Fantasy Impact : Braves & Rangers Trade

Well, by now we all have seen the headlines pasted across every sports website and periodical in the nation regarding Teixeira coming to Atlanta in order to make the Braves a legitimate playoff force to reckon with.

But in regards to fantasy baseball, what kind of an impact are we looking at here with the pieces involved in this deal?

Let's start with the obvious;

Mark Teixeira, 1B

Big Tex is one of those rare players in the big leagues who can just about do it all. While he is not the most fleet of foot on the basepaths, he is golden in everything else. A multiple-time Gold Glove winner that also happens to be a power hitting switch hitter...those don't come around every day.


Teixeira immediately gets plugged into the middle of that lineup, sitting in either the four or five-hole (my guess is he will bat 5th so as to not make Andruw Jones any more disgruntled than he is on a daily basis). With the likes of Jones Boys, Kelly Johnson, Brian McCann and others around him, you can expect a fairly significant jump in Teixeira's numbers, despite leaving the hitter friendly confines of Arlington. While Teixeira's first half numbers were nothing to scoff at, they weren't up to the Big Man's standards that we have come to expect. He will get back on track in the upcoming two weeks as he settles in, allowing you to expect him to nearly double his output on the year in the final two months of the season.


Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C


Ahhh...truly one of my favorites, as everyone else's as well. Salty is a truly uncommon commodity, following in the power switch hitting footsteps of Jorge Posada, except while offering phenomenally better defense than Jorge could ever dream of giving. Salty will be splitting his time between First Base and Catcher over the final months, giving Fantasy Owners around the country a chance to witness his work with the bat on a nightly basis. Look for the Rangers to attempt to move incumbent Catcher Laird in the offseason. While Laird offers some of the best defense in the majors, Salty's isn't far behind...and when comparing their talents at the plate, you cannot even speak of the two in the same breath.

Pickup Salty immediately in all leagues if he is still available, especially in Keeper Leagues where he will be a valuable player / trading chip for years to come.


Elvis Andrus, SS

Rafael Furcal, Jr....errr...I mean, Elvis Andrus, was a very interesting piece in this deal. Besides having a really cool name, Elvis is an 18-year old defensive phenom. He has yet to show that he can handle professional pitching, struggling during his time at High Class-A Myrtle Beach. However, the Myrtle Beach Pelicans play at a ballpark that is known throughout the minors as the toughest park to score runs in (I should know...I live there). The engineering geniuses who designed Coastal Federal Field (soon to be BB&T Ballpark) faced homeplate directly at the Atlantic Ocean, which is only a few hundred yards away. The winds from the ocean make anything that is hit in the air hang for what feels like an eternity. Nice job designing that one, guys!

So, if the Pelicans play in such a tough stadium, then Elvis' splits should be a telling sign of that, right? Well, indeed they are. Elvis bats .112 points higher while AWAY from Coastal Federal Field, has an OBP .105 points higher, a SLUG .167 points higher and an OPS .273 points higher! Talk about night and day...or, home and away, more appropriately.

It is safe to say that with Elvis leaving the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, so too will he leave those horrendous home stats behind.


Matt Harrison, LHP

The Braves top pitching prospect, Harrison has fallen on some tough luck this season. While Harrison has not put up stats much different than what he did last season, his team has not been able to score runs for him making his record at Double-A Mississippi being anything but indicative of the level of quality that he has pitched with all season long. While you cannot hide the fact that Harrison was a beneficiary of the "Coastal Federal Field Effect", just as Andrus has been victimized by it, Harrison is a high ceiling and should crack the Rangers rotation by the latter half of 2008.

Reports stated that the Rangers were weary of Harrison's shoulder, which later led to the additions of Beau Jones and Neftali Feliz in the Teixeira deal, but the Rangers obviously did not see Harrison's shoulder as so worrisome that they chose to take him out of the deal altogether. Keep an eye on Harrison, as he should be had on all Keeper League rosters that allow for minor-league players to be stashed away.


Conclusion:

In the end, the Rangers added far more players that will impact their roster from a Fantasy perspective. Each of the major players added (Salty, Elvis and Harrison) should be looked upon as high-end prospects, with Salty being able to produce through the end of the year for your squad. Beau Jones is a below-average roster filler, while Neftali Feliz still has the ability to become an above-average pitcher, yet will have many years left of polishing off his raw talents in the lower depths of the minors.

Teixeira will surely get back on track and will more than likely be able to contribute around 15 homeruns and 40 RBI's the rest of the way. Chances are his stock is not quite as low now as it was just three days ago, as stocks (and hopes) often rise for Fantasy Owners following blockbuster deals; however, if you see an owner that you can pry him away from, by all means attempt to do so.