AL FAAB Factor: Waiver Pickups of the Week

This is our weekly look at American League free agents. We have two goals for this article:

1. Identify likely free agents and discuss their strengths and weaknesses.

2. Estimate how much of your $100 starting free-agent budget you should bid on them.

We've incorporated grids into the FAAB articles, so users can easily see at a glance how certain players stack up against others and how much they should command in a variety of formats.

The grids, which are sortable by column (click on the header), include a very basic "player grade" column. This serves as a reflection of a player's skills and role on an A-E scale. Shohei Ohtani would have been an "A" grade player last year – that mark will be reserved for similarly high-impact prospects stepping into an everyday role.

As always, if there is a player that was not discussed in the article that you would like to know about, feel free to ask about the player in the comments.

AL FAAB | NL FAAB

Starting Pitcher

Brendan McKay, Rays: Let's be clear here. McKay isn't a two-way player the way Shohei Ohtani is. The Tampa prospect slashed .205/.313/.331 in the high minors this year before his promotion, although his power numbers improved substantially once he moved up to Triple-A and got a chance to hit the rabbit ball (four homers in 15 games). In the NL, that would qualify as "good for a pitcher", but in the AL it's not "force your way into the DH picture on your off days" good. If you're targeting McKay, you're doing it for his arm, not his bat, but that arm looked pretty fantastic after he one-hit the Rangers over six scoreless innings in his debut. The southpaw doesn't have exceptional stuff, typically working in the low 90s with his fastball and mixing in three off-speed pitches including a plus curve, but his smooth mechanics and natural feel for pitching give him an ultra-consistent arm slot and make him a possible tunneling poster boy, with all his offerings coming down the same path for fifty feet or so. At first blush, the comp might be a left-handed Mike Soroka, a pitcher who is much more than the sum of his parts. Given how little McKay has actually pitched since he was drafted in 2017 – 20 innings in the NY-Penn League that year, then 78.1 IP in the low minors last season – the biggest concern might be his workload and whether he'll fade in the second half as a result, but the Rays are uniquely positioned to give him rest in a variety of ways beyond just shutting him down when he reaches an arbitrary innings cap. 12-team Mixed: $9; 15-team Mixed: $19; 12-team AL: $41

Daniel Mengden, Athletics: Mengden appears to be Oakland's choice to replace Frankie Montas for now, and the 26-year-old right-hander did a credible Montas impression in his return to the rotation Wednesday, striking out five over six scoreless innings. This could be a short-term assignment with Jesus Luzardo inching closer to his debut, but Tanner Anderson could just as easily get the boot when Luzardo is ready. Mengden's arsenal isn't anything special, but he does line up for a two-start week (vs. MIN, at SEA) before the All-Star break, so he has some streaming appeal even in shallower formats. 12-team Mixed: No; 15-team Mixed: $1; 12-team AL: $4

Sean Reid-Foley, Blue Jays: The Jays finally have some younger reinforcements coming to join a battered rotation that will probably only get thinner at the trade deadline. Reid-Foley might end up being the least of them in the long run (Julian Merryweather likely has more raw talent and T.J. Zeuch more polish), but the right-hander is the only one in the majors right now. SRF works around 93 mph with his fastball and has a sharp slider/curve combo, but his command isn't big-league caliber yet, leaving him susceptible to both walks and hard hits when he leaves something over the plate. He looked OK against the Royals on Friday and will likely have a long leash – who else does Toronto have? – but the second-half results could be very erratic. 12-team Mixed: No; 15-team Mixed: No; 12-team AL: $3

Gregory Soto, Tigers: Soto is in the Tigers' rotation on an emergency basis with Spencer Turnbull on the shelf, and the left-hander wasn't particularly effective against the Nats on Saturday. The 24-year-old has a potentially plus fastball, but his control holds him back and his ascent from High-A this year was due more to necessity than him dominating at any level. 12-team Mixed: No; 15-team Mixed: No; 12-team AL: $1

