108 Stitches

Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated is reporting that trade talks are going from simmer to boil between the Cubs and Orioles regarding second baseman Brian Roberts. When the two teams were close on a deal weeks ago, Orioles owner Peter Angelos vetoed the idea because of Roberts status as a fan favorite in Baltimore, but after the Bedard trade, he’s come more to terms with the idea that his team is at least stuck in a one-armed embrace with rebuilding.

The new proposal would send outfielder Jay Payton along with B-Rob to the Cubs in exchange for a grab bag of youngsters including Sean Squared (pitchers Sean Gallagher and Sean Marshall), outfielder Matt Murton and infielder Ronny Cedeno, among others.

So what does this mean for the fantasy value of those involved? First off you’ll find my current second base top 10 rankings below:

SECOND BASE
1. Chase Utley, Phillies
2. Brandon Phillips, Reds
3. BJ Upton, Rays
4. Robinson Cano, Yankees
5. Ian Kinsler, Rangers
6. Brian Roberts, Orioles
7. Rickie Weeks, Brewers
8. Dan Uggla, Marlins
9. Aaron Hill, Blue Jays
10. Placido Polanco, Tigers

I think a move to Wrigley would push Roberts potentially past Cano in the rankings, because he’d still steal approximately 40 bases, but an already solid run total would likely increase and hitting in a better lineup would have an overall positive effect on his numbers. It’s worth noting however that Camden Yards is a better place for right handed hitters when it comes to hitting long balls, so it would certainly be foolish to expect Roberts to top an already modest home run total.

I’m not real intrigued by either of the Sean’s, but I would keep an eye on Matt Murton. He’s never seemed to earn the respect I believe he deserves in the Cubs organization. Sure he can make a stupid play in the outfield, but there are plenty of players who do that, including B.J. Upton and Manny Ramirez. No, I’m not saying Murton has the offensive upside of either of those players, I’m simply suggesting that he can hit close to .300 due to a reasonable contact rate and he has the potential to hit 25 homers if playing regularly and his increasing fly ball rate continues it’s upward trend. As we mentioned, being a righty, he would benefit from a move to Camden.

No deal is imminent, but it’s clearly worth keeping an eye on since it could significantly change the fantasy value of some players and alter the status of others to “sleeper.”