Alan HarrisonFantasy BaseballFront Office

2013 Fantasy Baseball, Week 8 Tools of the Trade: Catch A (Mike) Trout?

Regression? Bwahahaha!
Regression? Bwahahaha!

TheFantasyFix.com’s “Tools of the Trade” is a unique guide for owners to use while attempting to make an even trade with their league-mates in a standard 12-team mixed, 5×5 head-to-head or rotisserie redraft league.

The values present in this guide are simply the basis for a trade. A full-blown analysis of each team’s strengths and weaknesses are essential prior to proposing or accepting a trade offer.

How to use the guide: Ideally, owners will agree to a trade that will aid both sides and stay within $2-3 of each other in a one-for-one and $4-5 in a multi-player deal, according to our chart.

The Week 1 “Tools of the Trade” was free for all readers, and so is this weeks! But going forward, the “Tools of the Trade” will only be available to Front Office members. Learn the benefits of being a Front Office member here.

Without further ado, here is week 8′s trade value chart:

Player Value Player Value Player Value
Miguel Cabrera – Det 3B $41 Alejandro De Aza – CWS OF $12 Brandon Morrow – Tor P $5
Mike Trout – LAA OF $40 Michael Bourn – Cle OF $12 Jeremy Guthrie – KC P $5
Ryan Braun – Mil OF $39 Torii Hunter – Det OF $12 Tim Hudson – Atl P $5
Justin Upton – Atl OF $38 Nelson Cruz – Tex OF $12 Josh Beckett – LAD P $5
Prince Fielder – Det 1B $37 Mat Latos – Cin P $12 Andrew Bailey – Bos P $5
Carlos Gonzalez – Col OF $37 Nick Markakis – Bal OF $12 Huston Street – SD P $5
Joey Votto – Cin 1B $36 R.A. Dickey – Tor P $11 Domonic Brown – Phi OF $4
Robinson Cano – NYY 2B $35 A.J. Burnett – Pit P $11 Mike Morse – Sea OF $4
Clayton Kershaw – LAD P $35 Addison Reed – CWS P $11 Aramis Ramirez – Mil 3B $4
Adam Jones – Bal OF $34 Chase Utley – Phi 2B $11 Tom Milone – Oak P $4
Bryce Harper – Was OF $34 Josh Hamilton – LAA OF $11 Brandon McCarthy – Ari P $4
Paul Goldschmidt – Ari 1B $33 Norichika Aoki – Mil OF $11 Justin Morneau – Min 1B $4
Troy Tulowitzki – Col SS $33 Jimmy Rollins – Phi SS $11 Jed Lowrie – Oak SS $4
Andrew McCutchen – Pit OF $33 Jason Grilli – Pit P $11 Brandon Moss – Oak 1B $4
Evan Longoria – TB 3B $33 Desmond Jennings – TB OF $11 Michael Saunders – Sea OF $4
Justin Verlander – Det P $32 Doug Fister – Det P $11 Ryan Doumit – Min C $4
David Wright – NYM 3B $30 Jake Peavy – CWS P $11 Scott Feldman – ChC P $4
Felix Hernandez – Sea P $30 Adrian Gonzalez – LAD 1B $11 Ervin Santana – KC P $4
Alex Gordon – KC OF $28 Matt Carpenter – StL 3B $11 Heath Bell – Ari P $4
Shin-Soo Choo – Cin OF $28 Lance Lynn – StL P $11 Grant Balfour – Oak P $4
Yu Darvish – Tex P $28 Anthony Cingrani – Cin P $11 Jason Hammel – Bal P $4
Matt Kemp – LAD OF $27 Alexander Cobb – TB P $11 Jose Fernandez – Mia P $4
Adrian Beltre – Tex 3B $27 Jeremy Hellickson – TB P $11 Jon Jay – StL OF $4
Chris Davis – Bal 1B $27 Jonathan Papelbon – Phi P $9 Jonathon Niese – NYM P $4
