As Chad Young already spelled out in his piece earlier today, the two of us recently completed a trade in the second FanGraphs Staff League: Pablo Sandoval and Hong-Chih Kuo for Matt Thornton and Paul Goldschmidt.

I was on the end receiving Sandoval, and as far as overall trade analysis goes, I have to agree almost entirely with Chad. Due to the relative strengths and weaknesses of both our teams, I think this was one of those trades that — right now, at least — rates as a win-win. Both of us are dealing from depth; I get the third baseman I desperately need without destroying my bullpen or offensive depth, and Chad improves his bullpen considerably and gets a young, high upside first baseman without hurting his offense. Only time will tell exactly how this works out, but in the moment, both of us left feeling quite happy with our returns.

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It’s been somewhat of a bittersweet spring for the Kansas City Royals.  On one hand, Eric Hosmer and Alex Gordon are off to great starts and look like they’re going to build on last year’s success while Lorenzo Cain has emerged as a strong force both with the glove and the bat.  On the other, you’ve got Salvador Perez down with knee surgery for 12 to 14 weeks and Joakim Soria likely headed for Tommy John surgery…again.  The first hand?  Music to fantasy owners ears.  The second?  Not so much.   The closer situation will be handled in-house so hopefully you handcuffed your Soria pick to the pair of Jonathan Broxton and Greg Holland.  The catching situation, though, forced the Royals to go outside.

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Fantasy owners usually feel good about their rosters after a draft or auction. They got most of the players they wanted and/or needed. All is good. A nice core lineup is set. A couple of players with several qualified positions are waiting on the bench to fill in for a starter’s off day. Rookies were selected that should be called up soon. A pitching staff that is second to none is ready. The first waiver period expires and the guy that auto-drafted then places a player on the waiver wire you desire. Now, a owner must figure out which player they should drop to pick up the desired player.

Once a fantasy manager has completed their draft or auction, a owner needs to immediately designate the first player to be dropped. Finding a player to drop for a better player should be easy, but many owners struggle with it. It should be known at all times which player is the first to go on the team if an opportunity arises. It gives an owner flexibility to make moves while others are holding onto their preciously drafted team.

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It’s no fun when a hitter leaves Colorado. Not for the fantasy owner and, I’m sure, not for the player himself. Seriously, hitting in Coors’ Field has to be the most fun you can have as a hitter. Just ask Vinny Castilla or Dante Bichette. Unfortunately for Seth Smith he’ll no longer have that luxury as he’s now a member of the Oakland A’s.

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Theo Epstein’s and Jed Hoyer’s rebuilding of the Chicago Cubs continued Friday when they acquired highly touted first base prospect Anthony Rizzo and minor league pitcher Zack Cates from the San Diego Padres for pitcher Andrew Cashner and minor league outfielder Kyung-Min Na.  For those scratching their heads at the deal, our own Paul Swydan (Padres perspective) and Jason Roberts (Cubs angle) break it down for you over in the main FanGraphs area.  Over here, we’re looking at the most immediate fantasy impact, and that really involves Rizzo who now finds himself on his third team in three years.

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The Cubs shipped off a pitcher yesterday, but it wasn’t Matt Garza. Instead, the sent Carlos Zambrano to Miami in exchange for Chris Volstad. Neither player provided much fantasy value in 2011, but could a change of scenery provide a boost to one of the two right-handers?

Zambrano was a fantasy asset as recently as 2010, when he posted a 3.33 ERA and 11 wins while striking out 117 in just 129.2 IP. Of course the season wasn’t perfect, by any means. The sparkling ERA was well below Zambrano’s 3.71 FIP and his 1.45 WHIP was pretty weak. Not to mention the fact that you aren’t typically happy with less than 130 IP out of a starting pitcher. And 2011 was much worse – the ERA blew up to a rotund 4.82, the strike outs and wins dropped, and that was before Zambrano had a clubhouse explosion and threatened to retire.

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There’s a saying in fantasy that I’ve heard for evaluating potential deals: Whoever gets the best player usually wins the trade. This isn’t always the case, but it has served me pretty well in my dealings. The San Diego-Cincinnati swap that sent Mat Latos — the best player in the deal in my opinion — to the NL Central might be the exception to that rule. San Diego may have delayed their next period of competitiveness by dealing Latos for prospects, but they definitely improved the team at a number of positions and cut down on their costs in the meantime.

Latos himself will be covered at length in another piece, but here is how moving to San Diego will affect the pieces headed west.

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The San Diego Padres appear to have their closer.

After watching Heath Bell leave in free agency, many expected the Padres to look to their own pen to find their late-inning solution — but on Wednesday morning, they have reportedly acquired Huston Street from the Colorado Rockies for the reliable player to be named later. The trade for the Rockies is almost assuredly to clear cash in an effort to create flexibility for other moves, but until we learn more about their own plans for the closer role, the fantasy impact for now is that Huston Street’s stock just rose pretty significantly.

Why? The happiest place on Earth to pitch, of course.

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‘Tis the season of wheeling, dealing and spieling.

Baseball’s Hot Stove season gets all sorts of coverage. Among the general questions that can be applied to just about any scenario are: Which big name is rumored to be signing here? What trade chip would be a perfect match there? And does Buster Olney ever actually sleep?

While the transactions of note generally involve big leaguers signing with or being traded to new teams, one angle that often gets overshadowed is how those moves effect prospects. Sometimes, an inking or a deal by the parent club can be good news for minor leaguers, but many times, that’s not the case. What looked only yesterday to be a clear path to playing time for a prospect ready to contribute, instead has suddenly become a circuitous detour along a bumpy road with indecipherable signage, more than a few potholes and the ultimate destination — the majors — nowhere in sight.

With that in mind, buckle your seat belts as we take a look at a pair of young players whose 2012 stocks have been impacted head-on by some recent moves.

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With Melky Cabrera being trade from the Royals to the Giants for Jonathan Sanchez, Lorenzo Cain became the everyday center fielder for the Royals. His fantasy value has skyrocketed with this move.

Lorenzo was traded to the Royals from the Brewers as part of the Zack Greinke trade. With the 2010 Brewers, he played in 43 games hitting .306 with 1 HR and 7 SBs. Besides, 6 games played with the Royals at the end of the season as a August call up, he has spent the rest of his career in the minors.

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