Welcome back to Buy & Sell, where this week’s theme is “OMG It’s almost September.. Go for the Volatility!” I mean, there are legitimately some leagues where maybe taking a safe high-floor guy who won’t tank you can help, but you need to remember that to WIN, you need to be better than many other teams, and you really can’t achieve that without some upside and taking the Miss Frizzle Method of getting messy and making mistakes (like when I went all-in trading for a day-to-day Byron Buxton in early July… okay well don’t make that mistake. Remember, in H2H and playoff leagues you may need to make insane moves to squeeze out a win, and with that said, ON TO THE LIST!
BUY
10-team
Spencer Jones (OF, New York Yankees)
You want to buy the next great thing! Well, you gotta keep up with the Joneses. If there was an encyclopedia image for lightning in a bottle, Jones may be it. Well, he’s at least guaranteed to bring lightning when he makes contact. Like, the bat speed lightning indicator on Statcast. Sure, the batting average may be bad, but hey, is someone rostering Jazz Chisholm? Heck, more people are still rostering Jarren Duran than Jones! That just ain’t right. Why won’t you accept Spencer’s gifts?
I get that he got off to a rough start, but it’s also pretty tough for a prospect, especially one who needs to time things just right like him, to get settled in when he’s taken in and out of the lineup like he was earlier in the summer. He’s cooled down a bit in terms of expected production, but still rocking a sturdy .364 rolling 50 PA xwOBA, On the season, he’s hitting .233 with 7 homers and 8 nabbed bags in just 163 AB (182 PA). If we play the irresponsible small-sample extrapolation game (my favorite!) he’s pacing for 23 HR and 26 SB, and with a .233 AVG, that would still basically be… like a typical Jazz Chisholm season! Honestly, I wasn’t expecting him to be this aggressive on the basepaths out of the gate, and his success with it, and the fact he has the green light at all, has immediate signal. And he, with his mistake-punishing ways, could be one of the biggest beneficiaries from the downgrade in pitcher quality in September.
Luis Robert (OF, New York Mets)
Jeez, Luis! It’s hard to believe, but maybe something actually may be going right for the Mets. Robert is rocking an astounding .442 xwOBA over his past 50 PA, hitting .333 with 6 homers over the past 3 weeks and an even better .429 with 3 home runs over the past week. Still no stolen bases, though. But perhaps the most surprising thing is his 5/3 BB/K ratio this week. It’s possible that he’s finally healthy, which seems odd heading into September, which has often been his injury bugaboo month, but he’s going to get all the runway he can handle (though I still wouldn’t count on basepath-stealing runway), and he’s historically been a player whose hot streaks have been really, really hot.
Honorable Mention: Luke Keaschall (2B, Minnesota Twins) – He’s been managing to do a Nico Hoerner impression for a few months now with a batting average over .300, hitting .324 with 2 HR and 2 SB over the past 2 weeks and up to a .273 AVG with 8 HR and 15 SB on the year. A fine, well-rounded AVG-centric streamer
12-team
Bryce Eldridge (1B, San Francisco Giants)
I should call him the Brydge of Eldinrige, because his slump has been a long stage, but I think he’s ready to jump the gap and Smash. It certainly hasn’t been as loud as his incredible play earlier this season before the cold spell, but he’s hitting a solid .278 with 2 homers across 36 ABs over the past two weeks, which has at least been solid, but it’s what’s underlying that has me excited. He’s been one of the biggest improvers in xwOBA, with a .392 rolling 50 PA xwOBA, a big jump from the terrible .242 he had in his previous 50 PA. Yes, maybe I’m still wishcasting a bit, but given his huge raw power, I figure the fact he’s trending positively means he’ll feast on the weaker pitching in September. If you need some impact and rolling with a boring mid-tier 1B bat, I think he’s your guy, especially in OBP formats.
Heriberto Hernandez (OF, Miami Marlins)
Get your Herbs and Spices. Should he be on your wire still? OregaNO. Hey, I wasn’t going to say “Thyme to pick him up because it’s been done to death, okay? He’s quietly had an excellent few weeks, hitting .273 with a pair of homers each of the past 2 weeks (and 10 RBI), bringing him up to .231 with 20 dingers and 8 SB on the year. What’s most intriguing is he’s actually drawing walks lately, with a 9/12 BB/K in 52 PA over the past 2 weeks, suggesting the free swinger may be maturing as a hitter, or simply being more feared… and he should be.
