Now that the excitement of the trade deadline is done, it's time to pick through the pieces and figure out what the new Fantasy landscape looks like. The absolute biggest names on the market – Tarik Skubal, Luis Robert, and Garrett Crochet – ultimately weren't moved, but there's still plenty of fallout to sort through.
First things first: Make sure you didn't miss any of the big news by checking out our Trade Deadline Tracker here. Scott White and I went through every relevant move over the past week and gave our spin on the Fantasy implications of each, including some thoughts on long-term, Dynasty-focused players, as well as several thousand words on the redraft fallout.
And then it's time to look for the biggest winners and losers, which won't necessarily all be players who were traded. They won't even necessarily be players we thought might be traded but who weren't. For example: Hayden Birdsong is one of Scott's biggest winners from the deadline because the Giants found a long-term rotation spot for him by shipping Alex Cobb out to the Guardians. Birdsong is only 34% rostered despite 20 strikeouts over his past two starts, in large part because it wasn't clear when his next start would come. Now, we know it's going to be in the Giants rotation, potentially as soon as this weekend, and given the massive swing-and-miss potential he has shown across multiple pitches, he probably needs to be rostered in nearly all leagues.
Birdsong is joined by Jazz Chisholm, Miguel Vargas, and others in Scott's writeup of the biggest winners, while Tanner Scott and Isaac Paredes headline the list of the biggest losers. You can check out Scott's column here for more on why he included those players and who else saw their value move up or down as a result of the deadline.
Below is the deadline-focused crop of waiver-wire targets to focus on. We're one day away from August, and the stretch run is about to start. Let's make sure you're ready to take home a championship.
Wednesday's waiver targets
Jackson Holliday, SS, Orioles (65%) – It's time for Round 2. Holliday's first taste of the majors was a disaster. There's no need to sugarcoat it, he struck out 18 times in 36 trips to the plate before being sent right back down to Triple-A … where he continued to struggle, hitting .252 with a 24.3% strikeout rate in his first 40 games before going on the IL with an elbow injury. That reset seemed to help, as he hit .273/.426/.507 with much better plate discipline than he had before the injury. There were still more strikeouts than expected, but it's worth keeping in mind throughout all this that Holliday doesn't even turn 21 until this December and has played just 228 career games as a professional – for some context, Holliday is five months younger than Charlie Condon, the No. 3 pick in this month's MLB draft, and he's more than a year younger than Travis Bazzana, the No. 1 pick in the draft. We already learned Holliday is no sure thing, but it's still a bet on an elite young talent, and this time, it won't cost you a top-150 draft pick.
Josh Bell, 1B, Diamondbacks (41%) – When Bell was traded at least year's deadline, he had just a .701 OPS before going on to hit 11 homers in his final 53 games en route to an .818 OPS. That kind of inconsistency is just par for the course for Bell, and I'll just point out that his current OPS is just two points lower than last season's. That doesn't mean he'll have a similar run here, but he's already started to heat up – five homers in his past seven games – and should be the primary first baseman for the D-Backs for the next 3-4 weeks with Christian Walker on the IL with an oblique injury. If you need power, he's certainly worth a look in a much better lineup.
Alex Cobb, SP, Guardians (15%) – Cobb is going to make one more rehab start this week before making his Guardians debut, and he should be worth rostering the rest of the way with that lineup backing him up. Cobb isn't a difference maker by any means, but he has a 3.79 ERA over the past three seasons and it's reasonable to expect something similar as long as he's healthy. Based on the data from his rehab assignment, he should be in pretty good shape.
Ben Joyce, RP, Angels (21%) – With Carlos Estevez and Luis Garcia out, it sure looks like Joyce should be the Angels closer the rest of the way. The 23-year-old hasn't been as dominant as you'd think for someone with a fastball he can dial up to 104 mph, either in the majors or minors, but it's obviously not for lack of stuff. His command is inconsistent, but Joyce is obviously a high-upside late-inning arm, and he seemingly has a clear path to whatever saves the Angels can muster the rest of the way. Though it is worth noting that, when a save opportunity presented itself Tuesday night, it was Hunter Strickland who got the ninth inning, with Joyce working the eighth with a one-run lead against the 4-5-6 hitters in the Rockies lineup. I'd still bet on Joyce getting the next opportunity, but it sure seems like less of a guarantee than expected.
Chad Green, RP, Blue Jays (34%) – It was a mild surprise when the Blue Jays didn't move Green at the deadline, but it clears him to remain the closer likely for the rest of the season with Yimi Garcia out of the way. Green hasn't been much of a strikeout pitcher this season, and I don't think his 1.67 ERA is at all sustainable – he has a 4.36 FIP, which is pretty alarming – but he's still a closer for a team that isn't a total disaster, which means he should probably be a higher priority than Joyce if you're just looking for saves.
Jake Bloss, SP, Blue Jays (4%) – Bloss hasn't been great in his first few tastes of the majors, allowing nine runs in 11.2 innings over three starts, but there's clearly something to build on here. He's got a legitimate five-pitch mix with several swing-and-miss pitches, and that's led to a 1.64 ERA in 66 innings across three levels of the minors this season. It's not clear how long it's going to take Bloss to get his chance in Toronto, but with Yariel Rodriguez sent down and Yusei Kikuchi out of the picture, there's a need. In deeper leagues, Bloss is worth stashing.
Joey Loperfido, OF, Blue Jays (15%) – Now Loperfido, one of the other key pieces in the Kikuchi trade, is going to get a chance right away with the Blue Jays. He hasn't exactly lit the world on fire in his stints in the majors, especially struggling against breaking balls (62.5% whiff rate, 84.2 mph average exit velocity, .117 expected batting average), but Loperfido has been very good across his minor-league career, including 37 homers in 155 games between Double-A and Triple-A. It's reasonable to be skeptical, but in five outfielder leagues with more than 12 teams, I think he's worth a look just in case he can figure things out down the stretch.
