Fantasy Baseball Dynasty Top 700 Rankings & Trade Value Version 2.06
It might be time to trade away Kyle Finnegan, plus why Andrew Heaney is worth adding.
Welcome to this week’s dynasty update. This week’s update has everything.
A breakdown of Kyle Finnegan reportedly rejoining the Washington Nationals (and what it means for dynasty managers, particularly those who still have him on their rosters).
A look at Andrew Heaney’s fantasy impact in Pittsburgh (spoilers, it looks like a good fantasy fit on paper). And a newly minted top 700 update (with trade values!).
Unfortunately, there isn’t an intricate Stefon reference. But, without further ado, the rankings!
If you have any questions about specific trade offers for your team or are curious about an offer you were thinking of sending out, becoming a paid subscriber grants you daily access to my fantasy help chat where I’ll be answering all of your fantasy baseball questions every weekday, whether it’s offseason, the regular season or the fantasy playoffs. The main goal of this Substack? To help you win your fantasy leagues.
Kyle Finnegan (#480, 21 trade value).
Just last week in the redraft update, the topic of the Nationals bullpen came up and how it could very much be a committee type of situation with no set closer, particularly after the National League East club traded away the team’s best reliever (Robert Garcia) this offseason.
So much for it being a potential committee. At least if last season’s trends repeat themselves.
The Nationals, per a report from FanSided’s Robert Murray on Tuesday, have reportedly signed the team’s former closer, Kyle Finnegan, to a one-year deal.
Finnegan pitched to a 3.68 ERA and a 4.25 FIP in 65 appearances spanning 63.2 innings for the Nationals last season. He notched three pitcher wins and accumulated 38 saves for the club. Despite his fWAR finishing at an even 0.0, Finnegan dominated the save chances in Washington. Only two other relievers registered a save for the Nationals last season. The two pitchers who did (Derek Law and Jose A. Ferrer) each logged just one save each.
So why mention Finnegan in a dynasty context? Particularly if he’s reportedly just signed a one-year deal with the Nationals?
Two things.
One is the saves potential in 2025. For dynasty purposes, even for one year that’s not insignificant from a trade value standpoint.
Two is the time of year. Finnegan looks like, at least on paper and speculatively speaking, that he’ll be the favorite for saves for the Nationals in 2025. And he very well could be, but there’s at least the chance he doesn’t dominate the saves in the same way again. With that in mind, now might be the time to trade him if the return is right and look for relievers in closing committees or pitchers who could step into ninth-inning roles at some point this season.
Furthermore, we’re at the point where unless a dynasty team is in the early stages of a tear-down or rebuild, most teams feel like they have a shot at contending in 2025. In other words, in terms of potential fits in your league, you might have the most interested teams now.
Andrew Heaney (#474, 21 trade value).
Another free agent to reportedly ink a one-year deal, Andrew Heaney is joining the Pittsburgh Pirates.
He’s very much worth a look in dynasty formats, though for different reasons than Finnegan. In other words, he’s not necessarily someone to trade away. At least not yet.
If you’re a rebuilding team looking for veterans to potentially trade later in the season for future prospects and picks, Andrew Heaney is worth a look. If you’re in need of pitching reinforcements and can make waiver claims at this point in time, Andrew Heaney is worth a look.
The left-hander hasn’t been able to replicate his 2022 form, in which he struck out 35.5% of batters compared to just a 6.1% walk rate in 72.2 innings in a Los Angeles Dodgers uniform. Heaney logged a 3.10 ERA and a 3.75 FIP that season.
Though even then, as has been the case in recent seasons, the veteran has struggled in allowing home runs.
He surrendered 1.29 homers per nine frames in 160 innings for the Texas Rangers last season. That number was 1.40 in 2023 (147.1 innings), 1.73 (the aforementioned 72.2 innings) in 2022, 2.010 in 2021 (129.2 innings) and 1.54 for his career (1014.1 innings).
Since the start of 2021, only nine qualified starters have a higher home runs allowed per nine innings than Heaney (1.57). Over the same span, only 14 qualified pitchers have posted a higher barrel rate.
Overall, the left-hander pitched to a 4.28 ERA and a 4.04 FIP in 160 innings last season for the Rangers. His strikeout rate and walk rates finished at 22.9% and 5.9% respectively.
And while his bat-missing stats don’t jump out in the same way they did during his Dodgers tenure, the 33-year-old was excellent at limiting walks. His 5.9% walk rate finished in the 83rd percentile league-wide and was tied for the 11th-lowest in the league among pitchers with at least 160 innings of work. It was the third time in four years that Heaney’s walk rate was under 7.5%.
Pair those low walks with lower home runs and Heaney could be a solid fantasy option, even if his strikeout rate doesn’t rise too much.
And while the veteran has struggled in allowing home runs as of late, there’s reason to believe a switch to Pittsburgh’s PNC Park could help him considerably in that regard.
Heaney has allowed 160 home runs in the Statcast era. Per Statcast data, his expected home run tally by park – if you put all his batted ball data in each ballpark for that span – in Pittsburgh would’ve been 131.
Only in five other stadiums is the number lower. In some instances, like in Cincinnati, Los Angeles, Houston and Chicago, the number actually rises anywhere from eight to 25 home runs. Furthermore, based on the expected home run data, PNC Park might be the most pitcher-friendly park (at least to Heaney) that the veteran has ever started in on a regular basis.
Heaney won’t suddenly morph into a fantasy ace, but there’s reason to believe he could bounce back and turn in a quality season in a Pirates uniform. Whether you’re looking for under-the-radar veterans to potentially trade later or are in search of solid innings to fill out your rotation, Andrew Heaney is very much worth a look.
Things to keep in mind:
Beware the Open Roster Spot (Or lack thereof)
Oh and one more quick note, beware the open roster spot, or lack thereof rather, in trades.
While a two-for-one or even a three-for-one or four-for-two deal might line up from a trade value standpoint, the roster spots are worth considering. Essentially if you’re having to cut someone it turns into you giving up another player or players in addition to potentially the best player in the deal. It’s obviously a different story if you’re working with a flexible roster or open roster spots, but it adds another layer to deals that can potentially change the calculus of things considerably.
Also a quick note on prospects:
Proximity matters. Upside is obviously king here, but proximity to the Majors matters here as well with prospects, at least from a fantasy standpoint. It can be a bit of a tie-breaker with prospects with similar upside but at different minor league levels. Furthermore, the farther away a prospect is from the Majors, the more it impacts their fantasy trade value.
Of course, that’s not going to have much of a difference with elite prospects in the low minors like Ethan Salas or Max Clark, but it’s why some prospects who aren’t necessarily in the upper echelon of fantasy prospects, may have a lower trade value number in dynasty formats than a lower ceiling player already in the Majors who is guaranteed to provide MLB (and fantasy) production at least in the coming years.