Adam Wainwright – StL P $26 Joe Nathan – Tex P $9 David DeJesus – ChC OF $4
Yoennis Cespedes – Oak OF $23 Tom Wilhelmsen – Sea P $9 Ernesto Frieri – LAA P $4
Edwin Encarnacion – Tor 1B $23 Gerardo Parra – Ari OF $9 Chris Tillman – Bal P $4
Carlos Gomez – Mil OF $23 Eric Hosmer – KC 1B $9 Kelly Johnson – TB 2B $4
Dustin Pedroia – Bos 2B $22 David Ortiz – Bos DH $9 Kyle Lohse – Mil P $3
Starlin Castro – ChC SS $22 Mitch Moreland – Tex 1B $9 Miguel Montero – Ari C $3
Jose Bautista – Tor OF $22 Patrick Corbin – Ari P $9 Adam Eaton – Ari OF $3
Matt Harvey – NYM P $22 Matt Wieters – Bal C $9 David Freese – StL 3B $3
Cliff Lee – Phi P $22 Dan Uggla – Atl 2B $9 Jose Reyes – Tor SS $3
Jason Heyward – Atl OF $22 Brian McCann – Atl C $9 Chris Perez – Cle P $3
Jay Bruce – Cin OF $21 Alcides Escobar – KC SS $9 James Loney – TB 1B $3
Jordan Zimmermann – Was P $21 Salvador Perez – KC C $9 Dan Haren – Was P $3
Alex Rios – CWS OF $21 Kris Medlen – Atl P $8 Kenley Jansen – LAD P $3
Buster Posey – SF C $21 Rafael Soriano – Was P $8 Jayson Werth – Was OF $3
Carlos Santana – Cle C $21 Justin Masterson – Cle P $8 Carlos Quentin – SD OF $3
Stephen Strasburg – Was P $21 Jered Weaver – LAA P $8 Didi Gregorius – Ari SS $3
Cole Hamels – Phi P $21 Vernon Wells – NYY OF $8 Jose Veras – Hou P $3
Chase Headley – SD 3B $21 Coco Crisp – Oak OF $8 Omar Infante – Det 2B $3
Manny Machado – Bal 3B $20 Michael Cuddyer – Col OF $8 Tim Lincecum – SF P $3
Shelby Miller – StL P $20 Hanley Ramirez – LAD SS $8 Justin Ruggiano – Mia OF $2
David Price – TB P $20 Daniel Murphy – NYM 2B $8 Jose Valverde – Det P $2
Albert Pujols – LAA 1B $20 Daniel Nava – Bos OF $8 Nate Schierholtz – ChC OF $2
Pablo Sandoval – SF 3B $20 Hyun-Jin Ryu – LAD P $8 Jason Kubel – Ari OF $2
Chris Sale – CWS P $20 Paul Maholm – Atl P $8 Chris Denorfia – SD OF $2
Brandon Phillips – Cin 2B $20 Yovani Gallardo – Mil P $8 Evan Gattis – Atl C $2
Jason Kipnis – Cle 2B $20 Ryan Howard – Phi 1B $8 Chris Carter – Hou OF $2
Madison Bumgarner – SF P $19 J.P. Arencibia – Tor C $8 Howie Kendrick – LAA 2B $2
Jeff Samardzija – ChC P $19 Angel Pagan – SF OF $8 Brett Gardner – NYY OF $2
Craig Kimbrel – Atl P $18 Shane Victorino – Bos OF $7 Edinson Volquez – SD P $2
Mark Reynolds – Cle 1B $18 Ike Davis – NYM 1B $7 Phil Hughes – NYY P $2
Giancarlo Stanton – Mia OF $18 Neil Walker – Pit 2B $7 David Murphy – Tex OF $2
Jon Lester – Bos P $18 B.J. Upton – Atl OF $7 Fernando Rodney – TB P $2
Jean Segura – Mil SS $18 Josh Donaldson – Oak 3B $7 Kevin Gregg – ChC P $2
Ian Kinsler – Tex 2B $18 Jim Henderson – Mil P $7 Adam Dunn – CWS 1B $2
Starling Marte – Pit OF $18 Edward Mujica – StL P $7 Marco Estrada – Mil P $2
Hunter Pence – SF OF $16 Hiroki Kuroda – NYY P $7 Jarrod Parker – Oak P $2
Anthony Rizzo – ChC 1B $16 Martin Prado – Ari 3B $7 Jason Vargas – LAA P $2
Matthew Moore – TB P $16 Andre Ethier – LAD OF $7 Julio Teheran – Atl P $2
