Good afternoon, everybody. I hope everyone reading is winning/has won their fantasy week. I know I certainly haven’t, as my team struggled, and I mean STRUGGLED coming out of the break. Still, there’s lots of season left, and they’ve been good to me overall for the year. This is also the second-to-last one of these before the trade deadline, and I feel like next week’s one is going to be very skewed by trade deadline news.
Throughout the season, this column is designed to help guide those in Free Agent Acquisition Budget (FAAB) leagues make the best choices in who to target on the waiver wire. Specifically, we’re focusing on players who are between 20-25% rostered in most 12-team leagues and/or 25-50% rostered in 15-teamers. Every league is different, so we won’t be labeling player bids with any sort of recommended dollar amount but instead will use a four-tier investment rating system, ranging from a minimal spend to a potential difference-maker (or LEAGUE-WINNER, if you will).
Let’s dig in!
Investment Rating System
SEVEN GAMES: BOS, NYY, CWS, ATH, SEA, TEX, ATL, MIA, NYM, WSH, CHC, CIN, PIT, STL, SFG
Batters
Outfielders
Steven Kwan (OF, $$$): 50% rostered on Yahoo
The Kwanaissance is here. Steven Kwan was awful to start the season; I would know, as I drafted him. He’s quietly been one of the most productive hitters in July, though, putting up a 210 wRC+ in the month, largely due to an on-base percentage above .500. He’s not hitting for power, but that’s not expected of him. He’s, of course, going to come down to Earth, but I also don’t think he’s going to look like that bad player who wasn’t worthy of being rostered that we saw months ago. He’s also leading off again, which is great.
Luis Robert Jr. (OF, $$): 42% rostered on Yahoo
Luis Robert Jr. is finally back. He’s had a rough go at it with the Mets, putting up putrid ratios and then getting hurt. The power and speed combination is just too enticing, however, to make him not worth picking up if available. The bat speed and sprint speed are just so good, and it’s a good sign that he’s upped his walk rate over the past few seasons as well.
Victor Mesa Jr. (OF, $): 5% rostered on Yahoo
I really like what Mesa brings, with solid plate discipline, bat speed, and sprint speed. He’s not getting as much playing time as you’d like, though, often platooning with Ryan Vilade. With Mesa’s production as of late and his constant improvements, the team could be taking a long look at making him a more mainstay player in right field, especially with Vilade now starting games occasionally at second base.
Infielders
Ty France (1B, $$$): 24% rostered on Yahoo
It’s pretty perplexing that Ty France is having the best season of his career back in San Diego, but then again, everything with the Padres has been weird in 2026. He is pretty easily going to smash his career high in home runs, as that mark is 20 and he already has 16. He’s not going to get the attention for this as the Padres offense has looked pretty bleak at times and he plays a position that is expected to bring lots of offense, but he’s proving himself to be worthy of a back-end roster spot. This production is just too good, and the underlying numbers aren’t too bad either.
Christian Encarnacion-Strand (1B, 3B $$): 8% rostered on Yahoo
This one is pretty surprising to me, as I didn’t expect to see CES filling the stat sheet in 2026. He’s been amazing since being called up by Baltimore, tallying three home runs in five games. Will this be sustained? Probably not. He has incredible power and the ability to hit an absurd amount of home runs, but the ratios are going to be ugly in between. Still, he’s getting an opportunity to hit in the middle of the lineup and is on a hot streak. If you can cash in now, maybe he can help you win your week.
George Lombard Jr. (2B, 3B, SS, $$): 6% rostered on Yahoo
He’s one of the absolute most popular speculative adds at this point in this season, as the Yankees could sure use some offense on the infield. Lombard has gotten on base at an impressive rate in AAA, and will likely produce more consistent offense than Anthony Volpe or José Caballero. It seems incredibly likely he’s called up, so maybe get ahead on it now if you think you’re going to need to upgrade on one of Lombard’s positions.
