Hello all! It’s getting more and more difficult to keep up with the less splashy major league transactions as the summer gets busier, especially heading into the All Star Break. It seems like every year teams shift their rosters around a bit at this time of year taking advantage of all of the built in off days, and while most of these moves won’t impact standard leagues, deep leaguers may want to pay extra close attention to MLB rosters as we head into the second (less than) half. Before we all enjoy a brief respite from lineup setting, let’s take a look-see at some potential deep-league options who may have unexpectedly popped up at the end of a major league roster and/or may be getting more playing time than any of us realized.
NL
Andrew Vaughn. Vaughn’s promotion back to the big league squad in Milwaukee after Rhys Hoskins hit the IL wasn’t as under the radar as it could have been, as he hit the ground running with a homer in his first game back with the Brewers. He likely won’t play every day even with Hoskins down, given that Jake Bauers, who may be worth a glance himself in the deepest leagues, is still in the picture. He also may not be long for the team if Hoskins makes a quick post-break recovery; we shall see. But, an opportunity is an opportunity, and the now 27-year old Vaughn may have just enough post-hype prospect-ness to him to make him worth a check in.
Jesse Winker. Winker’s back off the IL for the Mets, switching IL/active places with Starling Marte, and likely will basically be on the strong side of a DH platoon for now. Some would argue that the Mets have the best top 4 hitters in a lineup in all of baseball, and Winker has been hitting fifth when he’s in the lineup, which seems like a pretty good place to be. He didn’t exactly impress in his first month this year before getting hurt (hitting in the .230’s with a solitary homer)… but if he and the Mets offense overall can come out of the break re-energized, there could theoretically be more value here than Winker’s current 4% CBS ownership would indicate. (Well, as I’m turning this in, I see that Winker not only came out of Thursday’s game early, he’s heading back to New York for “additional testing” on his back, which we know is never a good sign. As if the picking weren’t slim enough already! So I guess it’s worth keeping on eye on how playing time shakes out for the Mets one way or another… with several hitters struggling and after dropping both games of a double header in ugly fashion Thursday, it sure seems like there could be an opportunity for a player or two who aren’t on our radars right now sooner rather than later).
Jack Suwinski. Wow, we’re really going for a theme here, I guess. Suwisnki is yet another hitter who has had some flashes of solid potential in the past, but has since been cast aside to fantasy oblivion, and who happens to be getting another chance with a big league club as I type this. I was going to say that Suwisnki can’t be worse than he was in his first stint with the Pirates this year when he hit .119 without a homer in 19 games, but he proved me wrong by going 0-4 with 2 Ks in his first game back up. Is this a Hail Mary to have a major league-ready outfield body in place when Tommy Pham makes his annual trade deadline pilgrimage from one team that’s given up, to a team that hasn’t quite given up yet? I don’t know, but I’m trying to look on the bright side with Suwinski as he’s still only 26, and realizing that it was only 2 years ago when he somehow managed to hit 26 homers and steal 13 bases.
AL
Romy Gonzalez/Abraham Toro. Gonzalez’s ownership has taken a big leap up just in the last few days; he’s at 12% owned in CBS leagues now, so he’s already in medium-deep league territory and could be headed to even shallower waters. It’s not a surprise that folks are paying him some attention, given that he’s now hitting an eye-popping .338 with a .372 OBP, with 5 homers and 4 steals in 136 at bats for the Red Sox on the year. He’s already played second and third in addition to 30+ games at first this year, and also qualifies at short in most leagues from his play last season. These numbers certainly feel like they’ve come out of nowhere for the 28 year old utility man (though he did get to double-digits in steals last year), and they probably have… but if he’s available in your league it’s at least worth keeping an eye on the situation in case he continue to force his way in to the lineup.
Speaking of 28-year-old utility men in Boston who are probably already rostered in very deep leagues, Toro is the other side of the coin here; I have to admit I didn’t realize he’d been getting so much playing time himself of late. He hasn’t been as hot as Gonzalez (but who has?), but he’s still putting together a nice season with a .286 average and 5 homers in 49 games. Assuming Gonzalez cools down soon, it seems unlikely that either of these guys will be of much help outside of the deep league world, but it also seems like they should both be monitored within it. Boston’s roster and playing time situation is definitely one that could change significantly as we approach and get through the trade deadline.
Oswald Peraza. One wonders how a fellow on a team as high profile as the Yankees, who appears to be in for a decent amount of playing time, can fly so far under the radar as to be just 2% owned in CBS leagues. Then one remembers that Peraza is hitting .152 on the season and is striking out almost 4 times as often as he walks. Still, I’d expect that ownership number to increase now that Jazz Chisholm has officially moved back to second base and D.J. LeMahieu has officially been jettisoned from the team altogether. If you have room and need an extra body on your roster, there’s not much to lose here by grabbing Peraza while we’re in the sleepy, all-star-lull part of the season in case he manages to get into the lineup regularly and put a decent stretch of at bats together coming out of the break.
Nathan Lukes. Lukes has quietly been putting a nice season together in the Toronto outfield, with numbers that play towards the end of both his real-life or a deep league fantasy roster (he’s currently just 3% owned in CBS leagues). He’s not only hitting .276 in his 67 games, he’s got a rather brilliant .371 OBP, which makes this at least the second week in a row that I’ll mention how much I like me a deep-league player who knows how to draw a walk. On a related note, he’s been leading off for the Jays, which doesn’t exactly hurt his value, and he’s also shown a little pop with 5 homers on the year.
Thanks for reading and enjoy the All Star break, whether you’re taking a respite from a seriously disappointing fantasy team that’s fallen out of contention, or taking a break from the daily grind of managing of a team that’s fighting to stay at or near the top of the standings!
