Opportunity Knocks: MLB fantasy transaction analysis July 6 - July 13

Injuries, Trades, Promotions, Demotions from July 6 - July 13...

AL East:

• Blue Jays are expecting RHP Aaron Sanchez back after the all star break which likely mean LHP Felix Doubront gets the axe from the rotation.
• CF Kevin Pillar has picked up where he left off in June with a .383 wOBA so far in July. Combined with his strong defensive play, he now ranks 4th on the Blue Jays with a 2.4 WAR.
• Orioles recalled up Ryan Flaherty from AAA and optioned RHP Kevin Gausman. Gausman will likely return to the rotation when the Orioles need a 5th starter again with RHP Bud Norris demoted to the bullpen.
• Rays placed SS Asdrubal Cabrera on the 15-day DL with a strained hamstring and recalled SS Tim Beckham from AAA.
• Rays placed OF Steven Souza on the 15-day DL and activated C/DH John Jaso. Jason has been leading off for the Rays since his return.
• Rays also activated RHP Jake Odorizzi and optioned RHP Matt Andriese to AAA.
• Red Sox placed RHP Clay Buchholz on the 15-day DL with a right flexor mass strain. The team called up LHP Brian Johnson who was recently named No. 54 on John's midseason Top 75 prospects. The former Florida star and 1st round pick has been excellent at AAA this year (2.73 ERA, 85.2 IP, 68 H, 26 BB, 81 K, .217 AVG) and appears ready for his MLB trial.
• Red Sox optioned RHP Steven Wright and recalled 1B Travis Shaw.
• Yankees activated CF Jacoby Ellsbury and optioned OF Ramon Flores to AAA. Yankees also returned closer LHP Andrew Miller from the DL.
• Yankees called up 2B Rob Refsnyder from AAA and optioned 3B Cole Figueroa. Refsnyder doesn't have much left to prove in the minors (.290/.387/.413, 7 HR, 12.1% BB rate, 12.1% K rate, .374 wOBA, 10 SB) and should work in with Stephen Drew at second base, a position he may one day hold as a starter for the Yankees. John rated him a Grade B prospect coming into the year noting that he is a "polished line drive hitter with consistently excellent strike zone judgment" but that he is still ironing out his second base defense after playing mostly outfield in college.

AL Central:

• Indians recalled SS Jose Ramirez from AAA. Since his demotion, Ramirez has been ripping the ball down at AAA (.349/.415/.477 in 125 PA, 10.4% BB rate, 4.8% strikeout rate, 13 SB).
• The Indians are now 31 games into the Giovanny Urshela experiment at third base and have gotten replacement level production to date (.253/.295/.333 in 105 PA, 2 HR, 5.7% BB rate, 17.1% strikeout rate, .280 wOBA, 0.0 WAR).
• Twins optioned C Chris Hermann to the minors and called up C Eric Fryer.
• Royals activated RHP Yordano Ventura which means RHP Joe Blanton is heading back to the bullpen.
• Royals place LF Alex Gordon on the 15-day DL with a strained left groin and recalled 29-year old rookie OF Paulo Orlando.

• Tigers claimed 1B Marc Krauss off waivers from the Rays and activated him. He and Jefry Marte have been working in a platoon at first base in place of injured Miguel Cabrera.
• Tigers optioned LHP Kyle Ryan and recalled RHP Shane Greene from AAA. Greene has pitched to a 3.45 ERA in 29.1 IP since his demotion, albeit with an unfavorable 12.3% strikeout rate and .282 opponent average.
• White Sox called up SS Tyler Saladino from AAA. Saladino has speed to burn, having swiped 25-of-27 stolen base attempts while posting a .255/.332/.372 slash line with 4 HR in 218 PA down at AAA. John gave the 25 year old rookie a Grade C, noting he profiles as a great utility player with defensive experience at every infield position and above average baselining ability.

