2015 Trade Deadline: Will Ben Zobrist Bounce Back In Kansas City?

The Kansas City Royals are all-in for another World Series run, acquiring Ben Zobrist from the Athletics Tuesday afternoon. This comes after they acquired Johnny Cueto over the weekend. Zobrist has played every position in the field besides center field and catcher. His versatility fills a huge hole for the Royals.

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The 34 year old Zobrist was hitting .268 with six homers and 33 RBI in his first year in Oakland. Zobrist has cracked the 20 homer plateau three times in his career, and the Royals are hoping getting out of Oakland will help his power numbers out a bit.

At the very least, Zobrist should be in line for more RBI opportunities. His power numbers should get a bit of a boost, but don’t expect a miracle. Expect closer to five homers from him the rest of the year than ten. At any rate, the move to Kansas City should help his fantasy value out a little. If you can get him on the cheap in your standard league, do it. His position versatility alone makes him worth the risk.

The trade shakes out like this:

The big losers fantasy-wise in this trade are Paulo Orlando and Jarrod Dyson in the short term. Zobrist will likely take over in left field while Alex Gordon is out. After that, if Omar Infante is still struggling (.244, one home run, 29 RBI), Zobrist will likely take over at second base. Even if Infante gets back on track, Zobrist’s ability to play multiple positions will allow him to stay in the lineup to give other players rest. It also protects the Royals should they suffer another injury to a starter.

Orlando and Dyson are likely not even worth a roster spot in deep leagues anymore. However, if you have the bench slot, Dyson might be worth it because of his speed.

The absence of Zobrist in Oakland will likely mean more at-bats for Mark Canha and Sam Fuld, at least until Coco Crisp returns. Crisp just resumed baseball activities on Monday, but still has no timetable for a return. Canha and Fuld could receive a slight uptick in value, but are still only worth looking at in deep leagues.

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Sean Manaea was the 34th pick in the 2013 draft by the Royals, but has had injury issues since they drafted him. Still, he was one of the best prospects in the system, and is as good of a player as the A’s could have asked for for Zobrist. Manaea is 1-1 with a 3.66 ERA in four starts this season. If he can stave off injuries, he could be the number two behind Sonny Gray in Oakland’s rotation in a couple of years.

Aaron Brooks had cracked the Kansas City bullpen this year, but will likely be a starter long term. He is 0-1 with a 20.57 ERA in four major league appearances (one start). He was 6-5 with a 3.71 ERA in 17 starts for AAA Omaha this year, which are darn good numbers in the heavy hitting Pacific Coast League. Brooks is a back of the rotation guy, but could end up starting a few games for Oakland later this year. He will not be fantasy relevant until next year at the earliest, though he could be a decent streaming option down the stretch if you are a gambler.

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