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Last week here at RITD, we talked a bit about a few low-ownership National League hitters who’d had a great month or so in terms of fantasy stats, and how that might impact their value for what’s left of this season as well as 2022.  This week we’ll do the same with a few AL hitters, though as I peruse the numbers it’s immediately clear that there are not as many hidden gems at the top of the leaderboards in the Junior Circuit, as least when it comes to the last four weeks of production.  Most of the top names are just that — top names — as the three most valuable AL players over that time period in terms of 5×5 fantasy production are Salvador Perez, Vlad Guerrero, and Jose Ramirez. There is no one in the top 20 who isn’t at the 50% owned threshold or higher; the first ‘deep league’ type player is D.J. Peters, who’s just 9% owned in CBS leagues, at #21 (and whom we just talked about a few weeks ago).  Since I’m looking for guys at the 10% owned level or less for the purposes of this exercise, we’ll drop down a little further, and see if we find anyone that might be of interest to those of us in deep or deep-ish leagues, either to close out the last two weeks of the season or as someone to keep an eye on heading into next year.  Spoiler alert: don’t get your hopes up too high.

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Happy mid-September, friends!  The excitement that was in the air this spring as we headed into a full year of baseball after 2020’s bizarre mini-season feels like it happened a lifetime ago; we’re at that point of the year where it’s just about impossible to care about your fantasy baseball teams if they’re stuck at or near the bottom of the standings.  Congratulations to everyone who is still in the thick of things with something to play for as we enter the home stretch, and let’s do what we like to do here — this week we’ll stick to the National League, as we look at a few NL hitters of varying ownership levels that may be of interest to those in deep — or maybe even slightly shallower — leagues.

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Here we are with less than a month left of the regular MLB season, and when it comes to fantasy teams, if yours isn’t in the thick of a pennant race it can get a bit difficult to focus on the task at hand.  As I’ve mentioned before, though, I like to take this time of year to pay a little extra attention to under the radar players who are performing well, both in case they can help me close out the season, and to take an early look at who might be undervalued next year.  This week we’ll look at stats from the past 14 days to see which players (hitters, for this week) have provided the most standard 5×5 fantasy help while staying the least owned, and those numbers will lead us to two outfielders who’ve been outperforming most of the competition recently, without too many fantasy owners even noticing.  It’s interesting to see not just from a deep-league perspective, in my opinion, but also as a reminder that even in shallower and standard leagues, you never know what you might find on the waiver wire if you look in the right place and get a little lucky.

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It’s a new week, but the theme remains the same. As we wait to turn the calendar page to September, the free agent pool in your average deep league remains weak, to say the least. I think this weekend was the first time all season where I didn’t even make a single bid in our weekly FAAB bidding in either my deepest AL-only or NL-only league. Part of that is because, unlike the last few seasons, I’m not in a situation in either league where a point or two in a given category might make a difference for me in the final standings. But for those that do find themselves in such a situation as we head into the last month of baseball in 2021, let’s take a look at some players, all 5% owned or less in CBS leagues, that might be of interest to those in AL-only, NL-only, or other deep leagues.

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I feel like we’re in that extra dreadful part of the deep-league FAAB season: the real-life and (in most leagues) fantasy trade deadlines have passed, any player who might be slightly serviceable has been picked off the waiver wire, and folks who have any remaining FAAB money or waiver claims just need to hope that someone interesting comes along once MLB rosters expand. At this time of year, some leagues are as active as cutthroat as ever as owners scramble to do whatever they can to gain that extra point or two that might make a difference in the final standings.  In other leagues, though, I’m seeing lots of completely checked-out owners.  The beginning of football season will only exacerbate the situation, so why not take advantage of it?  Even if you’re buried in the standings, this last chunk of the baseball season is no time to tune out completely.  It’s never too early reflect on what went right and wrong this year, and it’s also a great time to pay attention to what’s happening now  — while other fantasy players are ignoring baseball altogether, why not start making notes on players and situations that may factor into your draft prep for 2022?  While I’m still in a daily battle to make the right decisions in a few leagues where the money spots will come down to the final days (if not hours) of the year, I’m simultaneously already thinking about next season. And this week, we’ll switch it up a bit:  instead of concentrating on a handful of guys at the very bottom of the waiver wire barrel, we’ll expand our horizons slightly by looking at one player in each league who’s closer to the 20% owned threshold.

