Welcome back to Buy & Sell, where this week’s theme is picking up the pieces. A good jazz tune, but also leading to roster improvisations as there are a lot of unsettled playing time scenarios among hitters, though that’s nothing compared to what’s going on in closer situations. With some teams throwing in the towel (and others mildly pushing the towel away), we have a better idea of team’s motivations and how that affects playing time situations going into the final two months of the season. But of course, a lot can still change, so don’t get lazy as you’ll miss your chance to get a leg-up on football-distracted or dog-day depleted league mates. On to the list!
BUY
10-team
Anthony Volpe (SS, New York Yankees)
The formerly electric power/speed threat seemed to have dimmed out for most of the season, but suddenly, he’s been Danger: High Volpetage. He’s signifcantly improved his expected outcomes over his last 100 PA, with a .361 rolling 100 PA xwOBA, a jump of over 100 points to his previously meager mark of .258. He’s also delivered big for both power and speed, with a surprising 7 homers and 4 SB to go with a .264 AVG in 53 over the past 3 weeks. It mostly went unnoticed until, over the past week he cranked it up even higher, hitting .318 with 3 HR and 3 SB.
The thing is, even before this week, despite the terrible batting average which is now slightly better at .221, he remains indispensable for any league that counts runs produced because he’s in the lineup just about everyday and racking up runs produced, with 51 R and 60 RBI pacing him near 175-180 combined. Unlike an older player like Semien whose skills may have actually degraded, we’ve known with Volpe, who may I remind you is STILL JUST 24, that he still possesses the raw talent and just needed to access it once again. If he was dropped out of frustration, add quickly, and you may as well try to buy somewhat low. before people realize that there’s not so much differentiating him from Zach Neto.
Kyle Manzardo (1B, Cleveland Guardians)
Sticking with him through the rough patches this year was a very Manzarduous journey. Like Volpe, he’s boosted his expected wOBA by over 100 points over his last 100 PA, with a .371 xwOBA over 100 PA. He still strikes out a lot and his playing time is less guaranteed than most at the first base position, but with the team now more clearly out of contention, the Guardians will likely realize they should get him all the reps they can in favor of guys like Carlos Santana. It’s true that the arrival of C.J. Kayfus does cloud things a bit, and aside a plus barrel rate, nothing in Manzardo’s profile stands out, but he’s worth riding while hot since he’s still learning as he goes and he has no major weakness.
12-team
Daulton Varsho (OF, Toronto Blue Jays)
He showed everyone he came back ready to hit with a mammoth 450 foot homer, and he should continue to provide big power, though I wouldn’t expect much in SB and even less from his AVG. He’s never been a big raw power hitter in the past, instead using a high flyball rate to volume his way into homers, but this year he’s swinging much harder with a top-tier 75 mph bat speed, resulting in a K% back over 30% but a career-high 17% barrel rate and a .510 xSLG. If you need dingers, you need Daulton.
Carlos Correa (SS, Houston Astros)
He’s one of my favorite buy-lows, because there’s really nothing on the surface that suggests he should be one. He’s been in a lengthy home run drought, as well as an RBI drought, hitting .286/.412/.333 but with 0 homers and 1 RBI to go with 7 R in 42 AB over 3 weeks. It’s pretty tough to have twelve hits, two of them doubles, with nobody batted in, but that’s why the Twins are where they are. But under the hood, he’s performed much better, with a fantastic .482 rolling 50 PA xwOBA, and a .416 rolling 100 PA xwOBA. Hey, it’s something.
That suggests he’s feeling healthier and an offensive explosion may be imminent… though some of it can be explained by his surprisingly higher walk rate, with a 9/7 BB/K over the past 3 weeks, a far cry from his 27/70 BB/K overall. But now on the Astros, he gets the benefit of not only being with a team he likes, but also gets a much friendlier stadium to his fringier power, thanks to the Crawford Boxes for a righty. He’ll likely cost quite little if he wasn’t dropped outright, and makes a fine 15-team add or 12-team spec play.
