10-Team Leagues
Roberto Osuna , HOU RP (76% ownership), FAAB Bid - $16 - If you haven’t noticed how often the Astros brass makes mistakes, I’ll tune you in; they don’t. So to think Osuna won’t be back when he’s eligible to return and be cleared to pitch again is insane. Osuna had 20-plus saves in three straight seasons including 36 or more in two straight. With how good the Astros are, Osuna is in a prime spot to dominate the saves category.
Ken Giles , TOR RP (56% ownership), FAAB Bid - $12-13 - It has already been announced by Blue Jays manager John Gibbons that Giles will get the opportunity to close games by years end. There’s no way to slice it other than the fact that Giles has been bad this season. Despite that and the fact he was replaced as the Astros closer, he still notched 12 saves, just three away from his fourth straight season of at least 15 saves. Giles features a fastball that touches 100 and has massive strikeout upside. Maybe being in a situation that isn’t so high pressure all the time will be beneficial to Giles.
Dereck Rodriguez , SFG SP, RP (46% ownership), FAAB Bid - $11-12 - How much talent can be in one family? Pudge Rodriguez’s son has been fantastic since entering the rotation for the Giants. He’s gone eight straight starts in which he’s allowed three earned runs or less and since that span -- dating back to June 14th -- he has a 2.00 ERA. He has barely allowed anyone a chance to reach base either posting a 0.96 WHIP along with a .204 BAA. Rodriguez is a must grab right now and obviously the remainder of the year could be a concern with how many innings he’s thrown or hasn’t thrown before, but let’s see where this thing takes us.
12-Team Leagues
Yonder Alonso , CLE 1B (56% ownership), FAAB Bid - $13 - Alonso is having a really good stretch of his season as he’s hit five homers over his past 10 games, giving him 18 on the year. His OPS has crept up just shy of .800 for the year and he is a great source of power for the remainder of the year. He should get to 30 home runs by years end for the second straight season. He’ll also -- obviously -- be a very solid run producer for the remainder of the season due to how many elite players hit in front of him and are always on base.
Jose Leclerc , TEX RP (19% ownership), FAAB Bid - $12 - Not only was Keone Kela traded, but Joey Diekman was as well clearing the path for Leclerc. After notching an 11.82 K/9 in 2017, he’s upped that even more to 12.71 this season. Alex Claudio is his only real competition but Claudio has a 4.53 ERA and has only struck out 25 batters over 43.1 innings, so I use the word competition very, very lightly.
Tyler Glasnow , TBR SP, RP (5% ownership), FAAB Bid - $7-9 - It didn’t take long for the Rays to integrate their young starter into the rotation as he’s already been named the starter for Wednesday’s game, a day after being traded to them. Glasnow has been worked exclusively out of the bullpen for Pittsburgh this year as he’s relieved 34 games, but he’s been throwing multiple innings per clip as he’s up to 54 innings on the year. He’s shown the ability to punch people out at a high rate this year (11.34 K/9), which is something he’s done at each stop in the Minor Leagues. It’ll take him a few starts until he’s fully stretched out, but a fresh start could be exactly what the 24-year old needs to blossom into the stud everyone thought he would be when in Pittsburgh.
15-Team Leagues
Cameron Maybin , OF SEA (4% ownership), FAAB Bid - $3-4 - Maybin was traded to Seattle on Tuesday before the clock struck four and is slated to be the team’s starting center fielder. This is a really great opportunity for Maybin because he now has more lineup protection than he could have ever imagined after playing in Miami for the entire year and also will be able to produce even more with better players surrounding him and getting on base more. Look for an uptick in production for the remainder of the year.
Michael Perez, TBR C (0% ownership), FAAB Bid - $2-3 - With Wilson Ramos traded, the Rays have a void at catcher. Perez has been playing recently even with Ramos still on the team and has gone 7-for-14 so far. He’s shown at the Minor League level that he’s actually a decent bat, hitting .277 at Double-A in 2017 and .284 at Triple-A before his call up this season. He can be viable in AL-only formats to start and if he can hit consistently, maybe that will expand into more leagues.
Francisco Arcia, LAA C (8% ownership), FAAB Bid - $2-3 - In Arcia’s first two Major League games, he hit a home run, scored three runs and drove in 10 more. He’s played in every other game so he’s still technically in a timeshare, but that could change quick depending if he continues to stroke it at the plate. Martin Maldonado was traded so his only competition is Jose Briceno .