Chicago White Sox James Shields: Fantasy Fallout
By Brad Kelly
James Shields is headed to the Chicago White Sox, after finally being dealt from the San Diego Padres. What is the fantasy fallout from the deal?
James Shields tenure with the San Diego was rough to say the least as the veteran righty experienced two career worse seasons with the Padres. Now that it seems as though he is on the back side of his career, does the move to the South side offer any fantasy help?
The simple answer is: no. Shields has struggled mightily the last two seasons, seeing his K rate drop over 5% and his HR surrendered rate rise steadily as well. When he signed with San Diego in 2015, he was coming off the heels of anchoring the Royals rotation in 2014, but since then he has failed to recapture that form.
He currently sits with a, 4.28 ERA/57 K/1.42 WHIP/4.42 FIP, line over 11 starts. His latest start was easily the worst of his career, as he gave up 10 ER against the Mariners. This prompted management to basically call out the teams lack of effort and escalated Shields’ departure.
From a fantasy standpoint, Shields more than likely should be out of most lineups, possibly even still widely available on the waiver wire after his last outing. The move back to the American League and to U.S. Cellular field, should likely be the nail in the coffin in terms of his fantasy value. It is just too hard to predict that he will be able to post a sub 4.00 ERA against better hitting and in one of the worst pitchers ballparks.
While Shields may not move the needle fantasy wise, this move makes a lot of sense from a real baseball perspective. At worse, he provides 200+ innings and serves as a better option than having Miguel Gonzalez or even Matt Latos every fifth day. The White Sox plan to contend and adding Shields will go a long way in stabilizing a rotation that needs help from its backend.
He also has a 3.00 ERA at U.S. Cellular over 11 career starts, albeit when he was on top of his game years ago, but the track record of success is there. Therefore, with a weak pitching free agent class next season, trading for two years of Shields, seems logical.
The Padres are more than likely going to be in firesale mode as well as their struggles this season and notable free agent flops, will surely warrant more moves. But, getting Erik Johnson and Fernando Tatis Jr. in return, is a good start in retooling.
Tatis Jr. is only 17-years-old, so he remains more of a dynasty player, but he is talented. He is an excellent glove first player, but he also has a swing that still needs to be developed.
Johnson is the more notable name as White Sox fans have patiently waited for him to emerge as a solid rotation arm. But, even though he has shown flashes, he has struggled at the big league level.
He has been solid in the minors the last two seasons and has shown an uptick in his K%. The move to Petco and to the National League, could very well be the move he needs to finally excel. Fantasy owners should monitor him, as he could develop into a deep league add or streaming option this season.