15-team
Tommy Pham (OF, Pittsburgh Pirates)
I really screwed up with Pham by calling him a drop even in NL formats, like a few days before his bat took off. He’s hit an excellent .381/.447/.524 over 42 AB over the past 3 weeks, although it’s come with 0 homers or stolen bases. On the season, he’s now hitting .272/.342/.376 with 4 HR and 3 SB in 250 AB, which, if you’re doing the math at home, means he’s pacing, even in a 500 AB hypothetical season, to be under 10/10 on the power/speed front, a far cry from his 20/20 days. Still, he’s been the 3rd biggest riser in xwOBA over his past 100 PA, with a .120 point jump to .395 xwOBA, and it’s an even better .402 rolling xwOBA over his past 50 PA.
Statistically kind of like an Ernie Clement in the OF but one with less position eligibility, but he actually does still hit the ball fairly hard with an 84th percentile exit velocity% and a 46% HardHit%. In terms of his peripherals, he’s really not that far from previous years, so there’s a chance the power ticks up like it did a few summers ago. In 15-team OBP formats, he’s got me buying back in.
Spencer Horwitz (1B/2B, Pittsburgh Pirates)
Don’t overreact to his power outburst (it’s Coors in the summertime), but Horwitz has seemed to rediscover his groove of hitting for high average, with a nifty .368/.455/.526 slash with a homer, 6 R and 9 RBI (6 walks) in 38 AB over the past 2 weeks. He’s also been the fifth biggest riser in the MLB in expected xwOBA with a .178 point jump to a .425 xwOBA. Even with the ho-hum power/speed output, it’s time to take him seriously in 15-teamers and 12-team OBP formats.
Daniel Schneemann (2B/SS/3B/OF, Cleveland Guardians)
The Swiss-Army Schneemann is back. He never really left, but he’s maybe turning a few more heads after hitting .353 with 1 HR and 1 SB in 17 AB this week and finally in double digits in homers. His .226 AVG still leaves a lot to be desired, but in a 500 AB season, he’d be pacing for 20 homers and 16 SB, while qualifyinh in most leagues at 2B, 3B, SS, and OF. And yes, for the leagues in which it matters, he also has played at all three outfield positions. The call-up of Kayfus will cut into his playing time, but given his decent production, I think he’ll still play enough to matter as a super sub.
Deep Leagues
Jakob Marsee (OF, Miami Marlins)
Marsee spot walk. Marsee spot run. That’s basically what he’s here to do, draw walks and steal bases, and if you’re willing to take that and recognize he might not do much else, you’ll employ him wisely and be happy. The good news is that he’s off to a good start in that regard, with two doubles and 4 walks in 4 AB, although his only stolen base attempt was unsuccessful. Still, if he keeps getting on base, that should turn around quickly. He can be a 15-team add in OBP leagues or specific situations.
Joc Pederson (1B/OF, Texas Rangers)
He’s more than likely absolutely free, and I still believe bad luck played a big enough role in his disastrous 2025 that I’d roll the dice on the notoriously streaky hitter in super deep formats where you need lightning in a bottle.
Liover Peguero (2B/SS, Pittsburgh Pirates)
I get that there’s a lot of reasons for pessimism, so if you already missed his 3-homer barrage, you might say it’s already Game Liover. Still, I think in the deepest formats where he’s relevant, there are at least some signs of hope that he’ll be more than just a role player. His barrel% of 12% is much higher than his career rate (5%), and his K% of 25% is much better than his career rate of 31%. With 84th percentile sprint speed, I don’t see why the 24-year-old can’t at least string together another 200 PA that looks like his .237 with 7 HR and 6 SB in 213 PA from 2023, which is quite useful in deeper leagues, especially given his multi-position eligibility.
SELL
10-team
Teoscar Hernandez (OF, Los Angeles Dodgers)
If you’ve been holding him this whole time, Teoscar has probably made you grouchy. He was one of the best hitters of the first half, with expected stats that suggested an even bigger breakout, thanks to a surprisingly low strikeout rate. But ever since returning from his injury, he simply hasn’t hit the ball with the same authority. He’s hit just .220/.278/.380 with 2 homers in 50 AB over the past three weeks, and he’s been one of the bigger xwOBA decliners over the past 100 PA, with an ugly .283 rolling 100 PA xwOBA.