Dexter Fowler – Col OF $16 Russell Martin – Pit C $7 Daniel Straily – Oak P $2
Anibal Sanchez – Det P $15 Garrett Jones – Pit 1B $7 Aaron Hicks – Min OF $2
Mariano Rivera – NYY P $15 Casey Janssen – Tor P $7 Yuniesky Betancourt – Mil 2B $2
Billy Butler – KC 1B $15 Kyle Seager – Sea 3B $7 Rickie Weeks – Mil 2B $2
Ryan Zimmerman – Was 3B $15 Asdrubal Cabrera – Cle SS $6 Carlos Ruiz – Phi C $2
Matt Holliday – StL OF $15 Will Middlebrooks – Bos 3B $6 Denard Span – Was OF $1
Freddie Freeman – Atl 1B $15 Lorenzo Cain – KC OF $6 Mark Ellis – LAD 2B $1
Hisashi Iwakuma – Sea P $15 Jedd Gyorko – SD 2B $6 J.J. Hardy – Bal SS $1
Jose Altuve – Hou 2B $15 Yonder Alonso – SD 1B $6 C.J. Wilson – LAA P $1
Mark Trumbo – LAA OF $15 Paul Konerko – CWS 1B $6 Mark Melancon – Pit P $1
Curtis Granderson – NYY OF $15 Pedro Alvarez – Pit 3B $6 A.J. Pierzynski – Tex C $1
Adam LaRoche – Was 1B $14 John Buck – NYM C $6 Edwin Jackson – ChC P $1
Allen Craig – StL 1B $14 Glen Perkins – Min P $6 Dustin Ackley – Sea 2B $1
Matt Cain – SF P $14 Josh Willingham – Min OF $6 Marco Scutaro – SF 2B $1
Max Scherzer – Det P $14 Greg Holland – KC P $6 Wandy Rodriguez – Pit P $1
Jacoby Ellsbury – Bos OF $14 Nate McLouth – Bal OF $6 Jonathan Lucroy – Mil C $1
Everth Cabrera – SD SS $14 Jim Johnson – Bal P $6 Alexei Ramirez – CWS SS $1
Ian Desmond – Was SS $14 Rafael Betancourt – Col P $6 Zach Cozart – Cin SS $1
Clay Buchholz – Bos P $14 Lance Berkman – Tex 1B $6 Trevor Plouffe – Min 3B $1
Gio Gonzalez – Was P $14 Todd Frazier – Cin 3B $6 Brandon Beachy – Atl P $1
Mike Minor – Atl P $14 Alfonso Soriano – ChC OF $6 David Phelps – NYY P $1
Aroldis Chapman – Cin P $13 Nick Swisher – Cle OF $6 Dillon Gee – NYM P $1
Elvis Andrus – Tex SS $13 Derek Holland – Tex P $6 Drew Stubbs – Cle OF $1
Jhonny Peralta – Det SS $13 Brandon Belt – SF 1B $6 Nolan Arenado – Col 3B $1
Wilin Rosario – Col C $13 Trevor Cahill – Ari P $6 Cameron Maybin – SD OF $1
Brett Lawrie – Tor 3B $13 Homer Bailey – Cin P $6 David Hernandez – Ari P $1
Carl Crawford – LAD OF $13 Mike Moustakas – KC 3B $6 Brandon League – LAD P $1
Carlos Beltran – StL OF $13 Andrew Cashner – SD P $5 Wade Miley – Ari P $1
Yadier Molina – StL C $13 Andrelton Simmons – Atl SS $5 Steve Cishek – Mia P $1
Sergio Romo – SF P $13 Bobby Parnell – NYM P $5 Josh Reddick – Oak OF $1
CC Sabathia – NYY P $12 Aaron Hill – Ari 2B $5 A.J. Griffin – Oak P $1
Ben Zobrist – TB 2B $12 Victor Martinez – Det C $5 Trevor Rosenthal – StL P $1
Austin Jackson – Det OF $12 Matt Garza – ChC P $5 Dayan Viciedo – CWS OF $1
Mike Napoli – Bos C $12 Melky Cabrera – Tor OF $5 Rex Brothers – Col P $1
Johnny Cueto – Cin P $12 Brandon Crawford – SF SS $5 Erick Aybar – LAA SS $1
Zack Greinke – LAD P $12 Francisco Liriano – Pit P $5 Mark Teixeira – NYY 1B $1
Joe Mauer – Min C $12 Matt Joyce – TB OF $5 Kendry Morales – Sea 1B $1
James Shields – KC P $12 Ian Kennedy – Ari P $5 Chris Johnson – Atl 3B $1