Lewis Thorpe, Twins: The Australian southpaw has had his minor-league career slowed by injuries, but he'll make his MLB debut Sunday against the White Sox after putting together a solid run at Triple-A, posting a 3.86 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and 50:10 K:BB over his last 39.2 innings and eight starts for Rochester. Thorpe's selling points are a mid-90s fastball and a deceptive delivery, but his breaking pitches are average and he lacks a true strikeout pitch despite his impressive K-rates in the minors. He's just up to give the rest of the Twins rotation a rest and could be demoted right after his start, but if he looks good he'll put himself in position to be the guy who gets the call if an injury hits in the second half. 12-team Mixed: No; 15-team Mixed: No; 12-team AL: $2

Other two-start options, Mon-Sun (12-team Mixed: $1; 15-team Mixed: $1; 12-team AL: $1)

Dylan Bundy, Orioles (at TB, at TOR)

Griffin Canning, Angels (at TEX, at HOU)

Jakob Junis, Royals (vs. CLE, at WAS)

Ariel Jurado, Rangers (vs. LAA, at MIN)

Reynaldo Lopez, White Sox (vs. DET, vs. CHC)

Clayton Richard, Blue Jays (vs. KC, vs. BAL)

Glenn Sparkman, Royals (at TOR, at WAS)

Trent Thornton, Blue Jays (vs. KC, vs. BAL)

Relief Pitcher

Austin Adams, Mariners: Adams has emerged as one of the top bullpen options in Seattle, riding his 96 mph fastball to an eye-popping 15.3 K/9 over 22.1 innings. Given the turmoil the team has had in the ninth inning it's natural to wonder if he'll get a chance to close, but so far the M's have been content to use the 28-year-old as a setup man (eight holds in 20 appearances) and as an occasional opener. Consider him only as high-K ratio ballast for now, but the potential is there for Adams to work his way into a more productive role for fantasy purposes. 12-team Mixed: No; 15-team Mixed: No; 12-team AL: $3

Aaron Bummer, White Sox: If you're in 'stashing possible second-half closers' mode, Bummer has earned a long look. The 25-year-old lefty has stumbled a bit recently, getting scored upon in half of his last eight appearances, but on the year he still has a 1.95 ERA, 0.94 WHIP and 28:9 K:BB through 27.2 innings. Bummer has seen his average fastball velocity jump to 95.4 mph this year – more than two ticks better than 2018 – and his slider occasionally flashes plus, so he's got a late-inning arsenal, and manager Rick Renteria has been talking him up as a potential saves option down the road. The White Sox are notorious for flipping veteran relievers at the trade deadline, so despite his success this year, Alex Colome could easy be peddled to a contender after the All-Star break. 12-team Mixed: No; 15-team Mixed: $1; 12-team AL: $4

Jose Alvarado, Rays: The southpaw missed nearly a month of action to be with his ailing mother back home in Venezuela, and it's fair to wonder if the stress of the situation was affecting his performance even before he left. Alvarado is still the Rays' most talented bullpen arm from a pure stuff perspective, and his 3.33 ERA and 1.44 WHIP on the year could improve rapidly if he's able to keep his focus. That may or may not result in saves, of course – you never can tell how Tampa is going to deploy its pitchers – but with Diego Castillo currently on the shelf, Alvarado has another opportunity to seize the closer role for himself. 12-team Mixed: No; 15-team Mixed: $3; 12-team AL: $7

First Base

Jared Walsh, Angels: Walsh is basically Ohtani's stunt double, working primarily as a hitter and slashing .310/.419/.586 at Triple-A Salt Lake this year but also seeing occasional action out of the bullpen – he's tossed seven mediocre innings of relief for Salt Lake this year, and two more for the Angels in an earlier stint in the majors. He was a two-way player back in college, so this isn't a recent conversion, but Walsh will only fill a depth role either way. 12-team Mixed: No; 15-team Mixed: No; 12-team AL: $1

