Looking for some cheap steals and saves down the stretch? Here are two players for that late-season/playoff push…

Eduardo Nunez | 2B, SS, 3B | Yankees | Owned: 1% Yahoo!

I touted the 25-year-old Nunez as a steals sleeper way back in February, but he quickly played his way off New York’s big league roster not with his bat, but with his defense. He struggled with the routine play and was demoted to Triple-A in mid-May despite a solid (for a utility infielder) .294/.356/.373 batting line, then resurfaced when rosters expanded in September.

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The regular season is over for most fantasy leagues and the playoffs have begun, meaning all of that long-term planning and patience kinda goes out the window. Here are two players — one pitcher, one hitter — who can help you during the postseason push these next few weeks…

Zach Britton | SP | Orioles | Owned: 30% Yahoo! and 36.9% ESPN

Britton, 24, returned from the DL earlier this season and needed a few weeks to settle in before really taking off. Prior to yesterday’s self-imposed meltdown against the Yankees — five walks in 3.1 innings — he had allowed just three runs in his previous four starts combined. That included seven walks, 29 strikeouts, and a 55%+ ground ball rate in 28.2 innings against the Tigers, White Sox, and Blue Jays (twice).

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September is right around the corner, which means it’s time to really start preparing for the fantasy playoffs. Here are a pair of AL East youngsters who can boost your roster for the stretch drive…

Pedro Ciriaco | 2B, SS, 3B | Red Sox | Owned: 21% Yahoo! and 29.9% ESPN

Ciriaco, 26, got his shot with the Red Sox early last month due to various injuries and has quickly established himself as a pesky, “this guy shouldn’t be killing us” type of player for whoever happens to be playing Boston on a given day. The infielder is hitting .360/.374/.500 (145 wRC+) with two homers and nine steals (in nine chances) in 141 plate appearances for the Red Sox, and now he’s playing third base pretty much everyday with Will Middlebrooks on the shelf. He managed to pick up both second base and shortstop eligibility along the way.

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The fantasy season is starting to reach crunch time, so let’s begin the week with two players who have recently taken on more prominent roles…

David Murphy | OF | Rangers | Owned: 12% Yahoo! and 13.3% ESPN

From 2008-2011, his first four full seasons as a big leaguer, the 30-year-old Murphy posted a 115 wRC+ against right-handed pitchers with a 62 mark against southpaws. His split this year is 129/145 thanks to some serious BABIP (.529) love in a very small sample (53 PA) against left-handers. It’s not the most sustainable performance, as you can tell.

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Let’s kick off the week with two Athletics, one current and one former…

Grant Balfour | RP | Athletics | Owned: 42% Yahoo!

With Ryan Cook having allowed six runs in his last four appearances and nine runs in his last nine appearances, A’s manager Bob Melvin gave the ninth inning reigns over Balfour against the White Sox this weekend. He closed out Saturday’s win without a problem, though Melvin has yet to make any sort of definitive statement about his closer for the short or long-term. When in doubt, I always lean towards the veteran in the short-term.

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The trade deadline is behind us but there were very few moves made with real fantasy impact at the first base position. Due to popular demand, the catchers — Buster Posey, Carlos Santana, Joe Mauer, and Mike Napoli — have been left out of the first base rankings just because they’re so much more valuable behind the plate. The same goes for guys with middle infield eligibility like Howie Kendrick and Michael Young. Here are our preseason, May, June, and July tiered rankings for reference, as well as our consensus second half rankings.

Tier One
Miguel Cabrera
Albert Pujols
Prince Fielder
Paul Konerko

These four remain the game’s truly elite first base producers, a position where monster numbers are expected. Konerko has cooled off a bit in the power department, which likely has something to do with the minor wrist procedure he had a few weeks ago. The rest of his production is top notch though.

Tier Two
Adrian Gonzalez
Edwin Encarnacion
Mark Teixeira
Mark Trumbo
Billy Butler
Allen Craig
Paul Goldschmidt

Gonzalez has finally started to hit as expected after three down months to start the season, a welcome sight for fantasy owners. Goldschmidt now has a clear path for playing time with Lyle Overbay being removed from the roster, though he still does most of his damage against southpaws. Craig also has a clear path for playing time, but he’s a little banged up himself at the moment.

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The trade deadline is behind us and we’re officially in the dog days of summer. Here are a pair of starting pitchers who could boost the back of your fantasy rotation.

Joe Blanton | SP | Dodgers | Owned: 22% Yahoo! and 18.7% ESPN

By now you should know all about Blanton’s MLB-best K/BB ratio, and if you don’t, then I suggest reading Ben Duronio’s recent piece on the hefty right-hander. The 31-year-old was traded via waivers from the Phillies to the Dodgers late last week, and he went on to hold the Cubs to two runs in six innings in his first start for the Los Angeles over the weekend.

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Going with two starting pitchers to kick off the week in waiver wire, one from the AL Central and one from the AL West…

Scott Diamond | SP | Twins | Owned: 41% Yahoo! and 34.8% ESPN

I’m going to resist the easy “diamond in the rough” crack here, but the Twins do have something in the former Rule 5 Draft pick. Minnesota plucked the 26-year-old left-hander from the Braves during the 2010-2011 offseason then swung a trade to retain his rights. Diamond made seven generally unimpressive starts a year ago (5.08 ERA and 4.36 FIP), but he’s run off 15 strong starts this summer (2.88 ERA and 3.69 FIP).

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Knee problems are nothing new for Lance Berkman. They’ve been barking at him for nearly a decade now and have cost him all but 22 of his team’s 98 games this season. He took a Clayton Kershaw slider to the right knee — the same one he had surgery on in May — on Tuesday night and has been out of the starting lineup since. Puma did work a pinch-walk last night and was immediately lifted for a pinch-runner.

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Let’s start the week with an up-and-coming young catcher and a veteran reliever hanging on by the skin of his teeth…

Salvador Perez | C | Royals | Owned: 39% Yahoo!

A trendy breakout pick for 2012, Perez’s season debut was delayed because of a knee injury. He returned to the Royals late last month and has hit .350/.373/.600 (.408 wOBA and 160 wRC+) in 83 plate appearances, building on last season’s .331/.361/.473 (.361 wOBA and 127 wRC+) performance. In a whopping 241 big league plate appearances, Perez owns a .338/.365/.518 batting line (.377 wOBA and 160 wRC+).

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