accomplishments, and he did have two solid starts against the Yankees and Royals during that stretch, too. I still think he is a solid pitcher, just not to the caliber he has shown so far this year. He has had nine starts with five strikeouts or less, with a handful being three or less. His strikeout rate is just 19.5%, and his .252 xBA ranks in only the 39th percentile. He has shown he can have some solid quality starts, but his lack of strikeouts will prevent him from reaching the upside you want from a standout fantasy starting pitcher. It’s also important to note that he is on the Dodgers, a team notorious for rotating their pitchers with phantom IL stints. Stone is a rookie, so you have to imagine they will be looking to limit his innings through either skipped starts, IL stints, or a 6-man rotation. I think he has reached his peak in value, so if you can trade him at the value of a top-40 SP, I would.
