The All-Star break made things a bit calmer on the waiver wire this week, but that doesn't mean some owners weren't active. Here's a summary of this week's activity:

T.J. Rivera commanded the highest price this week, and for good reason. The 28-year-old has been demolishing the ball as of late, going 16-for-40 (.400) with two home runs over the past 14 games. Rudd is toward the bottom of the league in the batting average standings, so this move could give him a boost to get back into the hunt for the money spots. Rudd also commented that he was ok with paying a fairly high price for Rivera given the dearth of options that will likely be available toward the end of the season, as well as the minimal impact later pickups will make. His thought is that he'd rather spend more of his FAAB budget on players who will make a bigger splash with his team, a sound strategy that could pay off in the end.

Given the relative lack of bidding this week, Freddy Galvis turned out to be the most sought-after player in terms of number of bids. The Phillies' shortstop is hitting just .251 on the season, although he's putting up some of the best power numbers of his career. He's nearly on pace to hit 20 home runs for the second season in a row, and his career-high .172 ISO has him on pace to set new personal bests in extra-base hits and OPS. Tim Heaney nearly added him to his already strong squad, but Mike Rose managed to beat him out for Galvis' services thanks to a higher FAAB priority this week.

Speaking of those two owners, they tied each other for this week's busiest owner award. Heaney, now firmly planted atop the overall leaderboard, grabbed a pair of players with strong performances right before the All-Star break in Homer Bailey (two runs allowed in past 12.2 innings pitched) and Gerardo Parra (7-for-13 with three doubles and five RBI since coming off the DL). Rose, on the other hand, went for Galvis and JC Ramirez, who bounced back nicely in his last start before the break.

Given that little movement was made this past week with only three days of games, let's take a look at an owner who steadily climbed up the standings all season: Todd Zola. He's made only seven free agent pickups and one trade all season, but it's paying off for him, as he's just 6.5 rotisserie points out of the money places in the standings. As much as I talk about each week's FAAB activity, this approach to the season goes to show that sometimes it's important to be choosy with your pickups, or in some cases, the best move is the one you don't make.

No trades went down this past week, but things are still heating up as the race for the top spots continues. If you have any questions on these pickups or have general questions for me, reach out to me on Twitter (@IsaacButtke). Good luck to everyone this week!