Welcome to Buy & Sell, where this week’s theme is… Maximo Acosta week! …Who? You’ll see. Look, as the remaining time on the season gets shorter, you have to take more risks, and do things that would get you called crazy in most other contexts. Like, it still might go badly and you’re crazy, but being boring and safe more often looks bad, especially when you just need to get to the next round of the playoffs in Head-to-Head.
I’m on edge because I narrowly survived two of my fantasy playoffs with a Sunday miracle to make it to the next round, including in the Pitcher List Legacy League, where I’m now against the top seed, Deja Woo, and need to fight for every at-bat I can. Oh, and a 30-team pay league where I could win a few grand if I come in first, but whatever. Let’s get on to the list!
Ivan Herrera (C, St. Louis Cardinals)
If he’s still available in your league, go hurry to grab Herrera. He’s the hottest player in all of baseball terms of improved xwOBA, and even though I called him a drop after his rough stretch, he could win you your playoffs even as a DH (which I’m doing by cutting Kirk for him in an OBP 14-teamer). When he’s hot, there are few catchers with a more potent bat with his combination of average, power, and speed, and well, now he’s hot.
Drake Baldwin (C, Atlanta Braves)
His bat hasn’t exactly been lighting the world on fire, but his playing time situation is rosier than ever with Ozuna floundering at DH and Murphy hitting the IL and presumably out for the year. There’s still a strong enough core there that he can drive in some big runs, though also expect some fatigue.
Kyle Manzardo (1B, Cleveland Guardians)
He’s been so on fire for so long, he’s evolved for Manzardo into Charizardo. I recently had to choose between him at 18% Rostered and 14% Started or Christian Walker, who was 74% Rostered and 57% Started, and I picked Manzardo and cut Walker… let’s see if it takes me to the Legacy League finals.
Royce Lewis (3B, Minnesota Twins)
This year, his ride has not been at all like a Rolls Royce, and much more like a Royller coaster. Despite calling him a drop several times this year (and also an add several others), I think now there are signs that he’s finally healthy and could be a fantasy monster in the final few weeks. A big one is that he’s finally stealing bases, after most of the season of virtually zero, and it’s a good reminder that initially that was supposed to be part of his game. Sure, it raises injury risk, but like, he only needs to last 3 more weeks. The two homer game he just had himself on Monday night is more evidence, even though Statcast has believed to some degree that he’s deserved better all along. There simply aren’t many other waiver wire hot corner options that can match his fantasy goodness when he’s running on all cylinders, even half of the cylinders, so grab him now in all leagues and see how this plays out, and just hope beyond hope those glass hamstrings of his hold up.
Jake Burger (1B/3B, Texas Rangers)
If he’s still on your deep-league wire, pick him up now, it’s Burgent. …Look, I’m tired at this point of fast food puns, I had to try something else, okay? Burger is listed by Roster Resource as the small side of a platoon, or at least was as of when I’m writing this, but it hasn’t reflected the reality on the ground in which he’s played nearly every day since his return, and has hit quite well, with two homers over that span. His supposed platoon-mate Tellez has hit another rough patch, and I doubt the ice-cold and punchless Josh Smith or Ezequiel Duran will steal PT from the offseason acquisition.
Statcast has indicated he’s been unlucky all year, and he had been heating up before his last injury. With a xBA that’s now all the way up to .264, I think maybe he can still raise his batting average to .250 for a fourth straight season. You can do it, Jake. He’s a must-add in all 15-teamers, in 12-team AVG I think I’d still want to see a little more, but I totally applaud the boldness if you do go for it and I think it could be wise. UPDATE: So I wrote this before his two-homer game on Wednesday, given how hot he got last August, I think he’s 10-team viable in AVG leagues for power.
Daylen Lile (OF, Washington Nationals)
I’ve written him up on this list as a buy perhaps more than any other player, because he really deserves more love. He’s been hitting .400 for about a month now, and while the homer total is lacking, he’s a secret beast in leagues that use SLG% due to his penchant for triples (and I’m mad someone had priority over me to get him in my league that does). You only need a few weeks, he’s a batting average savior who also steals bases, and yes what I’m saying is you should strongly consider dropping your 12-team OF for him. In my fantasy playoffs, I started him this week over Seiya Suzuki, a bold move but let’s see how it plays out for me.
