Gotta love when the water starts boiling on the hot stove. A day after news broke of a pending Matt Holliday trade (which I will dig into deeper when it is official) another trade went down between the Marlins and Nationals. Left handed pitcher Scott Olsen and outfielder Josh Willingham were shipped to Washington in exchange for 2B Emilio Bonifacio, RHP P.J. Dean and 2B Jake Smolinski.
Speaking strictly from a fantasy perspective this trade adds value mostly to Scott Olsen and Emilio Bonifacio. Olsen has been a pitcher known more for his poor attitude in the past than his performance on the field. Though he finished last season with a 4.20 ERA, he had some nice stretches in April, June and September. There was concern over the fact that Olsen had lost about 3 MPH on his fastball and slider. However, ESPN’s Keith Law reminds us that Olsen’s velocity seemed to come back in September even touching 94 MPH. Even with the lost velocity and low K numbers, Olsen did manage to make a very good improvement on his WHIP. The biggest boost for Olsen may just be a fresh start with a new team. Monitor his velocity in spring training.
As for Emilio Bonifacio, he may need some more time at AAA as he works on his patience at the plate, but clearly the Marlins see him as their future at 2B. He is a good defender and has plenty of speed (He did steal 61 bases for the Diamondbacks high A team in 2006). I wouldn’t be surprised if the Marlins move Uggla to third and keep Cantu at first opening a spot for Bonifacio. Again, monitor in spring training. He could be a cheap source of SB’s.
Filed under: Fantasy Impact | Tagged: Emilio Bonifacio, Fantasy Baseball, Scott Olsen
