Nathan Eovaldi and Kris Bubic Among Biggest Risers on Fantasy Baseball Trade Value Chart

We're about a quarter of the way through the MLB regular season now, and most fantasy baseball owners know where their teams sit.

Trades become more popular by the day, and that's what we're going to discuss today. We'll check out the FantasySP Fantasy Baseball Trade Value Chart and discuss some players who have seen their values increase over the last week. 

Check back later for a story on players whose values are falling over the past week.

Use the FantasySP Trade Value Chart and Trade Analyzer all season when assessing fantasy baseball trades. Also be sure to check out the new “Ask Fantasy Expert” tool inside the analyzer.

Nathan Eovaldi Fantasy Outlook

Eovaldi continues to be one of the top fantasy pitchers in the game.

Eovaldi's Average Draft Position was 194.78, meaning he wasn't taken in every standard league draft. He's owned in 100% of leagues now, and has seen his trade value rise all the way to 19.89.

He got a full two-point bump in his rating from last week. Eovaldi opened the regular season with a rating of 17.19.

In nine starts so far, Eovaldi has a 4-2 record and sparkling 1.78 earned run average. He's allowed 13 runs (11 earned) on 37 hits and five walks. Eovaldi has 60 strikeouts over 55 2/3 innings.

Eovaldi has been a good innings-eater over his career, and a career 3.99 ERA shows he's a slightly better-than-average pitcher. His strikeouts per nine innings mark (9.7) is way higher than his career 7.8 mark. His 0.8 walks per nine innings mark (0.8) is far lower than his 2.5 career mark.

Eovaldi's WHIP is 0.75 so far. His career mark in that stat is 1.26.

He's bound to regress at some point, but most of the fantasy owners who picked him up, or drafted him, don't want to part ways. If you were looking for a time to trade Eovaldi at his highest value, the time could be now.

Why? Well, Eovaldi has probable starts coming against the Astros and Yankees. It's possible he looks more like his career self in those games, and his trade value would drop a good bit as a result. So why not trade Eovaldi before his fall off comes?

He's sitting 27th on the trade value chart right now, and I'm not sure his value will ever be any higher. Trading Eovaldi could land you a player who was picked in the first couple rounds in fantasy drafts, and that'd be a major win for your fantasy team.

Even if Eovaldi lands you a player ranked closer to 50th than 25th, that's a huge win for your fantasy squad. I'd take advantage of Eovaldi's value now, as I simply don't think it'll get any higher.

Jackson Merrill Fantasy Outlook

Merrill sits 20th on the Trade Value Chart with a rating of 21.34. That number is up 2.8 points from last week.

Merrill had an ADP of 40.01, which I thought was a steal. Of course, he's rostered in all leagues, and startable daily.

An injury cost him over half of the season already, but he's back and racking up positive stats now. His season-long numbers still look good despite only having played in 17 games.

Across 73 plate appearances, Merrill has a .412 batting average and .438 on-base percentage. He's got four doubles and homers and one triple among his 28 total knocks. Merrill also has 17 RBIs, a stolen base, 14 runs scored, three walks and 12 strikeouts.

Despite going hitless over his past two contests, Merrill has 14 hits in just seven games this month. All five of his previous games were multi-hit efforts.

Merrill is a fantasy stud, and he was overlooked before the season. He's trending up right now, so if I rostered him, I'd make him nearly untouchable. 

His average and OBP are going to drop of course, but he should remain a top-25 or so fantasy asset all season. If you are looking to acquire Merrill, expect to give up a great asset, or package a couple good players, because Merrill is trending up and seemingly gaining fantasy value by the day.

Heliot Ramos Fantasy Outlook

Ramos' player rating is up 1.4 from last week, bringing his overall mark to 15.1. That has him ranked 120th overall right now.

Ramos had an ADP of 211.9, so he wasn't on many fantasy owner's radars in standard leagues. He's been red hot at the plate, which explains his surge up in fantasy value.

Across 43 games and 184 plate appearances this season, Ramos has a .288 average and .353 OBP. He's got seven homers and 11 doubles among his 47 total hits, along with 22 RBIs, three stolen bases, 29 runs scored, 14 walks and 41 strikeouts.

He's owned in 78% of fantasy leagues now, and that number has grown from 66% on May 11. Ramos isn't a huge trade asset outside deeper leagues, but he's a waiver wire target, and someone to seriously consider adding if you need some outfield help.

Ramos had good numbers last season, so expecting his strong season to keep up is reasonable. In deeper leagues, I'd be more inclined to keep rostering Ramos than I would be trying to trade him away. I don't think he's reached his peak value yet.

Kris Bubic Fantasy Outlook

Bubic has kind of come out of nowhere to be a really good fantasy asset this season. He's got a player rating of 15.87, which has him 101st on the trade chart.

His ADP was 282.17, so he wasn't rostered in any standard redraft leagues. Bubic started the season strong and was a big waiver pickup early on. He's rostered in nearly every fantasy league now.

In nine starts, Bubic is 4-2 with a 1.66 ERA over 54 1/3 innings. He's allowed 12 runs (10 earned) on 45 hits and 15 walks, while striking out 56 batters.

He only started three games over the previous two seasons, but he did own a 2.67 ERA across 27 relief appearances in 2024. In his first four MLB seasons, Bubic had a 4.85 ERA across 60 starts and 70 appearances.

He's likely to regress as the season moves along, but after he was a waiver wire pickup, most of his fantasy owners don't want to part ways with him. Bubic has a tougher start against the Giants coming up, and then maybe a bit more favorable test against the Twins.

If you were worried about him in the long run and wanted to sell high, I'd maybe wait until after the Twins game. Bubic could look more average against San Fran too, so selling him now also makes some sense - it'd just be tough to do after looking at how good he's been this season.

Tyler Mahle Fantasy Outlook

Mahle has a player rating og 14.81, which is up 1.3 from last week. He's owned in nearly every fantasy league now after not appearing in our 400-player ADP list.

He's been phenomenal across nine starts, going 4-1 with a 1.47 ERA. Mahle has pitched 49 innings, allowing eight runs on 31 hits and 16 walks and striking out 37 batters.

Mahle made just eight starts over the past two seasons, but does have a little MLB success in his past. Still, he's bound to regress at some point, but he's likely going to finish with a way lower ERA than his career 4.12 mark.

Mahle's strikeouts and walk numbers are both down, and his WHIP is 0.32 better this season. Even if his WHIP and ERA falls, an increase in strikeouts could help Mahle remain fantasy relevant all season.

He's got starts against the Astros and White Sox next. The Astros are a bit tougher test, but Chicago is a really favorable matchup. If I was going to sell Mahle high, doing it after the start against the White Sox probably makes the most sense.

I'd be more inclined to hang on to him after he was a waiver pickup, but if you're worried about him regressing, or dealing with injuries eventually, then selling now makes sense, because his value might not grow too much higher.