1. Coco Crisp (OF - A's) - Coco Crisp gets little attention playing out in Oakland, but he is worth a fantasy look if you're desperate for some steals. His ownership has been steadily climbing, but still remains unowned in about 25% of all leagues. He eclipsed last year's stolen base total with his 33rd steal of the year last night. That's also a career high. He's also been on a tear at the plate, posting three straight multi-hit games while raising his season average up to .278. Crisp will never get you much more than just stolen bases and his career average of .277 is about where he'll end this year. But he's ranked 2nd in MLB in SB (behind Michael Bourn) and should be added to teams looking for some speed down the stretch.
2. Trevor Cahill (SP - A's) - Cahill dropped his 10th loss of the year yesterday, bringing his record to 9-10 as he allowed 7 ER and 12 hits in just 4.0 IP. It was the 2nd time in the last 3 games where he has gotten blown-up. Those two games alone have inflated his ERA from 3.16 to 3.91 over the last week and a half. He is now 15-for-24 in QS for the season. Cahill began the season on a tear and it looked like the 23-year-old was going to put up some huge numbers for the A's. But month-over-month, Cahill's ERA has been steadily increasing. Starting in April, he has gone from 1.88 to 2.31, 3.28, 3.58, and now at its current level of 3.91. The 147.1 IP may be taking its toll on the young arm, but that didn't stop him from posting 7.0 shutout innings against the Rays in his last start. Tread carefully on this one and watch his next start at Tampa Bay on Sunday. If he gets blown-up in that contest, I will officially be worried.
3. Alexei Ramirez (SS - White Sox) - The home run totals are slightly down for Alexei this year (seems to be an epidemic on the south side these days). Ramirez's last three seasons of AB/HR rates have yielded 22.9, 36.1, and 32.5. With his 10th HR of the year last night, he is at 40.2. Aside from a slight decline in HR and also in SB (he only has 4 this year after averaging about 13 per year for the last 3 years), Ramirez has been fairly steady and his numbers are predictable. His career numbers are .280/.324/.426. This year he is posting pretty close to those numbers with a .271/.334/.408 with the slugging dropping slightly with the lower AB/HR. I am encouraged about some late season magic from Ramirez as he posts a career-best .61 BB/K to-date and historically he hits more HR in the 2nd half than in the first with a career 1st half AB/HR of 42.6 compared to 2nd half of 23.2.
4. Jake Peavy (SP - White Sox) - Peavy had his best start in quite some time, but ran into CC Sabathia and still took the loss. It was the first time he lasted 7.0 IP since May 30th and he posted a season-high 115 pitches. Peavy only has 2 QS (including last night) since the end of May and is now just 4-for-12 on the season. He's still a big risk as he tries to come back from various injuries. He'll unfortunately never be the same pitcher he once was and the risk-factor that comes with a 5.13 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, sub-7.0 K/9, injury-prone pitcher is just too much to handle if you're a fantasy playoff contender.
5. Derek Jeter (SS - Yankees) - After sitting out on Monday with a bruised hand caused by a HBP in Sunday's game, Jeter says he expects to be back in the lineup on Tuesday against the White Sox. X-Rays were negative on Sunday and he was diagnosed with a severely bruised middle finger on his right hand. Aside from the attention around his 3,000th hit (and the way he did it), Jeter has probably had the worst year of his career. His .268 average, .330 OBP, .356 SLG are all career lows. His marquee name makes it tough pull the plug, but all fantasy owners should take a serious look at his replacement options on the waiver wire. You will likely find someone who at least hits for higher average or steals more bases out of the SS position in mixed leagues. AL-only owners can hold tight.
