MLB trade deadline: Winners and losers

As with all trades, there are fantasy winners and losers as well as real-life ones.

Since we mainly deal with the fantasy world, below are some players whose values will either benefit or take a hit from trade activity.

And now, in no particular order:

(Here’s the archive of the fantasy impact of Major League Baseball’s non-waiver deadline trades.)

Winners

Alex Gordon, 3B/OF, Kansas City: Alberto Callaspo and Scott Podsednik got traded, and David DeJesus suffered a season-ending thumb injury. After that, even the Royals couldn’t figure out a way to screw Gordon over any more. Manager Ned Yost has declared that Gordon will be his everyday left fielder for the rest of the season. Gordon’s been a disappointment, and while you could accuse me of being stubborn, I’m willing to give him another chance. But I have five Gordon posters on the wall of my office, so I might be biased.

Chris Perez, RP, Cleveland: Kerry Wood is a Yankee, so – as we’ve predicted all year long – Perez is Cleveland’s new closer. Perez has some control issues, but he’ll get his chance to sink or swim in his new job. Grab him now if you need saves.

Joel Hanrahan/Evan Meek, RP, Pittsburgh: The Bucs aren’t tipping their hand about the closer’s job in the wake of the Octavio Dotel trade. Meek has been the pick here all year, but Hanrahan’s numbers (63 K/14 BB during 45 2/3 IP) have been fantastic. Look for a bit of a timeshare in the short term, and while that might be a little disappointing, both of these guys will get more saves than they were already getting. Part-time closers are better than no-time closers.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C, Boston: This seemingly perennial underachiever is only 25, and the Sox are smart enough to give his potentially powerful bat a chance. It might not happen until 2011, but it’ll happen.

Carlos Zambrano, SP/RP, Cubs: There’s an opening in the Cubs’ rotation after the Ted Lilly deal, and a team can only pay a middle reliever $18 million per season for so long, right? Big Z is already making noise about being a starter again, and since the team is out of contention, they might as well. Zambrano wasn’t terrible before Sweet Lou moved him to the bullpen.

Jon Jay, OF, St. Louis: With Ryan Ludwick off to San Diego, Jay is the Cardinals’ everyday right fielder. Jay isn’t going to bat .380 forever, but his power-speed numbers in the minors weren’t too bad (10 HR, 20 SB at Triple A last season). He’s a nice NL-only option, as long as you realize he’s coming back to Earth.

Chris Snyder, C, Pittsburgh: The Pirates seem to like Snyder, so much that they’ve announced plans to make Ryan Doumit a part-time right fielder and first baseman. Snyder has good power for a catcher, and could hit 20 homers over a full season if he plays every day. However, the dark cloud surrounding this silver lining is Snyder’s .233 career batting average. The more he plays, the more the batting average hurts your fantasy squad.

Brett Wallace, 1B, Houston: Wallace got traded for the third time in a year, but now he finally has a job? With Lance Berkman off to fame, fortune and some bad backpage headlines in the NYC tabloids after grounding into a double play for the Yankees in the eighth inning on Sunday, Wallace takes over at first base in Houston. Wallace’s 18 homers and .868 OPS in the minors this season were aided by a friendly home park in Las Vegas, but in NL-only leagues, you have to take a shot at him.

Drew Storen, RP, Washington: The Nats have announced plans for a closer-by-committee in the wake of Matt Capps’ trade to the Twins, because they don’t want to put too much pressure on Storen. Sorry, but if you’re heading into the ninth inning with a one run-lead in September, are you going to bring in Tyler Clippard, or give the ball to Storen so he gets some more experience at the job you’re going to give him next season? Storen won’t get every save for the Nats down the stretch, but he’ll get a lot of them.

Josh Bell, 3B, Baltimore: Bell gets his shot at an everyday job with Miguel Tejada off to San Diego. Bell had 13 homers and an .810 OPS in Triple A this season, and nobody’s ever questions his power. The O’s aren’t going anywhere, so they’re going to let Bell get his reps, and maybe learn how to walk once in awhile (23 BB in 339 plate appearances).

I saw Bell hit two home runs in a Triple-A game at Charlotte earlier this season. My scouting report is as follows: “Nice power. He’s chubby.”

Jayson Nix, 2B/3B, Cleveland: Nix seems to be the Indians’ primary option at third base now that Jhonny Peralta has been traded – he’s started three of the last four games at the position (he sat Sunday after making a couple of errors in those three games, though). You might be saying, “Jayson Nix? Really?” Yes, really, if you’re in an AL-only league. Remember that he had 12 homers and 10 stolen bases in 255 at bats for the White Sox last season.

Losers

Jon Rauch, RP, Minnesota: Rauch is now the Twins ex-closer thanks to the arrival of Capps.

Ryan Doumit, C, Pittsburgh: See the Snyder entry above. Doumit was apparently surprised to hear about his new role, but he’s just kinda OK, and he’s never healthy.

Chris Davis, 1B, Texas: That was fast. A few weeks after reclaiming the first-base job following Justin Smoak’s trade, the struggling Davis has been replaced by new arrival Jorge Cantu. Maybe he’ll get another chance next season.

Scott Podsednik, OF, Dodgers: Podsednik was playing and stealing bases for the Royals. Now he’ll do the same for the Dodgers … until Manny Ramirez returns. After that, he can absolutely fill your empty pinch-runner slot.

Kerry Wood, RP, Yankees: It’s hard to call Wood a loser here, since he was already producing nothing for his fantasy owners because of another stint on the disabled list. But where there was a chance that he was going to come back and get saves for the Tribe, his opportunities will be non-existent in New York. After issuing a couple of four-pitch walks during his Yankees debut, Wood’s next appearance might be with an eight-run deficit. To paraphrase Dean Vernon Wormer, Wood should be owned in “zero point zero” percent of fantasy leagues right now.