Josh Bell (1B, Washington Nationals)
As I’m writing this, I’m seeing his huge two homer game, and I’ll admit that’s influencing me as it brings him up to 19 homers and is nearing his typical season line. But his xwOBA has been very good for the past 100 PA or so, and I’m encouraged by the fact he has a 6/4 ratio in 45 AB (51 PA) over the past 3 weeks. That’s an 8.9% K% rate for a power hitter! I noticed he was on the wire in my 15-team OBP and hurried to scoop him.
Harrison Bader (OF, Philadelphia Phillies)
It seemed like Philly considered him merely a platoon bat early on, which led to him being widely dropped, but he has since been on an impressive heater (at least in terms of batting average) and has earned full-time reps in the outfield, with Castellanos riding the pine. Especially with Brandon Marsh nursing a day-to-day injury, and Bader being excellent defensively, he should keep playing, though I do hope he brings more of the power/speed combo he showed off in the first half.
Chase Meidroth (2B/3B/SS, Chicago White Sox)
If he’s still on your wire, you better run after him now and listen to the first seven letters of his name: Chase Me. He’s been one of the hitters making the White Sox an unexpected force in the second half, and has been hitting .455 this past week. With his combination of high walk rate and occasional stolen bases, he’s been more valuable than other stalwarts like Luis Arraez that many are mindlessly plugging in instead of him.
Otto Kemp (3B/OF Philadelphia Phillies)
I’m mad at Alec Bohm in that I was about to be controversial and call him a 15-team league drop, and then he has to hurt his shoulder on me and hit the IL. I think Kemp’s subpar major league debut has caused us to forget how impressive he was in the minors prior to his callup, and I still think that talent is there, to at least be a kind of Romy Gonzalez type (maybe a bit less with the AVG) and hit for some big power with a handful of speed, which makes him a great deep league option now with regular playing time.
Maximo Acosta (SS, Miami Marlins)
He went down, now he’s back up, but I seem to be the only thrilled by the RollAcosta. Yes, I know I already made a roller coaster pun earlier in the article, because I want to boldly suggest Acosta, who is currently 1% Rostered and 0% started (though I am in my H2H 30-team playoffs) could be like a Royce lite. The 22-year-old who is not known for power has crushed the ball in his time in the majors with 3 homers, and Statcast thinking he deserves far better than his .200 AVG, instead giving him a .284 xBA and xSLG over .650.
Of course, there’s a reason we consider sample sizes with Statcast and his in the majors is still small compared to his disappointing minor league rates this year. Matthew Lugo comes to mind with this. But still, he has a role now and also offers excellent speed, and I think those in need of upside and trotting out the likes of J.P. Crawford or Josh Smith need to walk on the wild side and adjust your portfolio to Maximom risk.
Jake Bauers (1B/OF, Milwaukee Brewers)
He still hasn’t quite claimed an every day role, but he’s a secret stud in very deep daily leagues or DFS, as he’s made some real improvements this year by keeping his high HardHit% and Barrel% while also cutting down his K% under 30%, while still offering his useful speed. Also has an excellent walk rate and is a viable 15-team OBP spec add in case he gets regular run.
Tim Tawa (2B/OF, Arizona Diamondbacks)
I really thought about putting Ildemaro Vargas here, since he’s likely the starter after Locklear’s injury, but what fun is that? I am hoping that Tawa, who had an excellent 2024 season in the minors and flashed intriguing power/speed early on in his debut, will be given another chance for the out-of-contention D-backs to see if the 26-year-old could be a viable regular.
