Six AL-Only Fantasy Baseball Options Worth a Look Right Now

One-league formats are always a challenge. And if you tune out for a week, it’s like a decade because every fifth-string outfielder who might get six or seven steals plays a massive role. But fear not — AL-only skippers looking for an edge, you’ve come to the right place. If you can get over the 10-26 White Sox, below are six AL-only players making some noise that are worth a look ahead of the curve.

Six AL-Only Fantasy Baseball Options

Edgar Quero, C, CHW

Quero’s case is really just an FYI—he’s hitting .333 with a whopping .444 OBP. And yes, the White Sox are 10-26 on the season, limiting his counting stats, but he won’t be this available very long. 

His minor league numbers (.282/.366/.463) with two 70+ BB seasons) also support maintaining this kind of offense, and the other premier White Sox catcher, Kyle Teel, still isn’t crushing it in Triple-A (.257/.354/.389). As a result, Quero looks like he’ll get consistent playing time at a dreamer’s OBP clip. He’s a must add, probably even in mixed leagues. 

Edgar Quero is having a quiet, but amazing start to his MLB-career:

16 G
.340 BA
.446 OBP
.850 SLG
3 2B
1.4 BB/K
8 RBI
9.6% K%
13% Whiff%

He’s been one of the most polished prospects for ages, and never truly got the appreciation he deserves! 💎

pic.twitter.com/TIfBEHaxEG

— LouisAnalysis (@LouisAnalysis) May 4, 2025

Miguel Vargas, 3B/OF, & Brooks Baldwin, UTIL, CHW

I know, more ChiSox. Let alone two slashing 216/.315/.312 & .250/.283/.673. But there’s something to like about both of them. 

I wrote about Vargas just under a week into the season, and what I said hasn’t aged particularly well. But he’s still only 25 years old, less than two years removed from being baseball’s No.37 prospect, and has nearly guaranteed access to everyday playing time with third-base and outfield eligibility. Now, consider that he’s slashing .321/.419/.472 over his last 15 with two bombs. Tack on some stolen base potential on a team that should be inclined to run more down the stretch, and he’s a half-decent AL-only flier.  

Baldwin (3 HRs, 15 RBIs, 2 steals vs. 2 HR, 12 RBIs, 1 steal) is a similar pick and has even more positional eligibility (23 OF, 10 SS, 9 2B, 1 3B games by position this year). He has less of a ceiling than Vargas, but for right now, he’s an equally, if not more, attractive option for skippers looking for upside pieces in deep AL-only. Besides, he’s slashing .261/.320/.413 with a homer and a steal over his last 15, meaning he’s riding a hot streak for managers who only get to pick from half of baseball. 

Shay Whitcomb, UTIL, HOU (AAA)

Shay Whitcomb has turned his bat around in Triple-A (.255/.349/.574 in April and .294/.368/.574 in May after a rough start with 7 HR) and looks primed to join the Astros roster really soon. He slots in all over the diamond (103 2B, 101 3B, 15 1B, 210 SS, 18 LF, 8 RF over his minor league career) and offers managers a solid power-speed combination (23/30 over 99 games in ‘21, 19/20 in ‘22, 35/20 in ‘23, and 25/26 over 108 in ‘24) with a few seasons of hitting over .290.

He hasn’t played any second base in the minors this year, but he saw 16.0 innings at 2B and 88.0 innings at 3B during his first stint in the majors at the end of last year. And with the collective -3.5 in batting projection on Fangraphs the Astors are getting at second base from Brendan Rogers and Mauricio Dubon, Whitcomb may very well force the Astros’ hand. Managers should monitor him closely over the next few weeks and be prepared to act. Whitcomb is the kind of impact player that’s perfect for AL-only. 

Shay Whitcomb solo HR for Sugar Land! His 7th HR of the season! #Astros pic.twitter.com/0xklvNlp3V

— Astros Future (@AstrosFuture) May 7, 2025

Luis L. Ortiz, SP, CLE

The encouraging thing for Luis L. Ortiz is that while he posted a 1.11 WHIP and a 3.32 ERA over 135.2 IP last year, the strikeouts (107) just weren’t there. But new year, and suddenly in a small 37.1 sample size, Ortiz has 40 Ks. Nice! However, that comes along with uglier overall numbers (5.30 ERA, 1.42 WHIP, and +16 more points on his average against), which is especially disappointing because Ortiz had that under control in 2024.

But a look through his starts and it’s clear the numbers are slightly inflated because of two awful outings (4.2 IP, 7 ER @ SD on March 31 & 4.1 IP, 4 ER vs. NYY on April 23). Ortiz probably offers the most upside out of any pitcher in his tier because, as opposed to a Sean Burke (who is a close enough match at a 4.35 ERA and 1.32 WHIP but only has 27 Ks in 39.1 IP and pitches for Chicago) the Guardians starter has the stuff to offer hitters an above-average sinker-slider combination and has brought his changeup up by 17 points to league average on Stuff+, a pitch he used 1% of the time last year but now offers to hitters at a 12% clip. 

Ortiz has seen his location drop significantly since last year, but his stuff improves, and the hope has to be that in time, he can remedy the one and build off of clear improvements. Additionally, his past run-prevention should also serve as some reassurance for skippers on the fence. 

Honorable Mention: Jonathan Cannon

Another option here in the place of Ortiz is Jonathan Cannon. The aptly named hurler quietly has an elite fastball-slider combination and boasts a four-seamer on par with Hunter Brown and a slider rated better than Brandon Pfaadt’s. In fact, on Fangraphs by every measure, he’s actually slightly better than league average in both Stuff+ and Location+ despite his 4.26 ERA, 1.45 WHIP, and <9 K/9. 

The 24-year-old righty is thus worth discussing as a shrewd dynasty pick, but on the White So,x he can’t do anything for skippers right now.