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Poor Wilmer Flores. In last night’s game against the Padres, Flores was broken the news that he was being traded to the Brewers in a package for Carlos Gomez, The 23-year-old was visibly shaken as he was sobbing on the field and Mets manager Terry Collins refused to take him off. As the game got longer and longer, the sight of Flores was getting more bizarre? ‘But, how can a player who was just traded still be allowed to play for the team?’ Nine innings came and went and there was still no official word from the Mets. That’s because there was no trade that was finalized. Mets GM Sandy Alderson blamed the need for social media outlets to report the trade first as a reason why incorrect info was released.
This got me to thinking: what if right here, right now we made up some trade rumors to see if they spread via social media? If we get enough people to share any time of incorrect info, surely some jabronis out there will believe it. Here are some thoughts on how we can start this campaign of disinformation:
- Milwaukee Brewers trade the Chorizo to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Cheese Chester and a pierogi to be named later.
- Philadelphia Phillies deal Maikel Franco to the Philadelphia Athletics for Frank “Home Run” Baker.
- Detroit Tigers agree to terms to ship out their prospects Steven Moya, Derek Hill and Buck Farmer to the Cardinals for Adam Wainwright in an effort to compete in 2015.
- The Mets agree to pick up C.C. Sabathia. Sabathia agrees to trade terms only if he gets paid $1 million every July 1 for the next 30 years.
Below are some of my starting pitcher streamer sleepers for the second half of Week 17 to consider adding off your league’s waiver wire. Some of these SP options can be considered sleepers for your team depending on the league format and depth, including NL-Only, AL-Only and head-to-head formats.
Thursday Starting Pitcher Streamers
David Holmberg (CIN v PIT) – Ownership: 0% Yahoo!, 0% Fleaflicker
Honestly, I don’t even know why I put Holmberg here. The Pirates are firing on all cylinders and look like a legit World Series contender and the Reds are in the process of shipping out their best players to build for the future. If there’s anything to look forward to in this stream, it’s that Holmberg will definitely be available off the wire. That, and the Pirates own only a team wRC+ of 93.
Matchup Rating: Desperate Stream
Jimmy Nelson (MIL v. CHC) – Ownership: 17% Yahoo!, 13% Fleaflicker
Oh no. Another Jimmy Nelson sighting. This time, it actually makes sense. Nelson’s 7.50 K/9 rate mans he is still somewhat fantasy relevant. The Cubs’ 24.3% K Rate against right handed pitchers means that Nelson could really rack up some high strikeout numbers. Since the All Star Break, the Cubs have looked really bad offensively. This could end up being a sneaky good stream.
Matchup Rating: Solid Stream
Friday Starting Pitcher Streamers
Jeff Locke (PIT at CHC) – Ownership: 7% Yahoo!, 9% Fleaflicker
Todd Frazier really scares in this one, but the rest of the Reds lineup should not. Of course, the starters may not even be in the lineup since this is the day of the trade deadline. Locke has been okay this season as indicated by his 3.86 xFIP, so do not expect a ton of help in this stream. Six innings and a win should do it.
Matchup Rating: Solid Stream
Drew Hutchison (TOR v. KC) – Ownership: 42% Yahoo!, 18% Fleaflicker
I don’t know what to make of Hutchison’s home splits. The Rogers Centre is an extreme pitcher’s park yet Hutch owns amazing numbers there- 22.9% K rate, 1.05 WHIP, 2.74 FIP and only a 6.0% HR/FB rate. If anyone can figure it out, please tweet me at my Twitter handle above. As for his Friday stream, he may own great home splits, but he’ll be facing off against the league’s best offense against righties.
Matchup Rating: Risky Stream
Taylor Jungmann (MIL v. CHC) – Ownership: 36% Yahoo!, 21% Fleaflicker
Something tells me this is the game the Cubbies will break out of their offensive woes. That is basically gut-talk as opposed to empirical evidence. The numbers suggest that Jungmann’s 52.5% GB rate plays nicely against a frustrated offense.
Matchup Rating: Risky Stream
Carlos Rodon (CWS v. NYY) – Ownership: 26% Yahoo!, 12% Fleaflicker
The suddenly white hot White Sox have made things very interesting. Preseason, a lot of pundits projected their offense to lead them to at least Wild Card contender status and only recently have their bats come through. Rodon should get plenty of run support to help his win probability. As far as things he can control, Rodon is holding opposing left-handed bats to a .267 wOBA with a 29.6% K rate. If he can stymie the left-handed bats on the Yankees, he should be ok.
Matchup Rating: Solid Stream
Saturday Starting Pitcher Streamers
Kyle Gibson (MIN v. SEA) – Ownership: 28% Yahoo!, 19% Fleaflicker
As the season progresses, Gibson’s WHIP and FIP continue to rise. For too long he was dependent on a suspect Twins defense and it appears that is starting to bite him in the bud. The Mariners aren’t exactly the 1927 Yankees, but they may do just enough damage to frustrate Gibson’s owners.
Matchup Rating: Risky Stream
Joe Ross (WAS at NYM) – Ownership: 17% Yahoo!, 9% Fleaflicker
The Mets will throw out Jacob de Grom so scoring could be at a premium in this one. First one to two runs wins. Ross can only control what he can on the mound and he has done an admirable job filling in for Stephen Strasburg. His ERA of 3.03 is low but his FIP is 1.85 suggesting that he could be even better. Hard to think what this young man can do if he improves. His 9.37 K/9 and 0.83 BB/9 rates are already stellar.
Matchup Rating: Must Stream
Kyle Hendricks (CHC v. MIL) – Ownership: 25% Yahoo!, 22% Fleaflicker
This projects to be day two of the Cubs return to offensive relevance. Hendricks’s opponent is Matt Garza who has given up his fair share of runs this season. The Cubs young starter looks to have a solid start. Projection: seven innings, five strikeouts and two earned runs.
Matchup Rating: Solid Stream
Sunday Starting Pitcher Streamers
Nate Karns (TB at BOS) – Ownership: 25% Yahoo!, 25% Fleaflicker
Karns has looked strong these last two months but the long ball could do him in. He has a tendency to give up homeruns as indicated by his 10.4% HR/FB rate. At this point, the Red Sox may have already dealt a few of their heavy hitters. Though I’m not quite sure which ones since no one is in the market for aging stars with giant contracts.
Matchup Rating: Solid Stream
Robbie Ray (ARI at HOU) – Ownership: 13% Yahoo!, 10% Fleaflicker
This could really go either way. Ray could either strike out double digit Astros or he could give up four home runs in five innings. There’s actually the chance that he could do both.
Matchup Rating: Risky Stream
Mike Pelfrey (MIN v. SEA) – Ownership: 6% Yahoo!, 9% Fleaflicker
The only reason Pelfrey makes this list is because of the amount of starts projected by our friend TBD. Between the trade deadline and injuries, there’s no telling he is where on Sunday. It’s important to check the waiver wires to see if there are better options for a Sunday stream. Pelfrey owns a 4.32 K/9, .319 BABIP and a 4.50 xFIP. As you can see, there are bound to be better options.
Matchup Rating: Desperate Stream
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