Fantasy Baseball: Will Jonathan Lucroy Salvage His Season In Denver?

The Texas Rangers shipped out struggling catcher Jonathan Lucroy to the Rockies just over a year after giving up a king’s ransom to the Brewers at the trade deadline last year. What did they get this year? Here is the deal:

Rockies Get

C Jonathan Lucroy

Rangers Get

Player to be named later

For those of you that have never seen Bull Durham, Kevin Costner plays journeyman minor league catcher Crash Davis, who upon arriving in Durham promptly enters the manager’s office and proclaims that he is the player to be named later. Sometimes these players pan out. Future Hall of Famer David Ortiz, then known as David Arias, was a player to be named later. So were Coco Crisp, Trea Turner, and Michael Brantley. This player must be specified within six months, and is usually from a list of players agreed upon by both teams before the trade.

This is a far cry from what the Rangers gave up for Lucroy a year ago. They gave up two top six prospects in Lewis Brinson and Ryan Cordell, along with pitcher Luis Ortiz.

It is somewhat of a rarity to have a player to be named later as the only player in a deal. This was how important it was to the Rangers to move the struggling Lucroy to give more playing time to Robinson Chirinos.

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Lucroy hit 24 homers last year, but is hitting just .242 with four homers this year. He was losing at bats to Chirinos anyway, so the writing was on the wall. This trade actually helps out two fantasy players. Chirinos has solid power and hits for a decent average. He is a good add in leagues of 12 or more teams or leagues that have two catchers.

Meanwhile, Lucroy could be in for a huge offensive outburst in the thin air of Coors Field. At least in theory. Lucroy is only hitting .243 with a homer and seven RBI in 70 Coors Field at bats.

Regardless, I am still after Lucroy in all of my leagues. I was able to pick him off of waivers in a standard league, and get him for a reasonable price in a deeper league. I may be wrong, but I feel as though Lucroy is primed for a big two months.

The Rockies have gotten practically no output from Ryan Hanigan, Tom Murphy, and Dustin Garneau this year. This is Lucroy’s job, for better or for worse. I think that works to his advantage.

The Rockies weren’t done there. They also picked up All Star reliever Pat Neshek from the Phillies. Here is that deal:

Rockies Get

RHP Pat Neshek

Phillies Get

RHP Alejandro Requena, RHP J.D. Hammer, SS Jose Gomez

Neshek is only of relevance in leagues that count holds, but if you are merely looking for ratio help, he could serve that purpose with his 1.26 ERA and 0.81 WHIP. Neshek could also rack up a few saves in the short term with Greg Holland landing on the DL.

None of the three prospects that the Phillies acquired will be in the majors this year. Alejandro Requena is 9-3 with a 2.78 ERA in 20 starts in A ball this year. J.D. Hammer is 4-2 with a 2.25 ERA in 37 appearances over three stops in A ball this year. He has saved 13 out of 14 tries with 66 strikeouts in only 44 innings.

The biggest piece of this deal for the Phillies is Jose Gomez. He is already in the top 20 of prospects in their system. Gomez is hitting .324 wtih four homers and 18 steals in A ball this year.

Next: Is Jaime Garcia Better Off In New York Than Minnesota?

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