Brandon Moss - Moss has played almost every day since his recall from AAA, and over the last five games he's gone 8-21 with all eight hits going for extra bases. He's knocked in 10 runs while scoring 7, but he's also fanned 10 times over these 21 AB's. Obviously this is a pace that can't be maintained, but Moss has shown plenty of pop in the past, and Oakland doesn't have much competition for him for playing time at 1B, so he clearly needs to be owned in AL-only formats already. Moss's one big chance came back in 2008 with a trade from Boston to Pittsburgh, as the RF job was clearly his to lose at the time. He played fairly well that first year, putting up an ISO of .202 and knocking in 23 runs in just 45 games, but some poor fortune on balls hit into play kept his AVG down at .222. The following season (his age 25 season) saw him open as the Pirates' RF, but contact issues and continued low BABIP's saw him fall into a time share. He gradually fell out of favor in Pittsburgh, spent almost all of 2010 in AAA, then spent 2011 at AAA in the Phillies' organization. The same strengths have always been there for Moss: solid power and average speed. He isn't going to hit for much of an average because he does swing and miss a bit much, but now that he's in Oakland he has a fairly clear path as far as playing time goes, and a hot start like he's had can buy you a lot of leash on that front. His contact issues are too significant for him to be a major player in many formats, but he absolutely has enough power to be a help in deeper mixed leagues and AL-only formats. At just 28, he could be a cheap power source for a few seasons if things break right for him this time.
Steve Pearce - Steve Pearce has been playing virtually every day since Markakis went on the DL, and the 29 year old is hitting 323/343/484 through his first 31 AB's as an Oriole. Pearce has been at AAA since 2007, picking up a bit of MLB time each year but never getting a serious look as a starter. A career minor league line of 294/370/524 would make you think that the Pirates should have given him more than 465 AB's spread out over five years to prove himself, especially since despite his huge power numbers in the minors he's never really had major contact issues to go along with them. Two things give me pause here in trying to figure out if Pearce will have any lasting value for the O's: First, the issue of Markakis being likely just a few weeks away, and second, the fact that the Yankees traded him in-division for cash. After years of having spots for freely acquired talent like Pearce, the Orioles are gradually running into logjams at certain spots on their roster, and the corners are one of the areas where there are plenty of bodies for a limited amount of PT. If Pearce continues to hit like this he'll likely force his way into the lineup, likely at the expense of some combination of Chris Davis, Nick Johnson, and Wilson Betemit. I do think that Pearce has enough potential that I'd be willing to take a flyer on him in deeper formats, but like many players of his ilk his path to playing time is fraught with pitfalls, and the likelihood of sustained value is fairly slim.
Elliot Johnson - Johnson has been playing nearly every day since late April, and he's hitting roughly .300 since the second week of May. Johnson is a pretty underrated bat due to fairly significant contact issues, but he's got a decent amount of power, good speed, and multi-position eligibility all in his favor. He's a player that should definitely be more owned than he seems to be (7.9% ownership in ESPN leagues), as he seems likely to post a .250 AVG with 10 HR and 20 SB playing full-time, which has definite value in deeper leagues with eligibility at least at 2B and SS, with 3B and OF possibilities depending on your league's requirements.
Seth Smith - Smith homered again yesterday for the A's and is now hitting 381/458/690 for the month of June. The 29 year old started slowly for Oakland, but his stat line for the year is fairly close to what you'd expect moving from Colorado to Oakland....maybe a bit light on the AVG front but the power numbers appear to be in line. With less lineup protection he's walking more, but on the whole he is a nice, solid OF performing about as expected across the board. There isn't a lot of upside or downside here, I would think.
Craig Gentry - Gentry has been picking up a bit more PT of late, and even though his margin of error is slim due to the myriad of options that the Rangers have available, he does merit a look in many formats due to his excellent speed. Gentry swiped his 9th bag of the season yesterday, and another pair of hits raised his AVG to .343. His fantastic defense in CF gives Texas another reason to have him in the lineup as much as possible, although the specter of Leonys Martin is looming ever closer behind him. (Martin is up, likely just for a few days until Hamilton is ready to go again, but Martin is hitting 344/413/547 at AAA) Gentry is no long-term solution, but in traditional roto formats he does warrant rostering at the very least, and he ought to be in your lineup if you're the slightest bit in need of speed.
