Holy potential trade action, batman! Obviously those you in NL-only leagues are probably panting over the chance to land Adrian Gonzalez while those of us in AL-only leagues who own A-Gon are dreading this trade. I don’t have any insider info about this potential blockbuster, but I do have today’s Roto Riteup. And that’s just a good. Right? Right. Let’s move on.

• Carlos Quentin is still hitting and people still haven’t noticed. Over the past week hit an even .300 with a homer, eight RBI’s and a trio of runs. His stats from last night’s game aren’t included because it is 11:30 at the time of writing and I am tired and old. His ZiPS rest-of-season isn’t particularly thrilling, but he is guaranteed playing time and hits cleanup. Regardless of the home park, that is worth owning. He is still free to grab in about 65% of both Yahoo! and ESPN leagues.
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I’m making it rain this morning, at least when it comes to fantasy baseball opinions!

• In his longest outing with the Toronto Blue Jays, J.A. Happ pitched 7.1 innings of one run ball. He struck out seven, unfortunately he also walked three. This makes excellent back-to-back outings for Happ now, as his August 17 start was six innings of single run action with eight strikeouts. I wouldn’t go touting Happ for the Cy Young just yet, but this is at least encouraging. To see him have these consecutive starts against the Texas and Detroit offenses is cause for even more celebration. He could be a sneaky add late in the year. Happ is available in about 95% of ESPN and Yahoo! formats.
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Monday is the first day of the work week, and while we all have our jobs to take care of, more importantly, we have fantasy baseball to discuss! It’s what the player has done for the entirety of the season, his past recent performance and then what I personally think each player will do (or is most likely to do) for the remainder of the season.

Bullish:
Adrian Gonzalez – I don’t much care for first and second half splits, but this season has been pretty wild for him. After hitting just two home runs each in April, May and June, many owners began to panic and trade A-Gon. If you were smart enough to hang on to him, you’ve been handsomely rewarded in the second half of the season. He picked up his power stroke a bit by hitting four dingers in July and already had four halfway through August. His month-by-month fantasy numbers have seen a massive uptick as well. The table below spells it out much clearer than my words ever could.

*August is of course still not finished yet. The rate stats will float and the counting stats should increase.
Other than stolen bases (which no one drafted him for anyways), Gonzalez has been doing it all for the past month and a half. Kudos to those of you who either didn’t sell low or managed to trade for him on the cheap. This is the Gonzalez that a lot of imagined when envisioning him in Fenway.

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Fear not, my beloved RotoGraphs readers, for I am alive and well. And with internet! Many thanks to the handsome Zach Sanders for filling in for me!

• Norichika Aoki stole another base last night (although he was also caught once) and that gives him 17 on the year, four of which have come in the past two weeks. Over the same 14 day time span, Aoki is hitting a solid .292. Power still isn’t his game, but with a seasonal line now at .280/.349/.404, he is most certainly own-able in deeper leagues. He is owned in just 8% of Yahoo! leagues and 9% of ESPN formats. If you’re in the market for cheap average and the occasional steal, grab Aoki. His ZiPS rest-of-season is a very attractive .288 and four more stolen bases.
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Per usual, here are the Monday American League outfield stock watch updates.

Bullish:
Alex Rios – Since July 30, the 3rd best AL outfielder has been none other than Alex Rios. Commenter db thought that I should have ranked Rios higher in my last AL Tiered OF Rankings Update, and I may be inclined to agree more now than I was then. I still don’t love his projection, but a lot of his ZiPS is being influenced by his less-than-impressive 2009 and 2011 campaigns. To see this resurgency in Rios shouldn’t be taken lightly at this point. He is a five full category producer in standard roto leagues and barring a major collapse, should easily notch his second 20-20 season, but his first with a .300+ average.
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Today’s Roto Riteup is being written by an author who is watching his favorite team blow another leader against the White Sox.

• Well now, it appears as though John Jaso is enjoying a (very) small power surge. He now has hit a home run in back-to-back games and is getting more playing time as of late. At the time of writing he is 1-2 on the day. He is still buried on the team’s official depth chart, but keep an eye on his playing time. In only 320 (and counting the rest of this game) PA’s, Jaso has an excellent .381 wOBA. Much of that is tied to his outstanding 33:36 walk to strikeout ratio, but if you play in OBP leagues he is worth owning, sporadic playing time aside. His fantasy counting stats aren’t impressive but that is more due to a lack of playing time than a lack of talent. If you’re hurting at catcher (and who isn’t?) then you may find value in Jaso. He is available to be picked up in 97% of Yahoo! leagues and 99.8% of ESPN leagues. Those numbers are tough to read as a lot of leagues are just single catcher formats, but Jaso deserves better than this.
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It’s the weekend! Huzzah! Grab yourself some breakfast and relax. On the subject of breakfast, I can’t be the only one who’s breakfast habits are vastly different on the weekend than during the work week. For example, I usually eat a hot breakfast on days that I work, but my off days consist of sleeping in too late and not wearing pants all day.

• Prior to yesterday’s 2-5 performance, Alexi Amarista had a .286 average with a steal over the past seven days. He hit a bit of a road bump with a 1-20 slump last week, but he seems to have even things out. Amarista sports a seasonal .270 average and with his above average contact rate and solid minor league track record of speed, his .293 BABIP is something that I think will be on the rise. With a GB% of 50%, that just gives me even more reason to be optimistic on him. His ZiPS rest-of-season is pretty gruesome, but I’ll still take the over on that projection. He should be freely available in about 90% of both ESPN and Yahoo! leagues.
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Sticking with the food theme for now, today’s Roto Riteup is like a ham-and-cheese Lunchable. You’re giddy to have a Lunchable (the Riteup), but kind of let down that it isn’t the pepperoni pizza kind (Sanders). At least the ham-and-cheese kind (me) still comes with a fun sized candy bar!

• My old pitching frenemy Ubaldo Jimenez is back. He had an excellent outing yesterday and fanned 10 batters, but only lasted six innings and gave up three runs. His seasonal numbers are still brutal and his last five starts are a microcosm of his season: some awfulness, some excellence. At this point, it’s really anyone’s guess as to where the pinwheel of good Ubaldo/bad Ubaldo will land. If you’re a risk taker (i.e. chronic gambler) then go ahead and pick him up for the rest of the season. I for one will be leaving him alone. I’ve picked him up and dropped him more than my my old phone that broke because I dropped it too much. If you’re a risk taker, Ubaldo should be free to grab in 60% of ESPN formats and 50% of Yahoo! leagues.
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Today brings you the August American League outfield rankings. With only about eight weeks left in the season, these rankings reflect what I see each player being worth over the course of said eight weeks.

Tier One:
Mike Trout
Jose Bautista
Curtis Granderson

It shouldn’t be much of a surprise to see the first three names listed here. Trout has surpassed everyone’s wildest dreams so far. Bautista continues to hit have questions surrounding his wrist, but even with a second MRI on the way, I am caustiously (perhaps naively) optimistic. Granderson is tied for second in the AL in home runs and hits in a very friendly park for him. Granderson should continue to prove to be an incredibly valuable player despite his relatively low batting average.
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Breaking news: I turn half-way to 50 today. Go ahead, get your “old man” jokes in now. Now that the big news is out of the way, here is today’s Roto Riteup:

• There was a homer bonanza fueled by Justin Morneau in Minnesota yesterday. He crushed a pair of home runs and drove in four runs. That brings him to 23 hits in his past 15 games, including nine extra-base hits. Morneau is still available in over half of Yahoo! leagues and almost 40% of ESPN leagues. Act now before people fully realize what a tear he has been on.
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