Opportunity Knocks: MLB fantasy transaction analysis June 29 - July 5

Injuries, Trades, Promotions, Demotions from June 29 - July 5...

AL East:

• Blue Jays optioned LHP Matt Boyd to AAA and recalled former Red Sox rotation member LHP Felix Doubront from AAA. Doubront, 27, sported a 2.44 ERA in 48 IP, with 43 strikeouts, 18 walks, and a .205 opponent average.
• Orioles activated 2B Jonathan Schoop from the 60-day DL and optioned INF Ryan Flaherty to AAA. The team created room for Schoop on the 40 man roster earlier in the week when they DFA'd OF Delmon Young.
• Rays sent RHP Jake Odorizzi out on rehab assignment and he looked sharp in his latest outing. Could be activated today with RHP Alex Colome getting the axe from the rotation.
• Speaking of returning starters, the Rays activated LHP Matt Moore and he made his season debut on Thursday, his first start in over 14 months. Rays also activated 1B James Loney and optioned Marc Krauss to AAA.
• Red Sox placed C Blake Swihart on the 15-day DL and activated C Ryan Hanigan from the 60-day DL.
• Red Sox activated OF Shane Victorino from the 15-day DL and optioned OF Jackie Bradley, Jr. back to AAA. OF Daniel Nava is on rehab assignment and expected back soon.
• Yankees placed OF Carlos Beltran on the 15-day DL with a left oblique strain and recalled OF Ramon Flores from AAA. Flores, 23, looks promising showing a nice blend of patient approach (12% BB rate, 14% K rate) and production (.289/.377/.418, .370 wOBA, 130 wRC+) in 260 PA at AAA.

However, John only gave him a Grade C coming into the year, noting he likely profiles as a solid reserve outfielder as he "doesn’t hit quite enough to earn at-bats as a regular corner outfielder and doesn’t run quite well enough to force himself into a job in center." He is young enough to improve that outlook but expectations should be kept in check until we get an extended look at him at the big league level.

AL Central:

• Twins activated RHP Ervin Santana from the DL and optioned RHP Alex Meyer to AAA.
• Twins also called up uber prospect 3B Miguel Sano, optioned 1B/DH Kennys Vargas to AAA, and activated CF Aaron Hicks from the 15-day DL. Sano is a Grade A- prospect according to John with a reputation as one of the best power tools in the minors. He has been DH and batting 5th for the Twins. Here's John's take on the promotion.
• Royals optioned 2B Christian Colon to AAA and called up SS Dusty Coleman who made his MLB debut on July 3rd. Coleman, 28, is a fascinating player to me so I am working on a separate post for him on the off chance he usurps Omar Infante and his replacement level production of the second base job in the coming weeks.

• Tigers placed 1B Miguel Cabrera on the 15-day DL with a left calf strain, the first DL trip of his career. Tigers called up one time promising Mets prospect 3B Jefry Marte. Marte, 24, was having a breakout year at AAA with a .271/.337/.497 line and a career best 13 HR in 322 PA. John had some interesting things to say about Marte in this article a few years ago which may be coming true.
• Good news for the Tigers is OF J.D. Martinez can pick up the slack on offense the way he's hit of late. He's posted an MLB best 9 HR and .575 wOBA over the last 14 days.

AL West:

• Astros activated CF Jake Marisnick from the 15-day DL and optioned OF Domingo Santana to AAA.
• Astros placed RF George Springer on the 15-day DL with a left wrist fracture. The team recalled OF Alex Presley to take his place. Presley was batted .244/.281/.346 with 6 HR in 257 PA for the Astros in 2015.
• Astros also called up former A's prospect RHP Dan Straily and optioned RHP Michael Feliz to AAA. Prior to his callup, Straily, 26, carried a 4.06 ERA in 77.2 IP with 70 K and 14 BB. Here's the Crawfish Boxes take on the Straily promotion.
• Mariners activated RHP Hisashi Iwakuma from the DL creating a tough decision for who to bump from the rotation. The Mariners decided to option LHP Roenis Elias which suggests LHP Mike Montgomery, fresh off back to back shutouts, has staked his claim to a rotation spot for the forseeable future. Might be time to jump on him in your fantasy leagues if he's still available.
• Mariners DFA'd INF Willie Bloomquist and recalled SS Chris Taylor.
• Rangers DFA'd former AL rookie of the year Neftali Feliz and activated LHP Matt Harrison from the 60-day DL. Rangers also recalled RHP Anthony Renaudo.
• Rangers optioned RHP Chi Chi Gonzalez and RHP Nick Martinez to AAA to make room for Harrison and Renaudo.

