Adrian Gonzalez (ESPN: 4.3%, Yahoo: 3%):

Gonzalez is now 35 years old and closing in on 36. To most people, he’s an afterthought. A shadow of his former self. And so far this year Gonzalez is making people who think that feel validated, slashing an uninspiring .233/.318/.384,. But what if I told you his playing career wasn’t dead just yet? His underlying statistics this year give room for some hope. His xBA is at .278 and his xSLG is .529 which are roughly equivalent to his 2007 season where he hit .282 with 30 home runs and 100 RBIs. The biggest change in his profile is quality of contact as his hard-hit rate is at 42.4% up 11% from last year. This is likely caused by a 10.2% barrel rate that surpasses his paltry 3.6% mark from last year and even his 2015 rate of 8.5%. Investment in Gonzalez doesn’t come risk-free. He’s had injury issues, and there is a chance that he stays a pumpkin for the rest of his career but he has immense upside if he can recapture his old form. And compared to players at his position with similar ownership (Luis Valbuena, Chase Headley, and other bad options), he’s worth the risk.

Jung Ho Kang (ESPN: 0.6%, Yahoo: 2%):

It’s a good thing that being a bad person doesn’t matter in fantasy baseball. Over the course of his 31 years, Kang has been charged with sexual assault and 3 DUIs. The latter of the two issues prevented Kang from playing at all in the 2017 season. If you can put that aside though (and apparently the Pittsburgh Pirates can), you also have yourself a pretty good baseball player. It’s yet to be seen when the Pirates bring him back to the major leagues but he’s been granted his visa and arrived at the Pirates spring training facility to shake off a year’s worth of rust. It’s yet to be seen whether or not he’s the same player when he gets back, but this is a guy who recorded a better wRC+ than both Justin Turner and Nolan Arenado in 2016. Kang is someone worth monitoring in all leagues.

Alcides Escobar (ESPN: 1.1%, Yahoo: 2%):

Throughout the course of his career, Alcides Escobar has been a mediocre offensive player at best. He’s been good for a 71 wRC+ since he broke into the league in 2008 and has actually hit worse this year with a slash of .223/.288/.339. That’s good for a 67 wRC+. Under the hood though, Escobar seems bound for some improvement. Sporting a 6.3% walk rate and 9.5% strikeout rate, he’s performing far better than his career norms (4% and 13.5% respectively) and the benefits should show when his BABIP rises from .238 to around his career norm of .295. Statcast has Escobar pegged for a .269 xBA and .424 xSLG due to the fact that he’s making better contact with the ball. His barrel rate is up about 2% and his hard contact rate is up about 3%. Both small, but helpful improvements. Escobar isn’t going to blow anyone away but in a deep league, he could be of use to those in need of a shortstop. He’ll likely have a decent average the rest of the year, with a below average OBP, decent counting stats (60-70 runs, 55-60 RBIs) and modest power (10-12 HR if you’re lucky). Comparing that to other players available in his ownership range (Jose Reyes, Dixon Machado, etc…), he could be worth a gamble.