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After much speculation, Kansas City continued to trade away veterans with longtime Royal and fan favorite Whit Merrifield was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays.
In exchange for Merrifield, the Royals received IF Samad Taylor and RHP Max Castillo. This is a cost-cutting move for them but it has ramifications for fantasy baseball.
We'll break down that deal below as the RotoBaller team keeps you updated on all the breaking news and MLB trades as they go down.
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Whit Merrifield To Toronto
Whit Merrifield goes to Toronto in a bit of a surprise given his vaccination status. It was just last month that he had to sit out the series the Royals traveled to Toronto for. Just today, the Blue Jays said nothing has changed given his status.
The quick analysis is that he won't play in any games in Toronto unless he gets vaccinated. That would make him available for road games only. But let's take it a step further than that in case he does become available to play in Toronto.
Merrifield has a better chance at playing second basemen than he does in the outfield. How do the second basemen shake out for the Blue Jays overall? Merrifield is batting .240 with a .290 OBP, six HR, 15 SB, 51 R, and 42 RBI. He has career lows in batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage.
Santiago Espinal has been playing quite a bit of second base this year for the Blue Jays as well. He has started 79 games at second base and played a total of 87 games there this season. He is batting .265 with a .315 OBP, six HR, five SB, 39 R, and 40 RBI. Quite frankly, his overall numbers look very similar in terms of getting on base and power. Espinal does not steal as frequently as Merrifield does.
Cavan Biggio has played some second base but has also spent some time at first base, second base, and the outfield. Biggio is batting .216 with a .341 OBP, two HR, two SB, 25 R, and 14 RBI in just 183 plate appearances this year.
When comparing all three guys here, Merrifield this season is not much better than these options. He has the lowest OBP of the three and all three have low ISOs. He really only gives them a bigger threat on the base paths. If we go back to 2019, then Merrifield is an upgrade over these two, but that was three years ago and Merrifield is 33.
I look at Merrifield as a bench player that is versatile and will see himself in the lineup on days where guys need a rest or when guys get hurt. Merrifield can play 2B, or corner outfield. Centerfield is George Springer and then Ramiel Tapia when Springer is hurt. If Lourdes Gurriel Jr., or Teoscar Hernandez get hurt or need a day off, it will either be Merrifield or Biggio out there.
In the infield, the starting second basemen will either be Merrifield or Espinal but Espinal has seen work at third base and shortstop as well. So if Bichette or Chapman is out, then Espinal could move to their spot, giving Merrifield a way to play at second.
I do think Merrifield is an everyday player on this team even if he gets vaccinated. He is having his worst offensive season and is 33 years old. He is able to play second base and the corner outfield spots, allowing the Blue Jays to move Espinal around more for injury or if guys need rest.
The Blue Jays are on a road trip. They just wrapped up their series in Tampa Bay (Merrifield did not play). They will play four in Minnesota, then three in Baltimore before returning to Toronto on Friday, August 12th.
For people that have been playing Merrifield in their lineups, this hurts. Merrifield is tied at 10th in stolen bases in the league. He was on pace for over 80 runs, 65 RBI, and 22 steals. Although he is moving to a better lineup, and on a per-game basis his counting stats could improve, the face he likely won't play every day hurts his value quite a bit.
If I had him on my team, I would try to FAAB for steals, which can be hard to do. I probably do not drop him and wait and see how the Blue Jays use him. If he doesn't get vaccinated, then he probably is a drop for me, especially if he's not their every second baseman. In draft and hold leagues, he would only start if I was thin at second base or MI and if there is a week where Toronto is on the road.
We will learn more about how the Blue Jays will actually deploy him, but do not be surprised if he is a bench utility player that plays maybe 60% of the time.
The Royals' Return
Samad Taylor becomes the Royals' 23rd best prospect according to the MLB website. Taylor is at Triple-A, and is 24 years old. He is batting .258 with a .337 OBP, nine home runs, 23 steals, in 280 at-bats. He is an excellent fielder with just two errors, but that does not help us in fantasy. He is fast and has a good glove but overall may not a very good hitter at the MLB level. He could end up as a utility type of a player and largely irrelevant for fantasy.
Max Castillo becomes the Royals' 13th best prospect. In 20.2 innings pitched for the Blue Jays, he has a 3.05 ERA and 3.34 xFIP. He also strikes out nearly one batter per inning. He has started two games. In those games, he pitched 7.1 innings, allowed four runs, and had four strikeouts. With players like Brad Keller, Kris Bubic, and Daniel Lynch, Castillo is someone who could slot into a rotation spot or become a middle-inning reliever.
If Castillo can be a strikeout per inning guy, there is some fantasy relevance there. In those two starts, he was a nearly a strikeout every two-inning guy. Being the fourth starter on the Royals and not producing many strikeouts is irrelevant for most fantasy leagues. His fantasy viability is TBD at this point. Hopefully he gets some chances down the stretch here. He could be a streaming option this season or someone to consider for 2023, but he will have to show it first. He most likely won't be viable for fantasy.
Final Thoughts
The Royals traded away a big contract of an aging and slumping player for two prospects with limited upside. Overall the trade was not necessarily a bad deal, in fact, the Royals may have gotten the better end of it. For fantasy, it potentially takes one of the top base stealers and makes him a bench player. Outside of that, there may not be much fantasy relevance.
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