When it comes to the trade deadline, it’s not always the players who are moved who reap the benefits in fantasy baseball terms. Sometimes, the domino effect of a deadline deal on a team’s roster creates a new opportunity for an intriguing, often widely available player.
Two American League East hitters, both of whom have picked up their paces offensively, fit this description as a result of recent moves by their teams. Both are available in more than three-quarters of ESPN leagues.
Colton Cowser, OF, Baltimore Orioles (20.6% rostered): Here’s a hitter who has experienced his share of ups and downs during this, his rookie season. At one point, Cowser enjoyed a stretch during which he hit .302/.387/.717 with six homers while starting 15 out of 16 team games in April, only to follow that up with a 43-game stretch of just .176/.273/.282 play.
While he seemed in danger of a demotion to Triple-A, he has indeed picked up his pace, batting .263/.333/.500 with five homers in his past 23 games (starting 20 times out of 27 games). Why the rebound? One reason has been a substantial improvement in Cowser’s performance against changeups, as he is now batting .286 against them (with a 33% whiff rate) in this stretch, compared to .129 and 44% prior to that for his career.
Most notably, the Orioles’ recent trade of Austin Hays paves the way for Cowser to occupy an everyday role, as he has started Baltimore’s past two games against a left-hander. Cowser even earned a start at leadoff against a righty on Sunday. Hays had previously been a straight-platoon type for the Orioles, but his departure makes it more likely that Cowser will get the majority of — if not all — the team’s left field starts going forward, with Cristian Pache, acquired in the deal, settling into more of a platoon arrangement with Cedric Mullins due to Pache’s strong defensive skills.
Austin Wells, C, New York Yankees (6.9%): Another player who has had his share of struggles during his rookie campaign, Wells has boosted his offensive profile immensely, batting .318/.430/.635 with six homers over his past 22 games, during which time he started 17 times. This coincides with an adjustment he made to his batting stance, diminishing what had previously been a more dramatic leg kick, with the most telling stat being that he has a mere 21% whiff rate in this stretch, compared to 29% over his first 48 games of 2024.
In the Yankees’ weekend acquisition of Jazz Chisholm Jr., the team parted ways with their top catching prospect, Agustin Ramirez. Coupling that with Ben Rice‘s installation at first base, the team is now thinner on immediate alternatives behind the plate. It’s a sign that the Yankees view Wells as their immediate future at catcher — and he’s thriving during a time when he needed to perform while the defensively minded backstop Jose Trevino is on the IL.
While it’s possible the team could make a move for a more-proven catcher — Elias Diaz is a logical candidate — the passage of Tuesday’s deadline could lock Wells into top-10 positional fantasy value as a player garnering 60-70% of the Yankees’ catching chores going forward.
Deeper-league adds
Tyler Fitzgerald, OF/SS, San Francisco Giants (29.8% rostered): How can we ignore a player who became the first Giants player to homer in five consecutive games and hit seven home runs over an eight-game span since Barry Bonds (2004)? Not only that, but he also became just the eighth player ever to hit eight homers in a 10-game span while playing exclusively at shortstop.
Fitzgerald was a 20/20 player in the Giants’ minor league system in both 2022 and 2023. Even if his recent power surge is somewhat out of character with his history and skill set, his now-regular role and elite sprint speed makes him a “must add” in 15-team mixed and NL-only leagues, as well as an intriguing 12-team mixed pickup in rotisserie formats.
Juan Yepez, OF/1B, Washington Nationals (21.6%): The St. Louis Cardinals‘ glut of 1B/DH/corner OF types caused them to let Yepez leave as a free agent last winter, and he’s now in a great position to play regularly for a rebuilding Nationals team. He’s not an elite power guy, with mere 8.7% Statcast Barrel and 33.6% hard-hit rates in his big league career to date, but that does represent decent pop to go along with a much-improved contact approach in 2024.
Xavier Edwards, 2B/SS, Miami Marlins (13.3%): He enjoyed a huge boost in playing time following the Marlins’ decision to release Tim Anderson, playing every inning at shortstop for the team since that July 2 date — save for the July 21 game, during which he played at second.
Edwards, a former top-100 overall prospect during his days in the Tampa Bay Rays‘ organization, has since flashed the elite hit tool that scouts forecasted several years back, batting .397/.473/.513 with eight steals over these 22 games. The Marlins recently moved him up to the top third of their lineup, from which he’ll enjoy a boost in plate appearances as well as run-scoring potential. He should be rostered in all but ESPN standard leagues.
Feel free to cut
Kodai Senga (48.2% rostered); Evan Phillips (63.5%); Marcus Stroman (48.9%); Ryan McMahon (53.8%); Bo Bichette (63.9%).