They’re in rebuilding mode but the Marlins system is pretty weak. They haven’t drafted all that well in recent years, have seen a rash of injuries throughout their system and didn’t get much in return when trading their assets (The return for Giancarlo Stanton was embarrassing).

Click here for the pre-season Top 10

1. Sandy Alcantara | RHP | AAA —> The first of many flamethrowers on this list, Alcantara can work in the upper-90s with his fastball while flashing two average-or-better secondary offerings with his slider and changeup. He also has a great pitcher’s frame, which suggests he might grow into the ability to pitch 200+ innings. Alcantara biggest need is to improve his consistency and command. He has No. 2/3 starter upside if he continues developing along his current path.

2. Trevor Rogers | LHP | A —> A Tommy John survivor, the Marlins 2017 first-round pick made his pro debut in 2018 in low-A ball and looked good. He has a huge frame and should be capable of pitching lots of innings if his elbow holds up. He has a low-90s fastball with his slider being his next best offering. He has a four-pitch mix but both the curveball and changeup need work. Rogers did a nice job keeping the ball in the park during his debut and induced a lot of ground-ball outs.

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With a 15.4 percent swinging strike rate, 32.6 percent strikeout rate, 5.3 percent walk rate and 24.1 percent soft contact rate, Trevor May has been doing just about everything you would want to see from a closer. Yet Paul Molitor has been faithfully sticking with Trevor Hildenberger as his closer in recent weeks, even with the latter Trevor posting a 5.74 ERA since the Twins traded Fernando Rodney to the Athletics.
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The waiver wire bears plentiful fruit this late-September day. Check out Waiver Wars for targets.

AGENDA

1. TDG Invitational
2. Weather Reports
3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse
4. SaberSim Says…
5. Intense Pillow Fight
6. Bonus

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The Roto Riteup salutes you, Adrian Beltre!

In possibly his last home game, Adrián Beltré gets a standing ovation from the @Rangers faithful. pic.twitter.com/k7fEYbAxSb

— MLB (@MLB) September 23, 2018

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9/24/18

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is brought to you by Out of the Park Baseball 19, the best baseball strategy game ever made – available NOW on PC, Mac, and Linux platforms! Go to ootpdevelopments.com to order now and save 10% with the code SLEEPER19!

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• @sporer – Host
• @pitcherlist – Co-Host/Producer

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Nick and Paul run through some gems to consider streaming and some established arms to possibly re-consider this week.

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9/23/18

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is brought to you by Out of the Park Baseball 19, the best baseball strategy game ever made – available NOW on PC, Mac, and Linux platforms! Go to ootpdevelopments.com to order now and save 10% with the code SLEEPER19!

Follow us on Twitter

• @justinmasonfwfb – Producer/Co-Host
• @jasoncollette – Co-Host

GET THE SLEEPER & THE BUST T-SHIRT FROM ROTOWEAR!

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Robert Gsellman allowed one run on two hits in the ninth inning Friday night against Washington but held on to pick up his twelfth save of the season. Mickey Callaway and the Mets are still running a firm committee as Paul Sewald earned the save in Thursday’s series opener against Nationals. Stay out of this pen unless you are desperate for every last save.

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Trying to estimate how much who FAAB bidding will go has been a humbling experience. While I’ll likely to break down the entire process during the offseason, it’s just one more bidding cycle. The only requirement this week is “spend it if you got it”. The dollars aren’t rolling over to next season.

My model was off for the past week as owners began taking my advice a week early. The number of bids jumped from the previous week (562 to 568) with the average bid just dropping from $6.7 to $6.5. My model projected a spending drop which effectively did not happen.

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Although most of the focus within this column caters to the saves chasers, with just over a week remaining in the season, teams will need to protect ratios as well. Owners of Josh Hader realize this through the value he provides in strikeouts and his ERA which dropped below two last night along with his 0.74 WHIP in 77 innings this season. Hader’s been a heater but his consecutive strikeout streak ended on Friday when Colin Moran lifted a pop fly to left field caught by Christian Yelich. However, Hader recorded 16 straight outs via strikeout over five outings to set a major league record. He also set a record for all southpaw relievers for strikeouts in a season with 136 so far with a chance to add to this in Milwaukee’s last eight contests. In September, Hader’s registered a strikeout minus walk percentage of 60, produced a 24.2 swinging strike percentage and allowed only 54.4 contact through 10 innings with a ridiculous 23:2 K:BB with a 0.50 WHIP. A different southpaw remains on the waiver wire in many leagues due to his lack of saves production, but Taylor Rogers extended his scoreless streak to 23.1 innings in Oakland last night. Since July 30th, spanning 25 games, Rogers has faced 80 hitters giving up only nine hits and three walks with 27 strikeouts. Yes, saves matter, but so do southpaws like these two who can ratio erasers to preserve spots in the standings. Read the rest of this entry »

Many decent arms, even for bad teams, throw on Saturday. While there are usually quite a few pitchers under 20% owned to examine, I pushed the threshold up to 43% and still only have eight pitchers. It’s not pretty out there.

Jose Urena (43%) vs Reds

There is a reason Urena is the most owned of this group, he’s better than the rest. He’s been a steaming option all season with a 7.0 K/9 and 4.21 ERA with estimators to match. The Reds lineup is not intimidating especially since the game is in Miami with the spacious ballpark. Stream away.

Jaime Barria (37%) at Astros

The Astros are starting Verlander, so the Win is already in doubt. Like Urena, Barria has been a streamable option all season with similar stats (6.8 K/9, 3.61 ERA). The difference here is the opponent.

Astros > Reds

Even with the bad matchup, Barria is not a horrible streaming option compared to some of the other arms.

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