I’m not sure how helpful this article will be this week. There are just so many players coming back from the IL after the break, it’s tough to guess how each situation will shake out. It’s such a nightmare but the overall picture should be clearer come Monday.

Angels

• David Fletcher has led off the last two games.
• Since his promotion, Matt Thaiss has started three games and has a whopping .300 OPS.
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Another week, another set of closer rankings. The following ranks are based on accumulating Saves with talent as a secondary consideration. The order is the ranking I would prefer to roster them. In some instances, I wasn’t sure (e.g. Ken Giles), I made a note.

I had a tough time ranking #12 to #30. Each of these pitchers has some questions surrounding them mainly be traded or being replaced by someone the team trades for. It’s a tough balance.
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With the July 4th holiday and All-Star game, the waiver wire activity was down in the 38 NFBC Main Event leagues.

Injured

• Tyler Skaggs (32): Rest in peace.
• Tommy La Stella (30): He might be back for a couple of weeks in September.
• Jose Alvarado (15): On the IL for a month or two with a strained oblique.
• Jesus Luzardo (13): A lat strain has him out at least another month.
• Ji-Man Choi (13): Being borderline rosterable to begin with, an ankle injury put him on the waiver wire.
• Carlos Carrasco (11): Owners aren’t expecting much from him this season.

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It’s never a good week for adds when catchers take the top billing. Owners may want to focus on drops from last week and maybe gamble on some bullpen arms.

The projection guidelines:

• The ownership rates are from CBS since they have some quickdraw waiver wire leagues where players can be picked up at any time.
• The FAAB estimates are based on the 2018 15-team mixed NFBC leagues which used a $1000 FAAB budget. Owners are going to need to convert these values to their own league.
• The ownership values were taken from Saturday and lots can happen in between when they publish and FAAB bids run.
• Only players owned in 50% or fewer of CBS leagues are examined.
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From now until the trade deadline at the month’s end, I will be publishing a weekly post on overall closer rankings. The focus is not the best closers, but the combination of talent, opportunity, the chance of being traded, other bullpen arms, and mainly accumulating Saves. These rankings could change on a dime but at least they provide some structure for speculating on Saves.

I find the rumor mill boring but usually where there is smoke, there is fire. For that reason, I’m basing the chances of being traded on MLBTraderumors and The Athletic’s most likely traded lists. If they are wrong, I’m wrong.
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The following players were dropped in 10 or more of the 38 NFBC Main Event leagues.

Injury

• Jordan Hicks (31): Tommy John surgery sucks.
• Willians Astudillo (17): It’s tough for teams to roster hurt catchers with near replacement level talent.
• Brendan Rodgers (16): With Trevor Story returning from the IL, Rodgers does not have a job even if healthy.
• Alex Reyes (12): He’s back on the shelf with a pectoral injury.
• Anthony Swarzak (11): He was in Atlanta’s closer mix but an inflamed shoulder put him on the IL.
• Luis Severino (10): What a cluster f___. I can’t believe the Yankees, who have more money than they know what to do with, didn’t have him get an MRI. Now, the earliest Severino will return in late August.
• Gio Gonzalez (10): On the IL with an arm injury. Seems vague and the Nats may be using the All-Star break to get him some rest.

Demotion

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It’s closer’s week. Several closers are hurt and/or struggling. Also, the trade deadline is approaching, so some more jobs will open up.

The projection guidelines:

• The ownership rates are from CBS since they have some quickdraw waiver wire leagues where players can be picked up at any time.
• The FAAB estimates are based on the 2018 15-team mixed NFBC leagues which used a $1000 FAAB budget. Owners are going to need to convert these values to their own league.
• The ownership values were taken from Saturday and lots can happen in between when they publish and FAAB bids run.
• Only players owned in 50% or fewer of CBS leagues are examined.

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Angels

• The lineup is set with Justin Upton (.281/.378/.594) batting in the middle of the lineup and starting seven straight games in left field.
• It’ll be interesting to see how the middle infield playing time shakes out when Andrelton Simmons returns from the IL. Luis Rengifo (.297/.381/.541) has heated up over the past two weeks, while Tommy La Stella has cooled down (.256/.273/.349) over the same time frame.

Astros

• They’ve used the same lineup in the two games since George Springer’s return from the IL.
• Yordan Alvarez hit fifth but he may be heading to the IL and Jake Marisnick will likely take his lineup spot as long as Kyle Tucker remains in the minors.

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