Fantasy Baseball Trade Analyzer: Should You Trade For/Away Austin Riley?

The baseball season is a long one, and to help pass the time, a lot of fantasy owners like to make trades at this point of the season.

We covered CJ Abrams in a trade-related story earlier in the week, and now are going to cover Atlanta Braves’ Austin Riley with him in a couple popular trades on the FantasySP Fantasy Baseball Trade Analyzer. 

Explore the best in-season tool to manage lineup/start decisions including waiver pickups, projections, trade suggestions, trade value charts, rest of season rankings, power rankings, and tons more with Fantasy Assistant. Now, with revolutionary AI Expert help. Use our fantasy baseball trade analyzer and trade value charts to break down trade scenarios.

Riley’s Season So Far/Career Numbers

Riley missed a little time this season, but has also mightily struggled at the plate.

In 52 total games, Riley has a .225 average and .295 on-base percentage. He’s got 10 doubles, two triples and three home runs among his 46 total hits. Riley also has 20 RBIs, 28 runs scored, 18 walks and 55 strikeouts.

In his career, Riley is a .271 hitter with a .337 OBP, so to say this season has been underwhelming would be an understatement. I think Riley if far too talented a hitter to struggle for an entire season, but it also seems very unlikely that he’ll be able to live up to his Average Draft Position - he went with the 32nd pick on average.

Right now, Riley is ranked 66th on the FantasySP Trade Value Chart, but has been trending down all season. If you don’t believe in Riley being able to turn things around, now might be a great time to move him.

Popular Trades Involving Riley

Riley is part of popular trades inside the trade analyzer with Houston Astros’ Alex Bregman and Minnesota Twins’ Royce Lewis.

Bregman has also really struggled this season across 65 games played. He’s got a .240 average and .304 OBP, and 12 doubles, one triple and nine home runs among his 61 total hits. Bregman also has 32 RBIs, 26 runs, two stolen bases, 22 walks and 40 strikeouts.

He’s a career .272 hitter with a .369 OBP, but hasn’t performed quite as well over the past couple seasons. Bregman has been hitting a bit better of late, with 20 hits over the past 14 games. 

Lewis has been great at the plate when he’s been on the field, but that’s only been for nine games this season. In those nine games, Lewis has 11 total hits, including two doubles and five home runs, and a .367 average. He’s walked twice to bump his OBP to .394, and also has eight runs scored and just five strikeouts.

Lewis has really excelled at the plate any time he’s been in the MLB, but only has played 79 games over a three-year stretch. His 162-game averages are off the charts, but his injury woes definitely make him a risky fantasy player.

Trade Decisions/Advice

The FSP Trade Analyzer goes off of the Trade Value Chart, and with Riley and Bregman struggling and Lewis barely playing so far, the trade charts still favor Riley.

Riley is nearly two points clear of Bregman. Both haven’t lived up to the preseason hype they had, which makes them decent trade partners.

I still like Riley more as a fantasy player because of what we’ve seen from him in the past, but at the same time, Bregman has shown some signs of life of late, so I’d be fine making the swap of Riley for Bregman.

Both players play the same position, making this deal really comes down to which player you believe in more for the rest of the season.

Because Lewis hasn’t played much yet, Riley is several points clear of him. The offer of Riley for Lewis is closer than it appears, but I just don’t trust Lewis to stick on the field, so I’d still prefer Riley.

Again, these guys are playing the same position, so you are probably just swapping one starter for another. Lewis is the better fantasy option right now, but the thought of him missing more time is just too much for me to accept this deal.

I’d personally try to expand the deal a little bit on each side - I’d add a second player to each side, and have a little more consistent player coming along with Lewis in the deal.

But in this particular trade idea today, it’s all about what you think about these players moving forward. All have struggled with something this season, but all can also be top-end fantasy hitters when they are going good at the plate. 

I believe Riley and Bregman will have better finishes to the season, and that Lewis will start to emerge as one of the better fantasy 3B in the game (if he can stay on the field).

Happy trading!