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The season grinds on, and if your teams look like most of mine, the injury situation keeps getting worse before it gets better.  Here’s to hoping you are still in the thick of things in at least one deep league; let’s do our RITD thing and look at some names that may be of interest to those of us in NL-only, AL-only, and other deep leagues.

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Last week, we looked exclusively at American League players, so for this week’s installment we’ll keep things entirely in the NL.  As usual, there may not be a ton of talent hanging around most deep league waiver wires at this point in the season, but no reason not to keep digging for hidden production (or at least help with a few counting stats), so let’s take a look at some names that might be on the radar for those of us in NL-only or other particularly deep leagues.

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Happy August!  The trade deadline has come and gone, and there’s eight weeks of baseball left.  Hopefully if you’re reading this, you’re still in the thick of things in a deep league or two, so let’s do what we like to do here and take a look at some players that may be available and/or of interest to those of us in particularly deep leagues.  Since I realized most of the players I thought I’d mention are in the AL, we’re gonna go ahead and make it a theme, keeping it strictly in the junior circuit for this week.

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How did it get to be the last week of July??  There’s still not been much interesting trade movement as I write this, save Adam Frazier’s arrival in San Diego (which unfortunately is really only interesting in terms of trying to figure out which Padres I own will be losing playing time).  As I continue to try to bolster my teams for the final two months of the season, I am once again looking at a barren waiver wire that seems unlikely to contain a hidden gem.  I think this weekend might have been the slowest of the year in terms of FAAB pick ups in my AL and NL-only leagues, but there’s always someone to take a chance on when you’re desperate in a deep league… so let’s once again check out a few names that could be of potential interest in the deep league world.

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Greetings!  The second half of July is often one of the most exciting times of the year In my NL and AL only leagues, as we all wait for the trade deadline hoping for someone new and exciting to come into the league to spend our FAAB dollars on.  Not much exciting is happening yet, though, and once again I find myself staring at a barren waiver wire as I look to reinforce my teams.  For now, here’s another small handful of names who might pique the interest of those of us in NL only, AL only, and other deep leagues.

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Happy All Star Break!  As far as I’m concerned, it’s time to rest our brains for a bit and take a moment to just be thankful for the good things the first half(fish) of 2021 provided for our deep league fantasy baseball teams.  I missed out on plenty of deep league hidden gems this year, but I’m grateful for the ones I got. So, here’s my personal, deep league, offensive All Star team: hitters that I drafted on at least one team and have been on my roster ever since — providing more production, in some cases, than even I was realistically hoping for.  While a few of these guys are now mainstays in even the shallowest leagues, all were true deep leaguers on draft day, being selected outside the top 500 ADP per NFBC when the season began.

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“Three sheets to the wind” means drunk, referencing a sailing term I believe, so don’t ask me what it has to do with fantasy baseball.  I guess you could say I wished I was drunk this weekend when perusing the stats my fantasy relief pitchers left me… Hector Neris, 6 earned runs?  Really?  Just another snapshot of how difficult the deep league journey can be… of course I would never have had Neris in an active lineup in a “normal” league at this point, but was forced to play him in my deepest NL only league this week because I had basically no alternative until I could grab someone in our weekly FAAB bidding Sunday.  Anyhow, let’s stop focusing on the negative and look forward:  time for this week’s list of players that might be of interest to those of us in AL-only, NL-only, and other particularly deep leagues.

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