SELL
Elly De La Cruz (SS, Cincinnati Reds)
Selly De La Cruz?! Have I gone mad? Well only a little. But in half of my leagues right now, I don’t need stolen bases, because I either have too big a lead or simply I’m too far to realistically pull ahead of the next team ahead of me. If that sounds like you, then you may really want to consider dropping the consensus first half of the first round pick for the final three weeks, assuming it’s a redraft. Before you ragequit this article and throw your phone into your wall or inground pool full of Mountain Dew, hear me out.
How many home runs has Elly hit since July 1st? No looking, take a guess. The answer is the loneliest number. Yes he’s been the fantasy dog of the week, or the Three Dog Night or the second half, as he’s really made a limited impact over that time, even though his batting average has been more stable. In a 10-team, shortstop is still quite deep, and if you can manage to get Jacob Wilson, Trevor Story (unlikely at this point), Colson Montgomery, or even Dansby Swanson, I would. Because without stolen bases, Elly really isn’t anything special right now, and you need to forget what you know with this little time left. Actually, he’s only stolen 1 base in the past three weeks, so he’s not even good for that! He’s probably hurt, so I’d still gladly buy the dip next year, but not for now.
Yainer Diaz (C, Houston Astros)
Y’see, this is why I don’t look too hard into first half/second half splits over a career. Well, unless it’s Michael Harris II, I guess. Yainer had a miserable April, but then started to heat up, while he was still underperforming his expected metrics… and then it seemingly fell off a cliff. Diaz’s K% is still quite good, but his batted ball quality and barrel rate have declined every year, once again dispelling the notion that just because he’s young, that he’d continue to improve. He’s not only out of the conversation for a top-5 catcher, I think he’s out of the top-10 conversation as well, as a .265 15 homer catcher is not special in 2025. Maybe he really needed those days off he was getting earlier in his career. Cut in 10-team formats and 12-team OBP.
Kerry Carpenter (OF, Detroit Tigers)
He’s not entirely to blame for the Tigers’ second-half swoon, but, well, he certainly hasn’t helped. While it seemed early on in the year that he would finally shed his platoon bat label and be a breakout with full-time reps, the team soon changed their mind, and he really hasn’t been the same the past month plus and has offered neither big power or big average to compensate for the reduced playing time, which hurts his run production totals. I wonder if he’s still playing hurt, and he’d been untouched on the wire in a few of my 12-team formats, and you should probably also consider doing that.
Oneil Cruz (SS/OF, Pittsburgh Pirates)
The Pirates aren’t that smart, and it’s affecting him. I mean, he’s been terrible against lefties with a batting average so far below the Mendoza line it’s closer to .100, but what does an out-of-contention team have to lose by letting a high volatility high talent franchise cornerstone to get his reps in. He’s completely fallen apart in the second half to the extent that I really may just start Maximo Acosta over him. Baseball is weird.
Brooks Lee (SS/2B/3B, Minnesota Twins)
After Correa’s departure and his hot streak he was widely added, even up to 100% rostered in NFBC 15-teamers, but while his positional versatility is useful, Statcast never believed it was more than the hitter equivalent of Koufax. I’m just trying to say he was lucky and the luck ran out, capisce?
Marcell Ozuna (UT, Atlanta)
He’s been so bad with playing time so unreliable that I’m actually starting Masataka Yoshida over him… and not regretting it yet.
Jose Caballero (2B/SS/3B/OF, New York Yankees)
He made a big splash upon his arrival in New York, and it’s possible that Chisholm’s injury could help clear a path, but even with his game changing speed, it’s really hard to keep trotting out a player with only 7 AB this week in any shallower format in any weekly lineups league.
Colton Cowser (OF, Baltimore Orioles)
He had recently attracted some attention with a streak of August homers leading us to believe that maybe he was back to looking more like the Cowser who was a top 200 pick entering drafts, but just like that runaway heifer that was caught by a cowboy on horseback earlier this week, he got caught, and you don’t want to be stuck on the road with a colt & cow, sir. Oof am I really going to end with a pun as contrived as that? Yes.
Andruw Monasterio (1B/2B/3B/SS, Pittsburgh Pirates)
He was blasting good tunes for a week, but that song is over, so in all formats, we’re putting away the boombox for Andruw Mono/Stereo.