 

Trading isn’t easy. It’s fun, but not easy. Remember that you don’t have to “win” the trade in order to pull the trigger. If you’re improving your team, then you should make the deal.

Each-and-every week fantasy baseball owners send us their trade proposals and/or offers via our “Quick Fix” and Twitter to determine if the offer is fair and whether or not the trade should be proposed or accepted.

This week’s theme? Mike Trout.

Impatient fantasy owners were calling for Trout’s head on a splintered Louisville Slugger just a week ago, claiming there was no way he’d come close to a repeat of twenty-twelve. Ha, couldn’t they just see that it would take eight weeks for the sophomore phenom to be triple slashing .302/.378/.582 and on pace for 34 HRs, 34 SBs, 120 runs and 120 RBI?

At any rate, here are some deal that recently went down for Mike Trout:

Matt Harvey is an elite arm and he’s had one of the more amazing starts to season in my recent memory. But this is a classic buy-low, sell-high robbery — ski-mask style. Trout is a once-in-a-gneration type player; he’s the same player tat was selected first overall at your drafts just eight weeks ago.

Sorry, Andrew. The owner you were looking to fleece apparently had his patience pancakes for breakfast. You had the right idea, for sure, but doesn’t seem like much you could do if “nothing was good enough.”

 

Now, who’s trying to fleece who here? I”d probably mortgage some of the strengths on my roster to acquire Trout as well, but this offer was absolutely ridiculous.

The point in this exercise is for you to see the current values of players. More often than not you should be buying low — like a Cole Hamels right now, or selling high — like a Jean Segura — but at the end of the day you still have to be happy with your team.

Have a question about our Week 7 Tools of the Trade? Leave it in the comments below.

The concept for the this trade value chart has been adapted from Dave Richard’s fantasy football work at CBS.

All of our statistics are courtesy of our friends at FanGraphs .

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5 Comments

  1. Ryan
    May 24, 2013 at 7:47 am

    Aramis Rameriz is $4 is that a mistake?

    • May 24, 2013 at 7:58 am

      Yes, that is my mistake. Will fix the chart. I have him sandwiched between Lawrie/Carpenter which would put him at about $11.

      Thanks for taking the time to read and informing me.

  2. Bart
    May 27, 2013 at 4:12 am

    Why does Mike Minor only have a value of $14? He has pitched as a top 10 pitcher since the latter half of last season until the present. He is the Braves number one pitcher. Just curious on how you come up with the values.

    • May 28, 2013 at 8:30 am

      Hey Bart:

      The values above were generated prior to Minor’s last start, so naturally, he will ascend up the chart again in week 9. He sports a glistening 2.47 ERA. But his 3.74 xFIP indicates he’s been getting a bit lucky — .237 BABIP, 84.3 LOB% versus his career rates — meaning he could have some poor outings going forward to get back to the 3.74 “expected.” I took these types of things into consideration.

      In a way, the chart is a cousin of my current “top 300.” Each player is evaluated against their positional competition, then again against players in other positions. Past performances and advanced metrics are used to “speculate” about future output. Then, dollar values are assigned to each player based on their location in the top 300.

      Hope this helps. Thanks for reading!

      Alan

  3. June 5, 2013 at 2:04 pm

    Great post! I bookmarked your site so I could look around when I have more time. I’m looking forward to it!