Alex Presley & Darin Mastroianni: Deep League Wire

We’re going real deep this week in an exciting all Twins outfield edition of the deep league waiver wire. My apologies to NL-Only league owners, these guys will be incapable of helping you.

Alex Presley | MIN OF | 1% Owned

If you peek at previous articles mentioning Presley, you will notice that I made this very same recommendation last summer as well. Clearly I’m a fan of his. The trade of Justin Morneau brought the Twins the 28-year-old outfielder, who is expected to act as the team’s every day center fielder over the rest of the season. Although he hits from the left side of the plate, he will not be platooned. He has also hit lead off in all three of his games with the Twinkies.

Presley is one of those offensive players who does a little bit of everything decently, but possesses no standout skill. He has some power, with a career ISO of .157 and a 600 at-bat pace of 14 home runs. He also has above average speed, having stolen at a 17 base pace over that rate of at bats. Although he has made fairly good contact in the minors and shown some solid walk rates, those skills have taken a dive at the MLB level. But with playing time seemingly locked in and a potentially respectable combination of power and speed, he needs to be owned in all deep leagues.

Darin Mastroianni | MIN OF | 2% Owned

After missing the majority of the season due to an ankle injury, Mastroianni is finally back and has been starting in left field. The playing time here is much less guaranteed than Presley’s is, but he has the ones strong skill that could make him valuable. In just 214 plate appearances, he has stolen 23 bases — getting caught just 4 times — with the Twins and has always been a good base stealer in the minors. Unfortunately, returning from ankle surgery means that his speed is now a question mark. And if he’s not running, than he’s worthless for fantasy owners.

Like Presley, Mastroianni’s solid strikeout and walk rates in the minors have not completely translated. If he managed to improve upon those marks, he would actually make for a pretty capable lead-off hitter. He brings limited power to the table as his career high ISO sits at just .122. If both Presley and Mastroianni are available, opt for the former. But Mastroianni’s speed pre-ankle injury makes him worth gambling on if you’re desperate for stolen bases.