In shallow formats, the fact that he no longer offers stolen base goodness to prop himself up during the cold stretches really hurts. Sure, he may find his groove and bounce back, but in 10-team OBP, you’re really hurting yourself rostering a power-only player who has only hit 7 homers since May 1st, less than the 9 homers he hit in April. That’s averaging 2 homers a month. Volpe could’ve given you all that in July alone.
Tyler Freeman (SS/OF, Colorado Rockies)
Look, we shouldn’t be mad at him for dropping off, and just be happy that a role player in Cleveland managed to have a good run at fantasy relevance despite near-zero power. But now he’s one of the biggest droppers in expected performance over his past 100 PA, with a .321 rolling 100 PA xwOBA down 88 points from his previously excellent .409 mark. He’s still hitting over .300 with 1 homer and 13 SB, so he can remain a fine average and speed combo streamer, but the total lack of power makes him a situational play dependent on your team’s situation in the standings.
12-team
Adolis Garcia (OF, Texas Rangers)
I really had been expecting a second half surge, but his bat has remained completely Adolistless. He’s hit just .153/.194/.271 with 2 homers and 1 SB in 59 AB over the past 3 weeks, suggesting his June hot streak was more of a mirage than anything. The K/BB of 3/20 in those 59 AB, while typical for Garcia, certainly isn’t encouraging of a turnaround coming anytime soon. He’s now reached the 400 AB plateau, and if you weathered the .222 AVG and even worse .267 OBP, you only have 15 homers and 10 SB to show for it. I actually cut him in an AL-only in which I was contending because I had a lead in power and needed average, and while I don’t recommend that, it’s time to move on in 12-teamers.
Bryan Reynolds (OF, Pittsburgh Pirates)
It seems like he really may not be able to turn it around after all, y’all. Reynolds has expected stats that had us long figuring it was just a matter of time before he went on a heater that had us forgetting our first-half worries, but now those are going down the tank as well. While he’s still been quite unlucky with a .273 xBA and .479 xSLG, his rolling xwOBA is in a major tailspin, with a .272 rolling 100 PA xwOBA, down 103 points from his previous mark of .375. With 10 homers and just 3 SB on the year, it’s starting to look like he’s at best a .250 15/5 guy with solid run production this season, and the offense is a bit thinner now with Hayes gone. He’s an example of the dangers of playing things too safe.
Heliot Ramos (OF, San Francisco Giants)
Heliot seems to be running out of gas. The good news is that his expected wOBA has been rising, though that mostly seems to be from drawing walks. For those who drafted him hoping for power, he’s been coming up short there, with nary a homer in the past 3 weeks, although he is hitting .291/.369/.345 over that span.
15-team
Harrison Bader (OF, Philadelphia Phillies)
Welcome to town, kid, now here’s your nice warm spot on the bench. Well, in that regard, it’s not Bader’s first rodeo, I still remember his Yankees debut. It seemed he may be in line for full-time reps in Philly, but after playing in only 2 of his first 4 games, it seems like that won’t be the case, and frankly, Marsh has been more deserving of more regular reps if you believe in their expected stats. You might still be able to sell him on the decent looking power/speed numbers since the fact he could be a timeshare player isn’t yet so obvious to everyone.
Gavin Sheets (1B/OF, San Diego Padres)
It’s not the first time he’s been on my sell list, but the dual arrival of the similarly versatile 1B/OF Ryan O’Hearn and OF Ramon Laureano pushes him out of a secure regular role. We’ll still fondly remember the good first half.
Abraham Toro (2B/3B, Boston Red Sox)
You picked him up because he was hitting .290 or .300 at one point, right? So why are so many still holding on now that his average, one of the few things he could provide, is now down to .260. I’d rather gamble on the upside or Rowdy Tellez or Jakob Marsee, leaving Toro just to points leagues. Deep ones.
