It's mid-August, and we realize quite a few fantasy baseball owners are not in a race for the championship at all, but are looking ahead. We'll discuss keepers by position after the season, but for today let's focus on a few hitters who are great options for now and later. And remember, the ESPN trade deadline is next Friday, Aug. 19. ESPN keeper leagues allow five protectables, and these players below, while not top 20 overall players, aren't far.

There's no rule of thumb for who should or should not be kept, but in general I stick with the best hitters, regardless of position. Pitchers change from year to year, even the top ones. Just look at Johan Santana and his relatively high ERA.

Jhonny Peralta, Indians: The other day in the chat I compared Peralta to a young Miguel Tejada, and I could see the collective gasp. A few people wrote in to say thanks for going out on a limb, taking a stand. A few others thought I was nuts. Hey, maybe everyone was right! But if you look at the numbers, as I did more closely after I made the comparison, Peralta might actually be on the same path as Tejada. Both are right-handed hitting shortstops with power. They don't have speed or plate discipline. Tejada's first full season ended with 21 homers, 84 RBI and a .251 average. Since then he's been 30-100 and become an RBI machine. Fellow Dominican Peralta is on pace in this, his rookie year, for 23-76 and .304. The Indians have already recognized his talent, letting Omar Vizquel go last offseason and installing Peralta in the three-spot a few months ago. Next year I see a 30-100 season for Peralta. And while you shouldn't overrate position scarcity too much, he is a shortstop and the numbers are legit.