Mid-Season Trade Targets

It's about time to evaluate our fantasy rosters, and see what kind of talent might be cheaply available out on the trade market.

Ervin Santana, P, Angels
After a bad start to the season, Santana has been pretty consistent in the last month or so. His ERA has dropped almost a full point since May 24th to 5.06, which still isn't great, but it means he is pitching better. His strikeout rate is a respectable 6.92 per 9 innings, and his walk rate won't get your WHIP in trouble. Santana's undoing this year has been the long ball. He's given up 17 dingers in 90 innings. That won't win him many games.
Because his stats still aren't great, he can be had for cheap. He has gone at least 6 innings in 9 of his last 10 starts, and has given up 3 runs or less in 7 of 10 starts. The Angels have also won 5 of his last 7 outings. Expect an ERA around 4.00 the rest of the way.

- Edit: Santana had another rocky start last night. After crusing through the first three innings, he gave up six runs in the next 2-plus. He can be dominant at times, but also falls into short periods of ineptitude (especially at the start of games), which have a bad impact on his stats.

Andruw Jones, CF, Braves
You may never have a better chance to pick up a perennial All-Star for less than market value. Jones has had a horrible season thus far. He has reverted to his past habit of swinging at pitches well outside the zone, making him an easy strikeout target for even mediocre pitchers. Jones has K'ed in about 28% of his at bats this year, while walking about half as often. His overall production is not great, but with 11 homers and 42 RBI, he's still worth having on your fantasy roster. Remember this guy is only 30 years old, and hit 51 and 41 homers the last two years. See if you can target an owner whose team is performing poorly in the AVG category, who might want to get rid of Andruw for a couple of lesser players. Beware the possibility of a trade by the Braves, though.

Coco Crisp, CF, Red Sox
An altered batting stance has evidently been the reason for Coco's late resurgence. Crisp has seen his batting average climb 26 points in the last 11 days, while his OPS has jumped 81 points in the same span. If Crisp is healthy, he is capable of putting up batting numbers similar to his 2005 season with the Tribe (16 HR, .300 AVG, .810 OPS). Don't forget, he always achieves double-digit steals, too. It may be too late to snag him from an owner for next-to-nothing, but he can probably still be acquired for a player like Luis Castillo, who won't give you nearly as much production other than batting average and runs.