FANTASY PLAYS: MLB trade deadline did not disappoint

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Major League Baseball's July 31 trade deadline did not disappoint, as several fantasy relevant players now play for new teams. As in previous weeks, several productive fantasy players including Wilson Ramos, Brian Dozier and Chris Archer were traded from the AL to the NL. If you play in NL-only leagues you need to carefully and craftily work the waiver wire this week. If you play in an AL-only league, your top waiver wire priority will probably be Tommy Pham. You should be busy trying to put together some trades of your own in order to improve your fantasy baseball team, but even this deep into the season you can still find value on your league's waiver wire. Here are a few players that can help you in the long and short term.

PLAYERS TO PICK UP

DAVID FLETCHER 3B/SS, Los Angeles Angels, (7 percent owned in CBSSports.com leagues) Fletcher is batting .340 in his last 12 games and has the ability to steal bases. He's already eligible at third base and shortstop, but as the Angels' new starting second baseman, Fletcher will likely soon be eligible at that position as well.

MELKY CABRERA OF, (4 percent) Cabrera has been producing since he's been given the opportunity to play every day. He's batting .353 in his last 11 games.

ROSELL HERRERA SS, (2 percent) Herrera has been batting close to the top of the Royals order and has enjoyed success of late. He's batting .326 over his past 11 games and while he has a bad habit of getting thrown out a bit too much, he's speedy and can potentially help you in the stolen base category.

NICK AHMED SS, (18 percent) Ahmed has already well surpassed his career high in home runs with 14 and is batting .371 with an impressive 15 RBIs in his last 11 games. His short-term batting average should level off but he should continue to exhibit occasional power, which will help him drive in runs.

TWO-START PITCHERS TO STREAM

LANCE LYNN, SP, New York Yankees (45 percent) - Lynn takes over Sonny Gray's spot in the Yankees rotation and gets the luxury of having the support of one of the best offenses in baseball. He has favorable matchups against the White Sox and Rangers coming up in the next week.

MATTHEW BOYD, SP, Detroit Tigers (36 percent) - Boyd has a 1.42 ERA in his past three starts and has struck out 20 batters in his last 19 innings pitched. He faces the Angels and Twins next week. Boyd pitched five shutout innings against the Angels earlier this season and the Twins have struggled to score runs all season long.

Tommy Milone, SP, Washington Nationals (2 percent) - Although Milone has only started two games so far this season, he's been impressive. He's struck out 15 batters in 12 innings and hasn't walked anyone.

HITTERS TO STREAM

JOHAN CAMARGO, 3B, Atlanta Braves (34 percent) - Camargo has upcoming favorable matchups against the Mets and Nationals. He's batting .323 and has hit three home runs in 11 games against the Mets this season, and although it's a small sample size (two games), Camargo is batting .429 in Nationals Park.

TREY MANCINI, 1B/OF, Baltimore Orioles (33 percent) - Mancini is batting .347 with two home runs over his last 12 games. He faces Rangers and Rays pitching staffs that have both been struggling since the All-Star Break.

MALLEX SMITH, OF, Tampa Bay Rays (28 percent) - Smith is batting .377 with five stolen bases since July 3. His hot hitting should continue against the lowly White Sox and Orioles pitching staffs this week.

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This column was provided to The Associated Press by the Fantasy Sports Network, http://FNTSY.com