Trade Advice: Chipper/Slowey for Valverde/Bartlett

Jon,

I have a deep pitching staff in a 12 person H2H league. I was looking to shop Kevin Slowey and Chipper Jones for Jose Valverde and Jason Bartlett. Is this a good deal?

Best Regards,

Robert

Hey Robert,

Thanks for reading. I really appreciate it.

Let's look at all of the players involved individually and then make a decision on the trade offer.

As I'm sure you know, Jose Valverde has had a few injury problems this season. Thankfully, the problems have been with his calf rather than his arm. Assuming the leg is fully healed he should have no problems. When healthy he is one of the better closing talents in baseball. I think he'll have a big second half.

Jason Bartlett is having the best season of his career thus far. He will continue to steal bases at a terrific rate. But I do not believe he can maintain his present 27 percent line drive rate, and .rage is 410 BABIP. His batting average is likely to keep dipping through the second half. His plate discipline has improved slightly. He is swinging at better pitches. Unfortunately, it hasn't translated into an increased walk rate. I believe he has become a better hitter but I do not think his power increase is real. I think he'll hit for a decent batting average, steal lots of bases but without the power he showed to start the season.

I like Kevin S lowey's potential a lot. He rarely walks anyone and has an excellent K/BB rate which is a sign of a talented pitcher. On the unfortunate side, Slowey is a fly ball pitcher. He is often hurt by the homerun, which is what led to his poor start this season. He has turned things around lately and I believe that he will finish the season strongly.

Chipper Jones is an excellent hitter with good power. He is having his typical season of high productivity between bouts with nagging injuries. He is presently having a problem with a sore toe but is mostly battling through it. I think he'll finish the season in this same typical fashion with a .300-plus average and 20-plus homers.

So what would you gain from this trade? Definitely stolen bases and saves, which I assume is what you are hoping to gain. You will lose some power if I'm right about Bartlett's drop off. You will also lose some innings and wins (naturally going from a starter to a reliever). I don't know the rest of your team but I assume your remaining starters are up to the job and you probably are not depending on Chipper's power.

I would do it if I were you.

Thanks again for reading.

Jon Williams
Advanced Fantasy Baseball

To Read: Chipper Jones Interview

A member of the Fantasy Baseball Roundtable has secured an interview with the Atlanta Braves star third baseman, Chipper Jones. Since we always support our friends I am pointing out the interview so that you all (or y'all if you prefer) may enjoy it.The interview appears a few inches under the banner and breaking news at the top of the page.

The Chipper Jones Interview

Top Third Basemen Ranked By wOBA

Name	OBP	SLG	BABIP	wOBA
Chipper Jones	0.47	0.574	0.388	0.446
Alex Rodriguez	0.392	0.573	0.332	0.413
David Wright	0.39	0.534	0.328	0.397
Aramis Ramirez	0.38	0.518	0.307	0.384
Russell Branyan	0.342	0.583	0.269	0.383
Evan Longoria	0.343	0.531	0.318	0.373
Troy Glaus	0.372	0.483	0.291	0.371
Christopher Davis	0.331	0.549	0.353	0.371
Ty Wigginton	0.35	0.526	0.296	0.37
Ronnie Belliard	0.372	0.473	0.326	0.369
Martin Prado	0.377	0.461	0.36	0.367
Pablo Sandoval	0.357	0.49	0.367	0.361
Hank Blalock	0.338	0.508	0.301	0.361
Carlos Guillen	0.376	0.436	0.321	0.359
Greg Dobbs	0.333	0.491	0.333	0.354
Edwin Encarnacion	0.34	0.466	0.267	0.351
Melvin Mora	0.342	0.483	0.293	0.35
Casey Blake	0.345	0.463	0.319	0.347
Ian Stewart	0.349	0.455	0.364	0.347
Ramon Vazquez	0.365	0.43	0.355	0.346
Jorge Cantu	0.327	0.481	0.297	0.346
Scott Rolen	0.349	0.431	0.294	0.345
Alex Gordon	0.351	0.432	0.314	0.344
Mike Lowell	0.338	0.461	0.287	0.344
Mark Reynolds	0.32	0.458	0.329	0.34
Garrett Atkins	0.328	0.452	0.314	0.337
Doug Mientkiewicz	0.374	0.379	0.302	0.337
Ryan Zimmerman	0.333	0.442	0.312	0.336
Adrian Beltre	0.327	0.457	0.279	0.336
Joe Crede	0.314	0.46	0.242	0.33
Omar Infante	0.338	0.416	0.333	0.327
Jed Lowrie	0.339	0.4	0.342	0.326
Rich Aurilia	0.332	0.413	0.308	0.324
Matt Tolbert	0.322	0.389	0.34	0.322
Willy Aybar	0.327	0.41	0.267	0.321
Jamey Carroll	0.355	0.346	0.338	0.319
Chone Figgins	0.367	0.318	0.333	0.319
Blake Dewitt	0.344	0.383	0.302	0.319
Brendan Harris	0.327	0.394	0.328	0.318
Brian Buscher	0.34	0.39	0.349	0.317
Kevin Kouzmanoff	0.299	0.433	0.301	0.316
Marco Scutaro	0.341	0.356	0.294	0.316
Jose Bautista	0.313	0.405	0.277	0.311
Craig Counsell	0.355	0.302	0.268	0.309
Wilson Betemit	0.289	0.429	0.346	0.308
Pedro Feliz	0.302	0.402	0.258	0.306
Alberto Gonzalez	0.318	0.366	0.291	0.301
Geoff Blum	0.287	0.418	0.249	0.3
Ruben Gotay	0.322	0.343	0.324	0.299
Clifton Pennington	0.339	0.293	0.296	0.299
Augie Ojeda	0.343	0.299	0.271	0.297
Jeffrey Larish	0.306	0.375	0.368	0.297
Brandon Inge	0.303	0.369	0.248	0.297
Bill Hall	0.293	0.396	0.287	0.297
Juan Uribe	0.296	0.386	0.289	0.296
Chris Gomez	0.322	0.333	0.322	0.293
Jose Castillo	0.292	0.376	0.292	0.292
Robb Quinlan	0.326	0.311	0.311	0.291
Jack Hannahan	0.305	0.342	0.291	0.289
Wes Helms	0.299	0.347	0.309	0.287
Kory Casto	0.297	0.313	0.264	0.277
German Duran	0.275	0.35	0.278	0.274
Eric Bruntlett	0.297	0.297	0.251	0.272
Pablo Ozuna	0.29	0.344	0.276	0.268
Donnie Murphy	0.274	0.301	0.258	0.262
Andy Marte	0.268	0.315	0.272	0.258
Mike Lamb	0.276	0.32	0.268	0.254
Brandon Wood	0.224	0.327	0.245	0.246
Andy LaRoche	0.252	0.256	0.177	0.236