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2015 Trade Deadline: Will Joe Blanton Help The Pirates?

By Mike Marteny

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The Pittsburgh Pirates have picked up veteran pitcher Joe Blanton after the Royals designated him for assignment in the wake of the Johnny Cueto deal. The Pirates gave up an undisclosed amount of cash to the Royals to acquire the services of Blanton.

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Blanton was 2-2 with a 3.89 ERA in four starts and 11 relief appearances for the Royals this season. Blanton is 87-91 with a 4.50 ERA in his career. His 3.89 season ERA is the lowest mark since his rookie year of 2005 in Oakland when it was 3.53. His ERA has only been under 4 in a season once more since then (3.95 in 2007, also with Oakland).

Conventional wisdom would say that Blanton would benefit from a move to the National League, but he spent five years in Philadelphia and a year with the Dodgers. His ERA’s in those seasons were a combined 4.51, which is slightly worse than his career ERA.

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    • If Blanton can pitch the way he did for the Royals this year, he can be a fantasy asset. He is a streaming option in favorable matchups, but his lower strikeout numbers usually make him more of a risk than he is worth unless you are just chasing wins. If he can stick in Pittsburgh’s rotation, he could have a chance for a handful of wins down the stretch. It is choosing when to use him to get those wins that is the hard part.

    This likely spells the end of Charlie Morton’s run in the starting rotation. Morton has allowed 30 runs in his last six starts, seeing his ERA jump from 1.62 on June 16th to its current mark of 4.61. He struck out only 19 batters in the month of July combined, so Blanton should be at least a marginal upgrade over Morton.

    The Pirates have not officially announced how they will use Blanton just yet, but expect him to start unless he proves that he shouldn’t be. Those of you in deeper leagues should take notice.

    Stay tuned to Fantasy CPR for the fantasy impact of all of the deadline deals!

    Next: Will Cole Hamels Struggle In Texas?

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