Welcome back to Buy & Sell, where this week’s theme is: In our April Panic, we were wrong about ___. I mean, sure, there were some pretty great call-ups, and some I just ran out of room to write about here (looking at you, Cole Carrigg). But I think the bigger thing is that a lot of those situations where established players who looked truly lost have found their level again, and those are the kinds of changes that fall under the radar while everyone’s looking for the next shiny new toy. So yes, I do also have some shiny new toys, but don’t forget those steady eddies. Also, learn from my mistakes, and please check your IL players before weekly lineups lock to make sure they play if they’re due back, so you don’t miss an awesome Dylan Cease start like I just did in one of my Draft Champions leagues because I was too busy rolling out… Brad Lord. Oh heavens. On to the list!
BUY
10-team
Tyler Soderstrom (1B/OF, Athletics)
Tyler Sodastream is bursting out now, but the ability has been bubbling under the surface all season. The Las Vegas games gave him the jackpot as he’s been hitting a bombastic .346 with 4 homers and 10 RBI this week, and while some of those were certainly elevation-aided, it’s some much-needed evidence that his approach has been all right all along, and the numbers will come around as Sacramento, which is also a splendid hitter’s park, heats up. Still, after such a dreadful April, some slower-to-react leagues might look over him since his season line is just .238 with 11 HR and 1 SB in 235 AB. But the surge started before this week, as his batting average was an even better .369 (6 home runs) over 65 AB over the past 3 weeks, with an outstanding 15/10 BB/K ratio. He’s also rocking one of the most improved rolling xwOBAs, with his electric .447 xwOBA over his past 50 PA, the fifth biggest riser of all MLB hitters (just behind Seiya, which makes me wince at my recent sell blurb on him. So it goes.
If you just go by Statcast sliders/lollipops, it still may look overall like Soderstrom took a bit of a step back from last year’s breakout, but I don’t think I see it that way, While it’s true he’s not barreling up as much or hitting quite as hard, he’s making considerably more contact without losing too much in terms of quality, and has a decidedly better pull-air rate compared to last year. I think this approach will lead to a lot more home runs as Sacramento gets super hot this June. Yes, you missed the opportunity to buy truly low, but I think he’s one who will continue to rise, and I’m targeting him in trades to anyone who thinks they’re flipping him based on the Vegas-aided streak, or scooping him in leagues where owners have been living under a rock or at the beach this week, especially in OBP formats where he’s also improved.
Honorable Mention: Jake Bauers (1B/OF, Milwaukee Brewers) – He’s been one of the best hitters, period, and just keeps getting better somehow. There’s no platoon concerns with him anymore, he’s putting together power and speed, pacing for a Ryan Braun-esque season, and he’s still only rostered in 67% of Yahoo leagues. Fix that now, and if he’s taken, I think you should make a strong offer… ESPECIALLY in OBP leagues where he is heavenly.
Honorary Mention: Bryce Eldridge (1B, San Francisco Giants) – Yes, I wrote him up just last week as a 12-team add, but look, if you lost Judge and you need massive power upside, why not go for the gargantuan elite prospect hitter who is making contact and keeps hitting tanks? Go bold or go home.
12-team
Willy Adames (SS, San Francisco Giants)
Call him Wall-E Adames because he found his EVe. It hasn’t been the loudest bounceback, as his season line still looks rather pedestrian with his .234 AVG to go with 11 HR and just 1 SB, but you must not forget how good that is when you remember how awful and lost he looked at the start of May. Part of the reason it’s flown under the radar is that, unlike many other hitters on hot streaks, his batting average is still bad and has actually gotten worse, with a .221 AVG but 6 HR and 14 RBI in 77 AB the past 3 weeks. It’s not pretty, but that pace of 2 homers a week, if it continued, would at least get him to a career high in home runs, although it’s clearly not going to happen like that.
Why am I writing about such a boring player when there are so many exciting call-ups? Precisely because he’s boring, and maybe just boring enough to miss that he’s been much better lately. He’s been the 9th biggest improver in rolling xwOBA over his past 100 PA, up .095 to a sturdy .335 xwOBA, and it’s been even better lately with a mighty .356 xwOBA in his past 50 PA. When you look at his 2025 Statcast metrics and 2026 marks side by side, they still look different, but not nearly as much as before, and 2026 is arguably not much worse. This year, his walk rate is way down, but his whiff rate improved, and his barrel% is down, but his HardHit% and LA SweetSpot% are up. Also, rather notably, his pull-air rate, which has been plus for the past half-decade, is a career-best 26%, which pushes into elite territory. I don’t think he’ll be a superstar, but I think there’s a good chance he’ll still hit 30 home runs at this trajectory, and I still think stolen bases can’t be ruled out… he actually has a higher sprint speed now than he had in his 2024 season, in which he stole 21 bags, though I know it was 2 years ago. But also, while he is a veteran, he is still just 30! Same age as Jared Young!