AL West:

• Angels DH/1B C.J. Cron has been on fire the last 14 days since he was recalled from the minors (.557 wOBA, 4 HR, 39 PA). We'll see if he can carry this hot performance into the second half.
• Astros optioned RHP Dan Straily and LHP Brett Oberholtzer to the minors and called up OF L.J. Hoes who has been tearing it up down at AAA (.327/.400/.461 with 3 HR in 306 PA, 10.5% BB rate, 13.4% strikeout rate, .386 wOBA). It appears Hoes will platoon with Preston Tucker as the starter in RF against LHP.
• Athletics optioned RHP Chris Bassitt to the minors and placed RHP Jesse Hahn on the 15-day DL with a strained right forearm.
• Athletics called up OF Jake Smolinski and RHP Dan Otero.
• Stephen Vogt has had an excellent year for the A's. Josh Phegley has too, quietly posting a 1.1 WAR in just 39 games of work and has smoked LHP to the tune of .311/.364/.525 (.385 wOBA) in 66  PA. Keep that in mind for DFS baseball whenever the A's are facing a lefty.
• Mariners called up former highly touted Yankees prospect Jesus Montero. Will Montero start to live up to the hype he once carried when the M's acquired him for RHP Michael Pineda? We shall see. He was putting up a career best .332/.370/.529 (.391 wOBA) slash line with 15 HR in 368 PA down at AAA prior to his callup.
• Rangers DFA'd LHP Ross Detwiler and also saw a return of LHP Matt Harrison to the rotation.

NL East:

• Braves optioned OF Joey Terdoslavich to AAA and recalled RHP Mike Foltynewicz.
• Has CF Cameron Maybin turned a corner? He's now batting .289/.356/.418 on the season with 8 HR in 313 PA, .340 wOBA, 9.3% BB rate, 18.2% strikeout rate, and 15 SB.
• Marlins placed 1B/3B Jeff Baker on the DL and resigned former 3B Casey McGehee.
• Marlins recalled INF Donovan Solano and optioned LHP Adam Conley who was brought up for a spot start Saturday night (5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K). Conley, 25, is a former 2nd round pick from Washington State. He has pitched very effectively down at AAA this year (2.33 ERA in 89 IP, 71 H, 34 BB, 62 K, .221 AVG). That's a notable improvement from last year when he was shut down early due to elbow soreness.
• More on Conley...John lowered his grade to C+ as a result, noting his fastball velo was down from 92-95 MPH to 88-92 MPH with less crispness on his secondaries. There was concern that he might end up in the bullpen but John did finish his writeup by saying, "If he comes back healthy with his old stuff intact perhaps that will change, but caution is advised at this point." Conley has done just that and deserves an extended opportunity with the Marlins rotation in the second half to show what he can do, in my opinion.
• Mets placed promising rookie LHP Steven Matz on the 15-day DL with a partial lat muscle tear and recalled INF Danny Muno. Matz is expected to be re-evaluated in 3 weeks. This article does a good job of explaining his injury.
• Nationals placed CF Denard Span on the 15-day DL and recalled SS Wilmer Difo.
• Phillies called up RHP David Buchanan from AAA and optioned RHP Severino Gonzalez.

NL Central:

• Brewers activated "the other" OF Khris Davis from the DL.
• How about RHP Taylor Jungmann? The Brewers rookie starter has been excellent so far in his initial big league trial, with his latest start being a CG 3-hitter on the road against the Dodgers, one of the toughest offenses a RHP can face. He's now pitched to a 2.15 ERA in his first 7 starts covering 46 IP with 34 H, 12 BB, 34 K, .209 opponent average, and a 55.5% groundball rate.
• Cardinals selected the contract of 1B Dan Johnson and optioned 1B Xavier Scruggs to AAA. First base has definitely been a struggle for the Cards since Matt Adams went down.
• Cubs optioned 3B Mike Olt and OF Mike Baxter to AAA, DFA'd RHP Donn Roach, and activated C David Ross.
• Reds activated RHP Raisel Iglesias and optioned CF Yorman Rodriguez to AAA.
• Pirates placed 3B/OF Josh Harrison on the 15-day DL and activated 1B/OF Travis Ishikawa.

NL West:

• Giants activated team spirit animal OF Hunter Pence and optioned OF Ryan Lollis to the minors.
• Dodgers activated RHP Brandon Beachy, who made his first start in 23 months on Saturday after recovering from TJ surgery twice now in his career. Opportunity is there for Beachy to make a come back with RHP Carlos Frias on the mend.
• Diamondbacks LHP Robbie Ray has now quietly posted a 2.18 ERA in 8 starts covering 50 IP. His FIP is 2.86 and xFIP is 4.15, likely due to an unsustainably low 0.36 HR/9 when his groundball rate is only 34%. Still, Ray has been impressive thus far, particularly with a career best 6.1% BB rate.
• Rockies placed RHP David Hale on the 15-day DL with a mild groin strain and recalled RHP Gonzalez Germen, who made the start for the Rockies on Friday. The Rockies claimed Germen off waivers earlier in the week from the Cubs.