By The Numbers

08/04/2010 5:58 AM -  Lane Rizzardini

The trade deadline came and went, with the usual 80 moves being completed right before the deadline. Worst move? Probably the Twins, who gave up an excellent catching prospect in Wilson Ramos and left-handed pitcher Joe Testa for Nationals’ closer Matt Capps. What was wrong with Jon Rauch’s 21-24 save success rate?

The biggest winner? The Rangers, who acquired an ace pitcher (Cliff Lee), a veteran catcher (Bengie Molina), a legitimate first baseman (Jorge Cantu), and quality infield depth (Christian Guzman). This team is primed for an explosive second half.

But in fantasyland we care more about the individual than the team, so let’s run through some players whose value changed over the break.

2 – Stolen bases for Scott Podsednik since joining the Los Angeles Dodgers in a deal that sent prospects Lucas May and Elisaul Pimentel to the Royals. Who would have thought Scotty Pods, who is currently top five in the majors in stolen bases, would be ranked top-65 in Yahoo! leagues at age 34 in Kansas City?

After largely disappearing in Colorado in 2008, he has had a resurgent year and half, batting over .300 and rediscovering his base path magic with 62 stolen bases up to this point. He’s on pace to match totals from his breakout 2003 campaign (100/12/58/43/.314).

Unfortunately, the move to Los Angeles means a serious decrease in playing time. He’ll be valuable until Manny Ramirez returns from the DL in roughly two weeks, but after that he’ll only be useful in NL-only leagues as a high-end bench player.

3 – Wins for Ted Lilly in 18 starts this season. Along with Podsednik, the Dodgers acquired the left-handed Lilly and shortstop Ryan Theriot from the Cubs in exchange for Blake DeWitt and two pitching prospects.

The move will do wonders for Lilly who, while leaving the cushy NL Central, will surely post much higher win totals with the playoff-minded Dodgers than he did with the woeful Cubs. He also avoids a move to the American League which would have hurt his value quite a bit. Love him and cherish him the rest of the year.

.298 – Batting average in 14 games at Petco Park for new Padre Ryan Ludwick, who comes over in a three-team deal that sends Jake Westbrook to the Cardinals. He joins a mediocre at-best outfield group consisting of Scott Hairston, Tony Gwynn Jr., Will Venable and recent fireball Chris Denorfia, so he should have no problem finding playing time.

He also batted in the fourth slot his second game with the team behind major power threat Adrian Gonzalez, which would make up at least some for leaving a line up in which he batted in front of studs Albert Pujols and Matt Holiday.

His value does decrease some due to the change in scenery in Petco, but if you needed RBIs this move is right up your alley.

4.30 – xFIP for the aforementioned Jake Westbrook. The move from the AL to the NL Central makes Westbrook an extremely intriguing second half option. I actually dropped Tommy Hunter for Westbrook because Hunter’s weak peripherals (4.55 K/9 rate, 4.88 xFIP) suggest more implosions like the eight run massacre he sustained in his last start, while all of Westbrook’s numbers paint a much-rosier second half picture, and they don’t even factor in his recent positive move yet.

He allowed two runs and struck out seven over six innings in his debut for the Cards, a promising performance to say the least. More like that and his 7% ownership in Yahoo! leagues should rise quickly, so jump while you still can.

2 – Home runs for third baseman Jhonny Peralta in his debut for Detroit. The man with the misspelled name joins a team in dire need of healthy bodies, as Peralta will be holding down third until Brandon Inge comes back from the DL. Then, and the most intriguing part for fantasy owners, he’ll move to shortstop the rest of the year, essentially guaranteeing eligibility at the thin position in all leagues he has not yet attained it.

Despite this and the strong debut, keep in mind he is currently batting .252 and nothing about the move would indicate a major change in fortune. Temper excitement.

13 – Losses for new Philadelphia hurler Roy Oswalt this season, 12 coming with Houston and one in his first start for the Phillies in which he allowed four earned runs to the Nationals. Nothing to worry about of course, as the electric right-hander currently boasts a very reasonable 3.53 ERA and nearly a nine strike outs per nine innings average.

He will be what Cliff Lee should have been: the third lockdown starter in a rotation that already includes Roy Halladay and Cole Hamels. Enjoy the much-increased win totals, owners.

4 – Starts for J.A. Happ this season. The other half of the Oswalt deal, Happ has been sidelined for nearly the entire year with left forearm inflammation and struggled to find his velocity again once he recovered.

Obviously he’s back now, and actually got a win the same night Oswalt lost by throwing six shutout innings against Milwaukee. His future performance is maddeningly tough to predict, as despite horrible peripherals he continues to put up great numbers.

I would try to trade him immediately; a .237 BaBIP, 91.2% left on-base percentage, and 33.9% groundball rate is a recipe for total disaster, no matter how good he is at getting out of jams.

.276 – Career batting average against right-handed pitchers for Jorge Cantu, the new Texas Ranger that arguably fills their only weak position at first base. It looks like Manager Ron Washington plans to use him primarily against right-handers while Mitch Moreland will take over duties against lefties.

This isn’t exactly an ideal situation from a fantasy perspective, but Texas did send practically blind power hitter Chris Davis back to the minors, so clearly the club is serious about giving Cantu substantial playing time.

He’s a major acquisition for the Rangers and will benefit from their stacked line up, but the .264 hitter is not so impactful for your fantasy squad. He’s still only bench worthy in 12 team mixers.

60 – Walks for Edwin Jackson over 134.1 innings this season, tied for 4^th most in the majors. He also has 13 wild pitches, good for second most in the majors. Clearly control is a problem for the young righty, but the no-hitter he threw on July 2nd against the Rays exemplifies how good his stuff can be when he locates (and even in that game he walked eight).

Despite the tough move back to the AL, you have to like him getting out of the desert. Remember, it was only last year when he posted an excellent 3.62 ERA with Detroit. Control will continue to be a problem for him, but he will give you plenty of useable starts if you’re willing to ride the rollercoaster.

53 – Current batting average points below his career average for Lance Berkman, the newly acquired Yankees’ first baseman who will be used primarily as the DH.  He has had a very down year by his standards and is clearly nearing the end of his career. If you’re still relying on him in mixed leagues I’m sorry for you. The move to New York will help, but how much I’m not sure. Not enough to save his season. What the 34 year old decides to do this offseason will be interesting to watch.

That’s all. Hopefully the trade deadline was good to your teams. Get ready for the playoffs.

Lane Rizzardini has been playing fantasy sports for over 10 years. His earliest memory was drafting Fred Lane in 2003, only to find out Fred’s wife has shot him in the offseason. You can find more of Lane’s writing over at DigitalSportsDaily.com.

You can contact him at Lanerizz@digitalsportsdaily.com or through his Twitter page.