Shortstop

Yu Chang, Cleveland: Chang is up to give Cleveland some infield depth while Jose Ramirez is on the paternity list. The 23-year-old was slashing .205/.259/.359 through 21 games for Triple-A Columbus before his promotion, so the team may not even notice JRam is gone. (Yes, I have Ramirez shares, so I'm allowed to be snarky). 12-team Mixed: No; 15-team Mixed: No; 12-team AL: $1

Andrelton Simmons, Angels: Out since May 20 due to an ankle injury, Simmons returned from the IL on Thursday and collected a hit in each of his first two games back. The 29-year-old is slashing .297/.322/.410 on the year, right in line with his numbers since his breakout 2017, and he should return to being a useful middle-infield asset in the second half. 12-team Mixed: $3; 15-team Mixed: $7; 12-team AL: $15

Outfield

Brett Gardner, Yankees: Giancarlo Stanton is back on his bul... I mean, back on the IL, and Clint Frazier is still in Triple-A, so Gardner once again is back in the starting nine for the Yankees. The veteran is slashing only .213/.298/.413 in June, but regular playing time in that lineup is going to create fantasy value for Gardner despite himself. 12-team Mixed: $2; 15-team Mixed: $5; 12-team AL: Owned

Jon Jay, White Sox: Jay missed the first 12-ish weeks of the season with hip and groin issues, but the 34-year-old returns just in time to fall into a starting job with Tim Anderson out and Leury Garcia needed at shortstop. Jay's had a nice start, going 6-for-16 with two doubles and four RBI in his first five games, but his fantasy profile is a guy who won't hurt you in deeper leagues and will hit for a decent batting average, but he doesn't offer enough power or speed to make an impact in shallower mixed formats. 12-team Mixed: No; 15-team Mixed: $1; 12-team AL: $4

Daniel Palka, White Sox: Yordan Alonso has been kicked to the curb, leaving the DH spot wide open in Chicago. Palka likely isn't a long-term solution – Zack Collins, profiled last week, might be the better bet – but the 27-year-old outfielder will get the first look based on his 27 homers as a rookie last year. Palka's been awful in the majors in 2019 (like, 1-for-39 awful) but he was supplying his usual numbers at Triple-A before his most recent promotion and he might be able to find a groove as a low-BA power source with regular at-bats. 12-team Mixed: No; 15-team Mixed: $2; 12-team AL: $5

Mike Tauchman, Yankees: Tauchman is back to give the Yankees outfield depth while Stanton is out, again. He's putting together a solid Triple-A campaign that includes a 16:16 BB:K in 28 games, but there isn't really a path to consistent playing time for him in the Bronx. 12-team Mixed: No; 15-team Mixed: No; 12-team AL: $1

Mac Williamson, Mariners: With Mitch Haniger out, Williamson has been getting more playing time than expected and not embarrassing himself with it, slashing .244/.346/.378 over his last 13 games with a couple of homers and six RBI. The 28-year-old fits best on the short side of a platoon, but the M's don't have that luxury right now, which means Williamson could pick up some counting stats until Haniger returns. 12-team Mixed: No; 15-team Mixed: No; 12-team AL: $3

Designated Hitter

Jose Rondon, White Sox: I've cut Rondon from the column at the last minute a couple of times over the last month, as his combination of erratic playing time and lackluster production had him hovering on the edge of deep-league viability, but with Anderson on the IL and Alonso gone, his outlook for at-bats looks a little brighter. While he's listed at DH in our database due to his 2018 eligibility, Rondon's a utility man by trade, playing at least nine games this season at second base, third base and shortstop, and chipping in a couple in left field for good measure. He's also stuck in an 0-for-14 rut at the plate but slashed .259/.333/.259 in the 10 games before that. His versatility is his biggest asset, but at different times in the minors he's flashed some power and speed, so the 25-year-old could surprise if he finds himself in the White Sox lineup on a consistent basis. 12-team Mixed: No; 15-team Mixed: No; 12-team AL: $1