Nasim Nuñez (2B, SS, $): 27% rostered on Yahoo
His bat isn’t the best, but there really isn’t a better speed option readily available on the market than Nuñez. He leads the major leagues in steals and has been incredibly efficient at it too, only getting caught four times, which is less than the rest of the players in the top five. He’s not worth too much of an investment, as he’s pretty poor in other categories, but if you’re desperate for help with stolen bases, he might be an incredible pickup. He’s going to keep stealing.
Catchers/UT
Gabriel Moreno (C – $$$$): 56% rostered on Yahoo
This will definitely be the last time I feature Moreno, as he’s been too good and should be picked up everywhere. He’s finally looking like the catcher of the future he was touted as, putting up pretty incredible numbers for a catcher. He can be injury-prone, yes, but I’m seriously impressed that while he’s putting up career-best numbers, his underlying numbers are even better. He’s worth a large bid before someone else in your league reads this article.
Francisco Alvarez (C – $$): 22% rostered on Yahoo
He’s hitting at the back of the lineup, but Francisco Alvarez has produced some value. The former highly regarded prospect has dealt with injury and inconsistency, but the power is pretty impressive and he can certainly help teams that need a boost in the home run column. Just be prepared for a few 0-for-4 nights here and there.
Pitchers
Starting Pitchers
Zac Thornton (SP, RP – $$): 26% rostered on Yahoo
Thornton has been a popular pickup as of late, as he’s coming off of two shutout outings and is providing length for a Mets team that isn’t getting much production out of their pitching staff. He’s not a super high-ceiling player, but his cutter has great stuff/location metrics, and he could be developing into a lower-end hold-worthy player. He gets Atlanta next, which is an offense that has been all kinds of inconsistent on the season. Maybe put in a bid and see if he can pass that test. The floor doesn’t seem super low despite the lack of experience.
Kade Anderson (SP – $$): 16% rostered on Yahoo
There are some obvious questions of the fit within the major league roster at this point, but Kade Anderson is looking ready to get his shot in the bigs. There is a bit of risk here, as we don’t know for sure when he’s called up and what role he’ll be put in, but he’s feeling like the 2026 version of Bubba Chandler, who was brought in to work as a bulk guy before getting a few turns in the rotation. There is so much risk of injury and the real potential for more piggybacking/resting of starters that Anderson could get a shot even if the Mariners’ pitching group looks set.
Jacob Lopez (SP – $): 2% rostered on Yahoo
Lopez is back in the Athletics‘ rotation with the DFA and subsequent trade of Aaron Civale, and this news is whelming. However, he seems like an always available streaming option for road games, as he’s shown the ability in the past to go on hot stretches and rack up strikeouts. He’s such a strange and confusing arm who would maybe do better in an environment that just doesn’t absolutely suck for pitchers.
Relief Pitchers
Ben Joyce (RP – $$): 4% rostered on Yahoo
Joyce is looking good in his rehab stints in AAA, touching 103 mph with his four-seam fastball. For now, he’s only been throwing fastballs, so the Angels will definitely want to see him mixing in more pitches before bringing him back into the fold. The Angels are desperate for help in late innings, and Joyce immediately becomes their best option. Buy now before everyone wants to bring him in for some much-needed saves.
Mason Montgomery (RP – $$): 3% rostered on Yahoo
I included Mason Montgomery in last week’s article, and despite Gregory Soto being the closer in Pittsburgh, I still believe Montgomery will be getting plenty of saves down the line. He has the closer stuff; he just needs consistency. Giving him more chances to close could definitely help with this, as he’s been incredibly consistent, putting up plenty of clean innings for the Pirates in recent weeks.
Brent Headrick (RP – $): 11% rostered on Yahoo
Headrick should mostly only be a saves-league option, as he likely won’t get the chance to close, at least not consistently for the Yankees. He’s been amazing, though, nabbing strikeouts and putting up clean ratios for the team.
