Hi, I'm Jack Thaler back for another column this week after an exciting trade deadline. I hoped you enjoyed last week's edition of My Fantasy Baseball Experience. This week I will be doing something a little different. I will be talking about how the trade deadline affects fantasy baseball and my recommended waiver pickups will continue that theme.
The main thing that gets affected by the trade deadline in fantasy baseball is closers. The trade deadline usually sees a lot of relief pitchers get shuffled around and this creates an opportunity for people who have a relief pitcher problem to go and pick up players who now have a shot at a closer role. This also means that some relievers you may have had on your team before will not be closing anymore and you will need to drop them. Now I will give you 6 of the players that now have the opportunity to close and talk about them.
Cole Sands
Jordan Hicks
Michael Kelly
Dennis Santana
Randy Rodriguez
Jojo Romero
Cole Sands was already having a great year when Jhoan Duran got traded to the Phillies which opened up a huge opportunity for Sands to close. Not only was Duran traded but also Griffin Jax which just further secures Sands spot. Sands has not gotten any saves since the trade but I expect he will start racking up saves soon.
Jordan Hicks was a relief pitcher turned into a starter by the Giants but now that he has been traded to the Red Sox he has been put back in the pen. Hicks has triple-digit potential and has already been put in 2 save situations for the Sox so even though they already have Aroldis Chapman, Hicks should still get some saves.
Michael Kelly was a nobody before Mason Miller got traded to San Diego which opened up a closer role for Kelly. Kelly has an electric upper 90’s fastball but his main pitch is a nasty sweeper which he usually uses as his 2-strike pitch. Kelly has a very low job security so if he gets on a cold streak I expect the A’s will try someone else out as the closer but for the meantime Kelly is the A’s closer, and he is a guy who should be targeted.
Dennis Santana was already a proven backup option to David Bednar even before Bednar got traded to the Yankees. At the very beginning of the year Bednar had some struggles so the Pirates tried out Santana as the temporary closer. Santana had a good stretch while he was the closer and now that Bednar is gone the spot is left wide open for Santana and unlike some of the other people on this list Santana is already a battle tested closer so I expect him to hold the job for a while.
Randy Rodriguez was having a career season as the Giants setup man but when Camilo Doval was traded it opened up a spot for Rodriguez to close. Rodriguez had a 1.20 ERA before the deadline and has already racked up a save since the Doval trade. I expect Rodrigeuz to hold the closer role for at least the rest of the year.
Jojo Romero was having a pretty good year before star closer Ryan Helsley was traded to the Mets. Jojo has put up saves in the past but never more than 3 in a year and he doesn’t have the greatest stuff. I don’t expect him to hold onto the job for very long, but he is a nice way to get some saves in the meantime.
I hope these closers help you earn some saves, and I hope to see you next week for my 9th edition of My Fantasy Baseball Experience.