NL East:

• Braves called up LHP Manny Banuelos from AAA and optioned RHP Ryan Kelly to the minors. Banuelos, one-time Yankees blue chip prospect, had a promising debut for the Braves (5.2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K).
• Marlins activated 1B/OF Michael Morse from the DL and optioned RHP Jarred Cosart to AAA. Should be interesting to see how much PT he gets with 1B Justin Bour on a tear of late.
• Marlins optioned struggling CF Marcell Ozuna to AAA who has hit just .167 over the last month of play.
• Mets are still rolling with a six-man rotation and have no reason to stop with LHP Steven Matz turning in another dandy of a start yesterday (6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 8 K), this time in a tough road environment at Dodger stadium.
• Nationals have been giving semi-regular playing time 1B/OF Clint Robinson, a 30 year old rookie who always hit in the minors but never got much of a look in the majors until now. He has rewarded them with a solid .273/.350/.438 line (.344 wOBA, 118 wRC+) in 143 PA. Might consider an extended writeup on him soon if his bat stays hot (.286/.405/.514 over his last ten games).
• Phillies placed RHP Aaron Harang on the 15-day DL with left foot plantar fasciitis. The Phillies activated RHP Chad Billingsley from the DL to take his rotation spot.
• Another guy worth separate writeup consideration: Cesar Hernandez. The 25-year old rookie has seen extended PT of late with Utley on the DL. He's batting .418/.475/.509 in 62 PA over the last two weeks while stealing 6 bases. His overall line is .288/.374/.386 (.336 wOBA, 114 wRC+) in 197 PA.

NL Central:

• Brewers recalled RHP Tyler Cravy and optioned 1B/3B Jason Rogers to AAA.
• Cardinals placed LHP Jaime Garcia on the 15-day DL with a left groin strain and recalled LHP Tim Cooney from AAA.
• Cardinals placed CF Jon Jay on the 15-day DL with a left wrist stress fraction and called up OF Tommy Pham to take his place. Pham, 27, drew some interesting comments from John in the 2015 book despite his status as a Grade C+ prospect. Here's John's writeup on Pham in case you missed it yesterday.
• Cubs activated OF Jorge Soler from the 15-day DL and optioned CF Matt Szczur to AAA.
• Cubs optioned RHP Donn Roach to the minors and called up former Padres starting pitcher LHP Clayton Richard.
• Cubs placed C David Ross on the 15-day DL and called up C Taylor Teagarden.
• Reds optioned RHP Josh Smith to AAA.
• With SS Zack Cozart sidelined for the season, the Reds gave an opportunity to SS Eugenio Suarez to stake his claim to the shortstop job. So far so good at the plate: .304/.351/.435 in 75 PA.
• Pirates traded LHP Clayton Richard to the Cubs and acquired 1B/OF Travis Ishikawa off waivers from the Giants.

NL West:

• Giants placed RHP Tim Lincecum and RHP Tim Hudson on the 15-day DL. Conveniently, the Giants activated RHP Jake Peavy and RHP Matt Cain to take their spots vacated in the rotation.
• Giants called up OF Ryan Lollis from AAA. Lollis, 28, will get his first crack at the big league level and a chance to show whether his inflated PCL production (.358/.431/.500 with 3 HR in 277 PA) can translate to big league level to some degree.
• Dodgers placed rookie starter RHP Carlos Frias on the 15-day DL with back tightness. It sounds like LHP Eric Surkamp will get the spot start on Monday.
• Diamondbacks activated LHP Patrick Corbin from the 60-day DL who should provide a nice boost to their rotation if he returns to his promising 2013 form.
• Rockies optioned INF Rafael Ynoa to the minors and recalled OF Drew Stubbs.