MLB breaking news! The Dodgers are back at it! The Los Angeles Dodgers keep on making moves in pursuit of the World Series this upcoming season. Just a handful of days after inking a massive deal with superstar Shohei Ohtani, the Dodgers acquire Tyler Glasnow and Manuel Margot from the Tampa Bay Rays for Ryan Pepiot and Jonny Deluca. Glasnow, a hard-throwing right-hander is the headliner of this deal, and he’ll now create a 1-2 punch with Walker Buehler atop the team’s starting rotation. What are the fantasy baseball implications of this deal? Glasnow may be the biggest name, but what does this offseason trade do to the fantasy values of Margot and Pepiot? Let’s dive in!

 

When healthy, Glasnow is one of the best pitchers in Major League Baseball. In fantasy baseball, he’s dominant on a per inning basis. The last time he posted a strikeout rate below 30 percent was back in 2018, and he posted a sub-eight percent walk rate each of the last three seasons. He’s got a great pitch mix that runs three pitches deep to both lefties and righties, and his slider and curveball generated a 38.2 percent whiff rate and a 51.6 percent whiff rate respectively. Sure, he allows a slightly higher than desired amount of home runs, and he used to have serious command issues, but the biggest issue with Glasnow has never been related to anything he puts forth on the mound. It’s the durability. He’s logged more than 100 innings just twice (2018, 2023) in his career, and 2023 was the first time in his entire career where he made more than 20 starts in a season.

Glasnow now joins a starting rotation that has some significant questions surrounding it. Let’s take a quick look at that:

The above isn’t even including Ohtani, who won’t pitch in 2024.

Along with Glasnow, the Dodgers acquired Margot, who slashed .264/.310/.376 with four home runs and nine stolen bases across 99 games last season. Expect the Dodgers to play him a lot against lefties, as he’s slashed .281/.341/.420 with a 109 wRC+ against southpaws for his career.

The Rays should be looking forward to working with DeLuca, a 25-year-old outfielder who can become a better player than his prospect grades may indicate. Matt Selz had DeLuca as his 89th ranked prospect overall, and the fifth overall prospect in the Los Angeles system. In the minors, he’s shown that he can hit for a respectable average at the higher levels of the minors, while posting a sub-20 percent strikeout rate in every single season. The Rays could deploy him similarly to how they did Margot, i.e. against lefties.

From a fantasy perspective, Pepiot could be really interesting in Tampa Bay, as we all have seen the Rays work wonders with pitchers. Did you see what they just did with Aaron Civale last season, ERA aside? Pepiot made some strides with his slider last year, and the key for him taking the next step will be for that to become a legitimate tertiary option in his repertoire. That will also help him increase his strikeout rate, making him even more appealing as a back end fantasy starter.

At the end of the day, Glasnow is the same guy that he’s been, just wearing a different uniform. He’s as elite as they come on a per inning basis, but the health concerns are massive with him. The best ability is availability, remember that when wanting to push him up too high. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that the Dodgers’ starting rotation has an insanely wide range of outcomes, for the reasons I mentioned earlier. I love the upside, but in reality, the risk is massive.

Margot will platoon in the team’s outfield, but his prowess against lefties will relegate him to the smaller side of a platoon. Pepiot will still pitch for a good baseball team, and the hope is that Tampa Bay can unlock that next level to his game and fantasy production. If he can enjoy the strikeout bump that Civale did when going to Tampa Bay, Pepiot will outproduce his ADP in a heartbeat.