Over the past 50 PA, he’s been among the hottest hitters by xwOBA, with a .443 rolling 50 PA xwOBA, which is also makes him the 2nd biggest improver in the MLB behind… Mickey Gasper. Baseball is weird. But I’ve loved him more and more this season and think he could become.a fantasy stud next year. He’s still significantly under-rostered, so add him wherever available, even in OBP 12-teamers.
Honorable Mention: Tim Tawa (1B/2B/3B/OF, Arizona Diamondbacks) – He’s finally graduated, after validating my earlier prediction that he’d enter the shallow league conversation after hitting .310 with 3 HR and 5 SB over the past 3 weeks. Especially with his multi-position eligibility, his low roster rate is a travesty. Or should I say… A Tawavesty? … No I shouldn’t.
15-team
Mickey Gasper (C, Boston Red Sox)
Quick, guess who is leading the majors as BOTH the most improved hitter over the past 50 PA and the best overall hitter by rolling xwOBA? If you guessed “A 30-year-old career journeyman who was sent to the minors for poor performance like a month ago”, you’d be correct! And I’m sure the audience would let out a Mickey Gasp.
I don’t know how to explain it, really, but weirder small-sample things have happened, at least I think, at some point. Gasper was solid earlier this year, but as a batting average-focused, ZERO power bat. In the past 10 days, he’s hit 5 homers in 21 AB, with 3 doubles, giving him an inhuman .476/.621/1.333 line. One big week does not a season make, but it’s worth noting he just multiplied his homer rate by infinity. He now has a highly improbable 135 wOBA in the majors, and maybe it’s not a fluke given that in Triple-A, he hit.337 with 9 HR and 7 SB in 247 PA in the pitcher-friendly International League, good for an incredible 164 wRC+. Odds are he won’t be Temu Ben Rice for the rest of the season, which is why I’m not recommending him in 12-teamers yet unless I need a moonshot, but I’d absolutely take a stab in every 15-team league.
Honorable Mention: Brett Bateman (OF, Toronto Blue Jays) – He’s a batting average-only bat, but he’s maxing out that skill, hitting .328 in 64 AB on the season with 0 HR and 1 SB, and hitting .444 this week as he moves into a prominent regular role.
Tyler Tolbert (2B/SS/OF, Kansas City Royals) – He hasn’t been hitting very well but has continued to get regular run, and most importantly has been running, with 19 SB on the year despite just 107 AB. A sneaky SB category stream.
Deep Leagues
Jeff McNeil (2B/3B/OF, Athletics)
If you need volume with at batting average that won’t kill you, McNeil’s your guy. Well, okay, he’s a guy. On the year, he has only 6 homers and 6 stolen bases to go with a .264 AVG in 371 ABs, which disappointed many who drafted him hoping that a high average hitter in such a friendly park was an easy .300 15+ HR season. But lately, he’s at least giving us a glimpse of that, hitting .333 with 2 homers over the past 2 weeks. In Roto leagues, it’s entirely possible you’re needing to hunker down on one category like batting average and runs + RBI, and now that he’s back to playing regularly (27 AB this week), he’ll be a nice accumulator.
Luis Torrens (C, New York Mets)
Honestly, this may be too low, as I really did love Torrens last year but got too cute trying to get late DC shares. But he’s really been swinging the power stick lately, hitting .318 with 4 HR in just 22 AB over the past two weeks. Well, I guess that last number is why I still hesitate to write him as a shallower league buy… the lack of regular playing time stacks the deck against him. While it may be platoon-aided, it still can’t hurt that he’s rocking a Statcast-darlingesque .369 rolling 50 PA xwOBA.
Daz Cameron (OF, Toronto Blue Jays)
Now that the Blue Jays have unloaded Daulton Varsho, there’s an opening, so why not give it to a 29-year-old former top prospect (and a good reminder that bloodlines aren’t everything… Isn’t that right, Cavan Biggio?) But Cameron has at least dazzled in his tiny 20 PA sample with great contact and thump, and it’s worth noting that he arrived from the KBO to Triple-A, where he dominated to the tune of a .368/.455/.586 with 3 HR and 10 SB… in just 101 PA. Small sample size or not, a 178 wRC+ is worth paying attention to at any age. And that doesn’t even factor in the still-blazing speed. It’s wild, but I’d take a spin with the Dazmanian Devil.
