Two and a half weeks left, my friends, and then we’ll be calling a wrap on the 2026 season. Will it be the end of regular season baseball as we know it for a long, long time, or will the threat of a lockout prove to be overblown? Time will tell, but for now, if you are in a deep league and/or a daily change league, and are still fighting for a title or a money spot, there’s probably still work to be done. Let’s dive into our weekly search for a handful of names that could be of deep league interest over these final couple weeks, as picked over as our free agent pools may be. This week we’ll just touch on the top three hitters in each league over the last two weeks, based on 5×5 value, who are less than 25% owned in Fantrax leagues. We’ll go in order of value, not ownership, within each league, so let’s take a look at who’s making a late-season splash:
NL
Christian Koss. It surprised me to see that Koss is just 4% owned in Fantrax leagues, though if there’s a team with a bunch of under-the-radar hitters right now, it’s the San Francisco Giants. Whether any of said hitters will be useful as the season concludes, let alone beyond, is up for debate, but what’s clear right now is that Koss has been performing at an impressive level over the last 14 games if nothing else. He’s delivered the most value by far of anyone on this list, hitting .279 with 4 homers and a steal, plus 11 runs scored and 7 RBI. That puts him a few notches above guys like Manny Machado and Sal Stewart on the player rater over those two weeks, and both of them have had incredibly productive stretches themselves. Koss currently has 2B/3B/SS eligibility in most leagues, and recently locked up 2027 eligibility at short in addition to third (for leagues that use a 20 games played in the previous season threshold). It’ll be interesting to see how he fits into the Giants’ future plans, especially if he ends 2026 with a strong finish.
Jonah Cox. Well, turns out I should have given myself a spoiler alert about that San Francisco hitter thing, because when we drop down to the next most valuable guy over the last two weeks who’s under 25% owned, we land on outfielder Cox. He’s 24% owned, and those that are familiar with his profile and/or currently roster him won’t be surprised to learn that much of his recent value comes from his speed, which I think we can safely describe as his fantasy calling card. He’s got 4 steals in the last two weeks to go with a .275 average and 9 runs scored, and he even has a homer and 4 RBI to round things out. Another player who could disappear from San Francisco’s immediate plans next season, or could head into the year with major sleeper appeal depending on how things shake out.
Leo Bernal. The St. Louis catcher is now 22% owned in Fantrax leagues, likely getting more interest from those in keeper formats than in redraft leagues. While we wait to see how big a part of the Cardinals’ future he’ll be in 2027 and beyond, he’s minding his own business playing quite well over the last 14 games. Well, he’s not exactly lighting the world on fire, but he’s holding his own with a .261 average, with 4 runs scored, a homer, and 4 RBI. He still only has eight games at catcher under his belt (he’s also appeared once at first and twice at DH), but his so-far smooth transition to the big leagues can only help his future standing with the team, one would think.
AL
Richie Palacios. If we were combining leagues and just listing these players in order of 5×5 value over the last two weeks, the 12% owned Palacios would rank behind Cox, albeit with a significant drop in value between them. He’s only hitting .231 over that time, but has delivered something in all counting stats categories, with 7 runs scored, 4 homers, 6 RBI, and 2 steals. Unlike the two Giants on this list, Palacios is a veteran that all of us experienced deep leaguers are likely quite familiar with. For what it’s worth, Palacios qualifies at both 2B and OF in most leagues (though he will head into 2027 eligible only at second). So even with typical Tampa Bay mix-and-match playing time, he could be useful in the right league over the next couple of weeks, and is worth a look even in shallower leagues that use daily changes to see if he can continue his latest run of production.
Nathan Lukes. Next up on our list is the 19% owned Lukes, who has been a recent go-to short day fill-in for me in a few of my daily change leagues. He’s another veteran (32 already, my how fast the kids grow up!) whose profile we are all likely plenty familiar with. So, it may be a bit surprising to some to see how relatively productive he’s been of late for the Blue Jays. He’s scored 8 runs and has 5 RBI, and while he’s hit just 1 homer and has no steals over that time, he’s hitting a sizzling .341. In most league formats, you could definitely do worse for a late-season stopgap on a banged-up fantasy team.
Victor Mesa Jr., We end this list back in Tampa Bay to check in on Mesa Jr., who’s proving himself to be a streaky hitter but one who’s recently had another pretty decent stretch of production. Mesa is 14% owned and, like Palacios, will not play every day (neither is in the lineup on Thursday as I write this with the team facing lefty Martin Perez). But he’s contributed in all categories, at least a smidge, over the last two weeks, hitting .367 with 6 runs scored, a homer and 4 RBI, and 2 steals. I guess we can label him a post hype prospect, and I was honestly a bit surprised to remember he’s still just 25. It’s hard to imagine him ever being anything other than the strong side of an outfield platoon, especially in Tampa, but the strong side of an outfield platoon can be a plenty useful thing in our deep league world. He’s another guy whose role and value may be worth monitoring heading into 2027.
