10-Team Leagues
Justin Turner , LAD 3B (84% ownership), FAAB Bid - $17 - If he’s not owned currently, get on that yesterday. He’s heating up and is now up to .300 on the year thanks to a month of August that he’s currently hitting .392 in. He has really done it all this month scoring 17 runs, hitting five homers and driving in 13 of his teammates as well. Turner should be owned in every single league imaginable for the remainder of the year.
Jose Leclerc , TEX RP (56% ownership), FAAB Bid - $16-17 - I know it partly has something to do with people giving up at this point in the season, but why Leclerc is only 56-percent owned at this point is beyond me. Leclerc has been absolutely dominant since taking over the closer’s role. He actually leads baseball in saves over the past two weeks and during that span he hasn’t allowed an earned run, and only three base runners have even reached base. He’s the top relief pitcher on the market right now and he needs to be owned.
Julio Teherán , ATL SP (65% ownership), FAAB Bid - $13 - Teheran has had his best month of the year in August notching a 2.45 ERA and he’s only allowed his opponents to hit .140. The strikeouts are up as well as his K-rate is up to 24.7-percent this month as well. The home runs are the main issue. He’s allowed 23 bombs over his 25 starts this year, so if he can cut them down his owners will be golden.
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12-Team Leagues
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. , TOR 2B, SS, OF (34% ownership), FAAB Bid - $11-12 - We saw Gurriel return from the disabled list on Friday and extend his hit streak to 12 games with an RBI base hit. Gurriel is hitting .320 on the year with seven bombs and 23 RBI and he’s just a rookie. Gurriel led off on Friday and we should continue to see him right atop the Jays lineup for the remainder of the year. The multi-position eligibility is a great addition as well.
Jorge Polanco , MIN SS (10% ownership), FAAB Bid - $9-10 - We haven’t seen the power from Polanco at all, but he’s been a very good run producer. He has 21 RBI over the last 30 days which puts him in a tie for 11th-most over that span amongst all players in the league. He also has stolen four bags over the last month, so he could contribute a bit in that category as well.
Jake Odorizzi , MIN SP (43% ownership), FAAB Bid - $7-8 - We’ve seen improvements from Odorizzi during the month of August, enough to where owning him in fantasy formats is viable. Odorizzi has begun to pick it up on the strikeout department punching out 20 batters over his last 17.1 innings.
15-Team Leagues
Greg Allen , CLE OF (17% ownership), FAAB Bid - $6-7 - I’m even willing to listen to your case for adding Allen, but he’s a strong waiver option right now. Allen leads the league in stolen bases over the past two weeks with six. Not only that, but he has at least one hit in eight of his last nine games and was just recently on a seven-game hit streak as well. With Leonys Martín out for the year and Lonnie Chisenhall with no timetable for his return, Allen should continue playing everyday going forward.
Ramon Laureano , OAK OF (3% ownership), FAAB Bid - $4-5 - The 24-year old rookie has been really good since being called up. He has three home runs and two stolen bases while hitting .295 over his first 17 games of his big league career. We saw him hit and steal double digit home runs and bases at Triple-A this year, so this start to his big league career doesn’t seem fluky at all. Until he begins playing everyday however, he shouldn’t be owned in much more than 15-team leagues.
Billy McKinney , TOR OF (1% ownership), FAAB Bid - $1-2 - McKinney is taking advantage of his opportunity with the big league club after swatting his second home run over his last three games on Friday. The homer on Friday was a go-ahead bomb, so the confidence level has to be sky high right about now. We’ve seen McKinney all the way up at the top of the Jays lineup which is something we could see from time-to-time, even permanently down the stretch in September. He is definitely worth the add in AL-only formats right now.