Honorable Mention: Trent Grisham (OF, New York Yankees) – I was getting tired of writing him up as a buy when he kept stinking it up, but he’s finally come around as I expected, hitting .371 over the past 3 weeks with 2 HR and 2 SB. Since that only brings him up to .227 with 8 HR and 5 SB, and his surge hasn’t been as loud as others, he can still be easily had in many leagues.
Honorable Mention: Dominic Canzone (OF, Seattle Mariners) -Yes, I know he doesn’t face lefties, which makes him annoying at times. But when he does play, he’s simply crushing the ball and more than just a Raley/Pederson type. His xBA and xSLG are both above the 90th percentile, while his average EV and Barrel% are at the 95th percentile. It’s still not too late to buy fairly low.
15-team
Jorge Mateo (SS/OF, Atlanta Braves)
He’s got elite quality of contact metrics. He’s got the best sprint speed in the league. He keeps performing when he plays. The problem is WHEN HE PLAYS. I did just trade for him in a dynasty league, as I still think that if Dom Smith can get a second-chance breakout with the Braves… Mateo’s gotta get a chance, right? Well, if the Braves want some electricity on the basepaths again, Ronald Acuña having another achy leg may give Mateo the chance to play the role of Temu Acuña with his .291 AVG and 4 HR and 7 SB in just 91 AB. Sure, you can have fun extrapolating that sample to 500 PA and dreaming, but we do also know Mateo is prone to these kinds of streaks and then he just evaporates. And I run to kick that football every time… but at least thanks to Mateo I’m running very fast when I whiff.
I do think that right now is a good time to buy because there’s still a lot of playing time uncertainty clouding the picture, but I think he doesn’t have to keep being this good to play, given their lineup. For one, the main guy at shortstop was supposed to be Ha-Seong Kim, but he was so bad he’s effectively sidelined. Mauricio Dubón is still stealing shortstop reps, but it’s worth noting that he’s cooled off a lot from his hot April. And Dom Smith at DH, despite still strong surface numbers, has had his xwOBA careening downwards for a good while now, whereas Mateo’s has been trending up. Sure, maybe he poofs into smoke within a month, but if he can keep some of these quality of contact gains while maintaining an actually passable (read: still not remotely good) K rate, he could explode given his game-changing speed surrounded by a powerhouse offense. Even if he’s taken, he’s exactly that kind of fringe guy who could be had cheaply or be back on the wire after a cold or less active week, so be ready to go to the mat for Mateo.
Honorable Mention: Royce Lewis (3B, Minnesota Twins) -If you were hoping I’d call him a 12-team buy, nope, I’m not there yet; he still has a lot to prove. But at least the homer barrage in the minors shows he still can hit them, and it’s encouraging that while his first week back was quiet so far, he only has 1 strikeout in 12 AB. He’s viable as a spec add in 12-team AVG formats if your 3B situation is rough.
Honorable Mention: Braden Montgomery (OF, Chicago White Sox) – Who doesn’t love a rookie hitting a walk-off homer in their debut? He still has flaws, most notably the sub-70% contact rate, but that opposite-field homer has me thinking this is a call-up you hitch your ride to until the wheels fall off, somewhat similar to Colson Montgomery last year (no relation).
Honorable Mention: Heriberto Hernández (OF, Miami Marlins) – His rate stats are much better this year; he had 4 dingers just this week, and his roster rate is currently… 5%?!! El Berto deserves more respect, especially with the swiped bags.
Deep Leagues
Denzer Guzman (SS, Los Angeles Angels)
I’ve been scooping him up everywhere while my leaguemates look at me like I’m crazy. I guess I’m Denzing with myself. Denzer was last seen in Spring Training as a rough young candidate to play before poor play and signings pushed him out, but he’s been a completely different hitter in the minors this year. The 22-year-old, who hit .247 with 17 HR and 14 SB between two levels last year, surged this year to a .336 AVG with 12 HR and 9 SB in 268 AB. The hitter who had a 25% strikeout rate in the minors last year and 51% in the majors had a notably improved 18% strikeout rate this year, though it still was the PCL, so the numbers are still heavily salted. Still, with Grissom down, he should get to play.
Randall Grichuk (OF, Chicago White Sox)
This is a pretty specific use case, but if you do play in DFS or leagues with daily lineups, he’s been a godsend, since he’s largely ignored (1% rostered), but he continues to demolish lefties. While he’s only had 91 PA, he’s hit .267 with 6 homers, but Statcast thinks he deserves better, and his rolling xwOBA is a ramp going up, with a shocking .307 xBA and .561 xSLG.
