C.J. Cron (1B) LAA - Cron had another pair of hits on Wednesday, making him 10-16 with 5 XBH in the past 4 games. He's steadily improved his chase rate and contact rate each year in the league, and he's been able to do it without sacrificing power: his avg HR distance of over 413 feet would be 10th in the league if he qualified. For me he's clearly a starter in all formats....an improving 26 year old power bat capable of 25-30 HR is definitely a worthwhile commodity.
Deolis Guerra (RP) LAA - Somebody in this bullpen is going to win the closer lottery with the trade of Fernando Salas, and my early money is on Deolis Guerra. Guerra is a fastball/change pitcher without real top-end velocity, but he has drastically lowered his hard contact rate this year, still misses bats some with a swinging strike% near 10, and exhibits pinpoint control, walking just 3 batters in 43 innings thus far in 2016. JC Ramirez and even Jhoulys Chacin might be in the mix as well, but Guerra has been the most consistent performer out there, and that's the one that I would claim if you're in need of saves down the stretch.
Yoan Moncada (2B/3B?) BOS - The days of the Travis Shaw/Aaron Hill platoon might be nearing an end, as Yoan Moncada is expected to be called up on Friday. Boston's top prospect, Moncada was hitting 285/388/547 over 202 PAs at AAA, showing easy 20/20 potential. There were some minor contact issues, but it doesn't seem like they will be insurmountable...there is massive potential here if the Sox choose to play him every day, which is possible but not extremely likely. It's more likely that he'll play 3-4 days a week down the stretch, which makes him more of an option only for deep leagues, but the upside here is significant enough that anyone with an underperforming roster spot would be wise to consider a claim....he's a true potential 5-category player.
Joey Wendle (2B) OAK - Wendle was called up following the Coco Crisp trade, and it looks like he'll be playing most of the time at 2B for the last month of the season. Wendle is one of those stereotypical Oakland prospects, where the tools don't look all that impressive, yet he might be able to play some baseball anyway. Wendle projects to be within a tick of average across the board, profiling as a .275-10-12 sort of a player....a perfectly reasonable starter in more sizable formats. The upside here isn't all that significant, but Wendle should be able to provide reasonable value the rest of the way...his full year (125 games) at AAA resulted in a 279/324/452 line with 12 HR and 14 SB.
Starlin Castro (2B) NYY - Castro was hitting 302/325/538 in August before going 3-6 with a homer on Wednesday, and he's clearly been one of the beneficiaries of the improved Yankee lineup, knocking in more runs during August (24) than he had in any other two months combined this year. He's definitely selling out a bit more for power this season, posting a swinging strike rate that's 2.5% higher than last year's, but he's already hit 19 homers so there are positives to that approach as well. He's definitely a starter for me in the MIF in all formats with the better supporting cast.