SELL
10-team
Jonathan Aranda (1B, Tampa Bay Rays)
Given that he’s slowed down so much down the home stretch, it’s time we pulled him over. And don’t forget to read him Aranda Rights. The enigmatic cold cornerman has likely been still on your shallow league roster or even in your active lineup as he’s been slowly sucking air out of the room , hitting just .212 with 1 HR in 52 AB over the past 2 weeks, and just .125 this week. On the year, he’s down to a .277 AVG with 16 HR, which is a fair amount worse than his breakout 2025, which granted was aided by the temporary minor league stadium. While he did only hit 14 homers then, it was in just 370 AB where this year he’s already racked up 487 AB but with less extra-base thump as well.
Tommy Edman (2B/3B/OF, Los Angeles Dodgers)
He is the walrus, he is the Edman, he’s no Shin-Soo k’Choo. I deftly dealt my shares of him at the peak of his value (when his AVG surged above .300, but it’s hard to see much of a difference between this iteration of Edman being maybe a slightly better Jeff McNeil. With no impact power or stolen base ability, you should move on.
12-team
Heliot Ramos (OF, New York Yankees)
He’s changed my perspective of the universe, because after this slump, I no longer believe in Heliotcentrism. I get that getting a fresh start in a new place can be hard, but hitting just .122 with 0 HR in 49 AB over 3 weeks is a level I really didn’t expect. It was so easy to believe the switch from a pitcher’s have nto a hitter’s haven would be all he needed to turn into a 30-HR threat, but you can’t afford to wait for him to figure it out in 12-teamers, especially in leagues where you’re in the playoffs. In that case, he’s absoultely viable to be a 15-team drop as well, especially in OBP.
George Springer (OF, Toronto Blue Jays)
I think after this year, he’ll have to legally change his name to George Winterer. He’s been one of the most annoying players to roster in a league with benches, as he constantly whipsaws you with several bad weeks, then a great week when you bench him, then bad again. On the year, he’s hitting just .239 with 12 HR and 10 SB in 420 AB, which, for those playing at home, is not what you were expecting when you drafted him, usually within the first 120 picks (in some later drafts, in the 90s. There’s nothing in the Statcast rates that at any point this season suggested a rebound, but, like, I still thought he’d bounce back more than this.
Yainer Diaz (C, Houston Astros) –
If you think saying he’s a 12-team drop is mild, I mean this for two-catcher, leagues, WHAT. He did have a nice multi-homer game, which will give many owners pause on hitting the drop button, but he’s still become a part-time catcher due to the chasm between his defense and Christian Vazquez’s, and I’ve learned that teams value that a lot, so I wouldn’t expect that to change with one good game. On most teams, they’d simply open up DH, but this team has a somehow-still-healthy Yordan Alvarez, who is always going to take priority. Would I drop him straight-up for Mickey Gasper? …Yes I would, and the moment of hesitation was me just pounding a pickleback shot.
15-team
Steven Kwan (OF, Cleveland Guardians)
How can a hitter be there, and yet not be there at all? It’s truly a matter of Kwantum Physics. Even when he was on a heater, it very much to me felt like the Empereror Had No Clothes, as a hot batting average streak doesn’t simply erase how pitiful he’s been this year, hitting .274 but with just 2 HR and 9 SB. Where’s the beef? And where are the RBI? Yes he’s racked up a solid 65 R, but seems simply allergic to runners on base with just 26 RBI… in 431 AB (501 PA)! He’s not just a Temu Jung Hoo Lee, he’s like, Wish.com Jung-Hoo Lee. Drop in all but AL formats or ones that use OBP and ABs but not SLG%. Do those exist?
Gavin Sheets (1B/OF, San Diego Padres)
Given how rocky the sailing has been with him lately, I wonder if he’s on the grog. Since he’s swinging like he’s Three Sheets to the Wind. While he does has 16 HR, the .212 AVG is hard to stomach and his bat keeps trending in the wrong direction. He’s also had just 5 AB this week as he usage is purely platoon-dependent, and with September rotations being so much more unpredictable, I don’t want to get stuck playing that game with Professor Frink and his Pain in the Gaivin.
Dishonorable Mention: J.J. Bleday (OF, Cincinnati Reds) – I was so enamored that I acquired many midseason shares, and with his dreadful dog days of summer, he’s J.J. Bled me dry. He’s hitting just .189 with 2 HR over 74 AB the past 3 weeks and hasn’t been useful since June, so don’t get caught holding the bag any longer. Bleh Day to you, sir!