Honorable Mention: Trey Mancini (1B, Los Angeles Angels) – Kudos to him for overcoming cancer and making a comeback at age 34. Believe it or not, this may be more than a feel-good story, as there still may be something in the tank. In the tiny sample, he’s kept a low K rate while barreling and rocking a strong 75 mph bat speed. Sneaky add in super-deep leagues, as he could outproduce Schanuel ROS.
SELL
10-team
Alex Bregman (3B, Chicago Cubs)
The experts who were saying he’d be fine despite a move to Wrigley sure do have Bregg on their face. Look, I get it, third base is bad. And his rate stats don’t look decidedly worse than other years. But for a player whose homers are such cheapies and power is fringe, the fact that he’s ticked down in not just every single quality of contact metric, but also the quantity of contact metrics, is pretty concerning. For most players, 17% would be a good thing, but for him, that’s a career worst, up from 14% last year, which was up from 5 straight years under 14%. His barrel rate is also down to just 5%, and his bat speed went notably down this year from 71 mph in 2025 (31st percentile) to just 69.8 mph (17th percentile). On the season, it’s a bland milquetoast .248/.329/.3446 with 5 HR and 2 SB, meaning he’s pacing for under 15 homers while also not helping in average. Yuck.
Now, it’s worth noting that Chicago’s about to heat up a lot, and so I’m sure some Cubbie hitters could break out, especially guys like Suzuki, PCA, Happ, etc. But it’s worth noting that Bregman lately has actually been getting worse, with a downright awful .261 xwOBA over his past 100 PA (12th biggest deteriorator in MLB), and it’s been just .251 in his past 50 PA. Yeah, you don’t want your xwOBA below where your batting average was supposed to be. I get third base is tough, but I’d rather roll with the likes of Nolan Arenado, and check your league eligibility rules to see if guys like Gelof or Curtis Mead qualify there, because at this point, I’m getting close to preferring them too.
Dishonorable Mention: Ryan O’Hearn (1B/OF, Pittsburgh Pirates) – He’s doing it again, isn’t he? Every year for the past few years, he’s gotten off to a hot start, leading us to think he’s finally putting the power and average together… and then a long, slow decline to mediocrity. Based on his rolling xwOBA, that ship has already begun sinking, and I would get the life jacket now.
12-team
Chandler Simpson (OF, Tampa Bay Rays)
Am I crazy? Well, riddle me this, fantasy lads and lassies… When was the last time Chandler Simpson stole a base? May 11th, I reckon. Hey, that’s a FULL MONTH OF NO STOLEN BASES! You know, the thing you added him specifically to do? Would you still use ButterBot if he wasn’t able to bring you butter for a month? Assuming you don’t care about his existential crises. He did make two attempts a few weeks ago, and was caught twice, and since then, even in attempts, zilch. And his vaunted average has also been collapsing, as he’s hit just .196 over the past 3 weeks, and hitless in 10 AB over the past week, as it seems he’s starting to lose reps. You don’t need to wait for his roster rate to plummet; right now, Simpson is fired.
Dishonorable Mention: Luke Raley (1B/OF, Seattle Mariners) – I wouldn’t blame you for being swayed by his surge to a double-digit homer total early and an early xBA and xSLG that looked amazing, but if you believed it, you don’t know Luke. Unlike Canzone, Raley has wild swings between stud and dud, and he’s now back to the bad place. He really went Rale to Rale.
15-team
Austin Martin (OF, Minnesota Twins)
Much like the British Formula 1 car manufacturer with a very similar name, Aston/Austin Martin also faced severe headwinds with significant cash burn. He’s now the third Minnesota Twins outfielder I’ve called a 15-team sell, and he probably won’t be the last. It really seemed like he was putting it together, hitting .300 and nabbing bags and flirting with the leadoff spot on a team that suddenly had an opening (thanks to Keaschall’s collapse). But he’s been in a complete tailspin since, with his .241 xwOBA over his past 100 PA the 8th biggest faller in baseball. With no power and only 8 SB, you’re better off finding another speedster, like, say, David Hamilton.
Dishonorable Mention: Jeff McNeil (2B/OF, Athletics) – I really held out hope that, despite being older, his high contact rate and high pull-air rate he displayed last year would lead to fantasy relevance, playing half his games in Sacramento. But he’s only been getting worse, with his batting average, which was up to .290 in May, now careening down to the .230s, and that’s with only 2 homers and 1 SB. Time to cut even in deeper formats if you truly want to separate the fantasy wheat from the Jeff.
