By now you’ve seen the play and heard the news; Buster Posey will miss significant time after tearing ligaments and breaking his leg in a collision at the plate last night. Despite a subpar start to the season (just a .341 wOBA), Posey was still one of fantasy’s top backstops and will be tough to replace. Here’s a few guys lying on the waiver wire that can help fill the void…
The Diamondbacks stated the season with an odd three-man platoon at first base, using Xavier Nady against lefties and both Juan Miranda and Russell Branyan against righties. Branyan’s .285 wOBA in 69 PA resulted in him getting his pink slip over the weekend, leaving the job to the other two guys while Brandon Allen waits patiently in Triple-A (.406 wOBA in 198 PA). Nady has been pretty bad this year (.310 wOBA) but Miranda hasn’t. The 28-year-old Cuban defector sports a nice .272/.392/.494 (.386 wOBA) batting line with three homers in 98 PA for the D’Backs this year.
Jonathan Broxton was a question mark coming into the season following his second half struggles in 2010, but the Dodgers had backup options in place in case he was unable to regain his past effectiveness. Hong-Chih Kuo had been one of the best relievers in all of baseball over the last few seasons, and the Dodgers also had the flamethrowing Kenley Jansen at their disposal. Vicente Padilla would also be in the mix once he recovered from offseason elbow surgery. Less than two months into the season, it’s all fallen apart in Chavez Ravine.
Today’s waiver wire will help solve some of your up-the-middle problems…
It’s Friday afternoon, so let’s look at a pair of former closers coming back from major arm injuries…
I’m not sure about you, but there always seems to be that one player that ends up on my team(s) year after year. Right now that guy is Ryan Raburn, but over the least few years it was Brad Hawpe. That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, Hawpe was a slam dunk .280+ AVG, .380+ OBP, 20+ HR, 80+ RBI guy for nearly half-a-decade, which is pretty good value when you consider that he always seemed to be going later in the draft. He betrayed my fantasy loyalty in 2010 though, hitting just .245/.338/.419 (.330 wOBA) in 346 PA with the Rockies and the Rays, finishing the season on a 60 game schneid that featured a .197/.304/.350 batting line (181 PA). Needless to say, I avoided him on draft day this year like a lover scorned.
Let’s take a look at a pair of NL East lefty relievers that are far more than specialists…
Let’s take a look at a pair of first baseman slowly inching their way towards fantasy relevance, or back to relevance in one case…
Your Monday morning waiver wire features a shortstop and a starting pitcher, so let’s dive in…