Fantasy Baseball Trade Analyzer: Elite players you can actually buy low on right now

We are just about a month into the season, which makes late April a great time to go big-game hunting on the trade market. And this is a terrific year to do so, as there are several players who were top 20 picks in March but rank outside the top 150 assets to this point in the season.

As part of my role, I’m constantly sorting data on the Yahoo site. This site can compete with any other in terms of sorting ability, as managers can always sort by time periods such as the past seven days, past 14 days and past 30 days. Most managers would be surprised as to how often I sort data over short time periods during the middle of the campaign and find the best players buried down the list.

The problem during April is that the short time periods are all we have. But this game is a marathon, not a sprint, and the most talented players almost always rise to the top at some point.

Here are some elite players who are strong buy-low candidates on the trade market. My recommendation is to offer at least two good players for them, which will lead to not only acquiring an elite talent but also freeing up valuable roster space that can be used on the fruitful Yahoo waiver wire.

Many fantasy managers will be reluctant to make such a trade, which is fine. You don’t need to acquire all of them. Getting one is a good start.

Garrett Crochet, SP, Red Sox

A pitcher who went in the first round of many drafts and owns a 7.88 ERA? Yes, that’s the ultimate buy-low option. The easy answer is that his April 13 start (1.2 IP, 10 ER) ruined his stat line, but there’s more to it, as his starts on April 1 and 19 were uncharacteristically poor.

The devil is in the details for Crochet — his velocity is fine, but small changes in his strikeout rate, walk rate and average exit velocity have combined to knock him down several pegs. Still, he has struck out at least seven batters in four of five starts. The recent deals that can be viewed on the Yahoo Trade Market show that his buy-low window is wide open.

Julio Rodríguez, OF, Mariners

A couple weeks ago, I detailed the career path of Rodríguez, which includes several slow starts and furious finishes. In my opinion, he’s the perfect buy-low target right now. His season-long numbers are still terrible (1 HR, 2 SB, .237 BA). But a closer look shows that Rodríguez is starting to come around, having hit .359 with a .969 OPS in his past 11 games. He has recently been in plenty of Yahoo leagues.