Trade Deadline 2015: Fantasy Impact Of Scott Kazmir To Houston

In the opening salvo of the 2015 major league baseball trade deadline, the Houston Astros acquired veteran left hander Scott Kazmir from the division rival Oakland Athletics. The A’s were the first team to make a deal last year as well, bringing over Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel while giving up a couple of top prospects. This time around, it was Oakland receiving the prospects. Here is what the deal looks like:

The 31 year old Kazmir is headed home. He is from the Houston area. Kazmir was 5-5 with a 2.38 ERA and 101 strikeouts in 109.2 innings in 18 starts for Oakland this year. Playing for a team with a better offense will definitely help his fantasy owners.

Oakland’s gigantic ballpark likely helped keep his ERA down. His ERA at home was 1.36 in ten starts. His ERA on the road is 3.92 in eight starts. If you are a Kazmir owner and are in the running for the ERA title in your league, you might want to try to move him. His ERA is likely to finish the year in the low 3’s as opposed to where it is now.

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However, if you can afford the slight hit in ERA, it could be worth keeping Kazmir around. Pitching for his hometown team could help him out. Pitching for a better offense will likely increase his win total. Since all standard leagues, and most leagues in general, still count wins, his value should increase some. I own Kazmir in two leagues. In both, I am in the top half of the league in ERA and in the middle of the pack in wins. I am hanging on to him in both because the points I should gain in wins will offset the one I might lose in ERA.

In head to head leagues, Kazmir is a great target. He is not prone to bad starts, and is about as consistent as they come. If some owner in your H2H league is worried about the move, shoot him an email immediately!

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The players that Oakland acquired in return were both in High A ball in California. They will likely assume the same roles for Oakland. Nottingham was a sixth round pick out of high school in the 2013 draft, and has hit .280 with 20 home runs in 168 professional games. He was one of the more sought after prospects not named Mark Appel in the Houston system.

Mengden is much closer to the majors than Nottingham is. Mengden was Houston’s fourth round pick out of Texas A&M last year, and has racked up 101 strikeouts in only 99.1 professional innings while posting a 3.44 ERA. Oakland is not likely to rush either of them, so they likely won’t have a fantasy impact this year. Those of you in dynasty leagues could scoop up Nottingham if you have an open slot, and make sure to keep an eye on how Mengden does in Oakland’s system.

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