Fantasy Baseball Trade Targets For Week 19
Week 19 is here, and your trade deadline is also probably approaching quickly. There’s not too much time left to make trades, and it’s important to make those deadline deals to fix any weaknesses and solidify your team for these final two months of the season. Last week I mentioned Jazz Chisholm as a buy-low target, and he followed it up with the hottest stretch of his entire season. Here are five more players you should be looking to trade for or trade away before your league’s trade deadline passes.
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Buy-Low Candidates
CJ Abrams, SS, Nationals
CJ Abrams had a disappointing month of July, batting just .176 with just six total extra-base hits. The only positive is that he stole six bases, which is exactly why I think he makes for a great trade target. With time running out on the season, it’s smart to figure out which categories your team is lacking in, and which categories present the best opportunity to jump up multiple spots in the standings. If stolen bases are what your team needs, Abrams is the perfect fit. Besides May when he stole just one base, he has stolen at least six bases in every other month of the season. Assuming he can stick to that pace, that is a minimum of twelve over the final two months, which can be a serious game changer. I also don’t expect him to continue hitting as badly as he is. Before his rough July, he excelled in June, batting .373 with 15 extra-base hits. Now is the perfect time to trade for him, while his owners still have a bad taste in their mouths from his recent performance.
Giancarlo Stanton, OF, Yankees
Giancarlo Stanton, like Abrams, is a player who specializes in a specific category. Of course, in Stanton’s case, it’s home runs. He has 18 on the year in 73 games, and he just recently returned from the injured list, where he has spent plenty of time throughout his career. Still, he remains one of the best power threats when he is on the field, and he was in the midst of a great comeback season before his injury. He is batting .245 on the season, which is much better than the .191 and .211 marks he posted in each of the last two seasons. He hasn’t homered yet since being activated, but he has still shown off his tantalizing power. On July 31st he went 2 for 4 with two singles, but all four of his balls in play were hit over 110 mph. It’s only a matter of time before he starts sending balls out of the ballpark, and his cost will be low after providing nothing for fantasy owners over the last month and a half.
Josh Jung, 3B, Rangers
A broken wrist derailed Josh Jung’s season on the fourth game of the year. He was finally activated on July 30, and on Sunday he went 2 for 3 with a double and a home run. It seems like a long time ago now, but in the preseason, he was one of the most popular breakout picks among third basemen. And that looked to be coming true before the broken wrist, as he went 7 for 17 with a double, a triple, and two home runs to begin the year. There’s no reason to think he’s a different player now, and could easily be a top-12 third baseman for fantasy from here on out. The power potential is there, and he will have plenty of opportunities to rack up counting stats in the high-octane Texas offense.
Sell-High Candidates
Tyler Fitzgerald, OF, Giants
Calling Tyler Fitzgerald hot would be an understatement. Since the All-Star break, which was only a little over two weeks ago, he is batting .350 with 9 home runs, 14 runs, and 16 RBI. Is he the next big breakout, or is this just a flash in the pan? As good as he has looked, I unfortunately don’t see him being able to keep this up much longer. He has an extremely high 31% strikeout rate on the season, and even during this insane hot streak, he has shown no signs of being able to lower it. Coincidentally, his strikeout rate has been an almost exact 31% since the All-Star break, too. It’s very hard to keep up any sort of usable fantasy production with that much swing-and-miss unless you have the raw power of someone like Kyle Schwarber, which I think it’s safe to say that Fitzgerald does not. This reminds me of David Fry earlier this season, who was the best hitter in baseball for a month before dropping off the face of the earth. Trade him now if anyone is willing to give you anyone of value in return.
Brady Singer, SP, Royals
Brady Singer has enjoyed a very nice stretch of starts, going 7 innings in three straight. Going back even further, in eight starts dating back up to June 21st, he has only given up more than one run twice. While those are impressive results, his schedule has been on the softer side. In the three-start stretch I mentioned, two of them were against the abysmal White Sox. The eight-start stretch, in addition to two against the White Sox, also includes the Rockies, Rays, and Marlins. He isn’t striking out nearly enough batters to be a great fantasy option, either. Even in these eight great starts against mostly lackluster offenses, he hasn’t recorded more strikeouts than innings pitched in a single one. He remains a streaming option in the right matchups, but now is a good time to test the waters on the trade market while he is racking up wins and low-run outings.
