1. Coco Crisp (OF - A's) - Crisp has been fairly consistent all season from an OBP and SB perspective. He had exactly 8 SB each month from April through July and 6 in August. With one today, he is already well on his way to equaling those previous months as he leads the AL and ranks 2nd in the majors in stolen bases with 39. His ownership has steadily increased from about 50% to begin the season to 80% today (according to some of the major commissioner services). Looks like he is still unowned in many leagues, but those rotisserie players looking for a point or two to end the season will likely snatch Crisp up very quickly if he's still available.
2. AJ Burnett (SP - Yankees) - The calendar turned away from August and AJ Burnett seemed to find some rhythm on Thursday. It wasn't a quality start, but it was the best we have seen from him in quite some time. Burnett allowed 2 ER through 5.1 IP against the Red Sox, allowing 5 hits and 2 BB while striking out 4. It was the first time he allowed less than 3 ER in a start since June 29th, which was 11 starts ago. While Burnett looked better than he has in awhile, there is still way too much risk here. Keep Burnett on the waiver wires.
3. Ervin Santana (SP - Angels) - It wasn't Santana's best outing of the year, but he pitched well enough to earn a quality start and bring his record to 11-9 on the year. He is now 20-for-29 in QS on the year, bringing his ERA to 3.27 and WHIP to 1.17 on the year. Santana has been incredibly consistent year-over-year in strikeouts and walks. His K/9 of 6.83 in 2010 is practically identical to his 6.98 this year while his K/BB of 2.32 last year is in-line with his slightly higher 2.72 this year. In total, he has had a great year and an even better 2nd half of the season. He'll face off against the Mariners again early next week.
4. Ian Kinsler (2B - Rangers) - Kinsler's average has gone down slightly, but it really doesn't matter too much when he is producing from other angles. Two more HRs last night gives Kinsler 23 on the season and another stolen base gives him an equal amount of stolen bases at 23. He posted eerily similar numbers two years ago when he went 31/31 in 2009. While the average has dipped to .243 off his career average of .274, his OBP has remained high at .345 due to an increase in walks. His career BB% is 10.1%, but this year he is over 12% while bringing his K/BB rate under 1.0 for the first time in his career. There are few names in 2011 that will post 25+ / 25+ kind of numbers, especially out of the second base position. That will have Kinsler's value jump on draft day, but not too much as he is a constant injury concern.
5. Brett Gardner (OF - Yankees) - Brett Gardner sat against the lefty Jon Lester yesterday. He has been struggling of late, hitting just .226 in August after three months of hitting .301, .317, and .289. Still, Gardner's fantasy value is to get on base and steal bases and he's done a solid job of doing that of late. His season OBP is .346 and he ranks third in the majors in steals with 38 (behind Michael Bourn and Coco Crisp). That's not bad considering Gardner was bouncing around mixed league waiver wires in a lot leagues right through June.
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