With just three days to go, I didn’t focus on any long-term values. It’s all who can help a team this week. My main focus was on ranking the projected starters who are rostered in under 40% of leagues. At some point Sunday afternoon, I will try to go back through and check projected rotations to see if I need to add or remove anyone.

In the article, I cover the players using CBS’s (about 40% or less initial roster rate) and Yahoo’s ADD/DROP rates. Both hosting sites have the option for daily and weekly waiver wire adds. CBS uses a weekly change while Yahoo looks at the last 24 hours. Yahoo is a great snapshot of right now while CBS ensures hot targets from early in the week aren’t missed. The players are ordered for redraft leagues by my rest-of-season preference grouped by starters, relievers, and hitters. Read the rest of this entry »

American League

Angels

• Catcher-qualified Matt Thaiss (.614 OPS, 2 HR) has started in six of the last 10 games.

• Livan Soto (.333/.357/.513, 1 HR, 1 SB) has started in 11 of the last 12 games. He had 18 SB in AAA.

Astros

• No changes.

Athletics

• No one is rosterable.

Blue Jays

• Whit Merrifield (.718 OPS, 4 HR, 1 SB with Toronto) has started nine straight games.

• Raimel Tapia (.263/.287/.383, 7 HR, 8 SB) has started in 12 of the last 13 games.

Guardians

• Gabriel Arias (.716 OPS in AAA, .589 OPS in the majors) has started in five straight games.

• Will Brennan (.333/.400/.333, 2 SB) only faces righties.

Mariners

• Jarred Kelenic has started eight straight and has a 1.000 OPS with 3 HR since being recalled.

• Dylan Moore (6 HR, 21 SB, .744 OPS) has started four straight games (seven out of 10).

Orioles

• Nothing different.

Rangers

• No noticeable changes.

Rays

• In a weird sort of way, they have more regulars than guys sharing roles.

• Manuel Margot (.700 OPS, 3 HR, 7 SB) has started 10 straight games.

Red Sox

• Triston Casas (.843 OPS, 5 HR) has started 10 straight at first base.

Royals

• Edward Olivares (.786 Sep OPS) has started in 11 of the last 12 games.

• Nate Eaton (11 SB in 111 PA) has started in eight of the last 10 games.

Tigers

• Akil Baddoo (.229/.339/.396, 1 HR, 2 SB in September) has leadoff for the last two games.

Twins

• Ryan Jeffers (.218/.295/.381, 7 HR) has started two of three games since coming off the IL.

• Jake Cave (.653 OPS, 5 HR) has eight straight starts.

White Sox

• No noticeable change for this geriatric squad.

Yankees

• DJ LeMahieu is back so the infield will be back to cycling a player to the bench every game.

• Harrison Bader (.476 OPS with the Yankees) has started in eight of 10 games since returning from the IL.

National League

Braves

• Since September 9th, Vaughn Grissom is hitting .163/.250/.163 with a 29% K%. Because of those struggles, Orlando Arcia has started instead over the last three games.

Brewers

• Willy Adames, Hunter Renfroe, and Christian Yelich are the only guys not in some form of a timeshare.

Cardinals

• Albert Pujols is now back to only starting against lefties.

• Four outfielders (Yepez, Dickerson, Carlson, and Nootbar) are splitting time.

Cubs

• Such a hodgepodge of playing time and roles. It seems like whoever was in charge of the Rockies lineup decisions is now in charge of the Cubs.

Diamondbacks

• Pavin Smith (.218/.297/.371, 9 HR in 259 PA) is off the IL and has started four straight as the DH.

• Josh Rojas (20 SB) has made four straight starts (vs one LHP) with Emmanuel Rivera (.343 OPS over the last two weeks) heading to the bench.

Dodgers

• Steady.

Giants

• Brandon Crawford and Mike Yastrzemski are the only two regulars.

Marlins

• Jon Berti (38 SB) has leadoff for 10 straight games.

• A Jordan Groshans has started in nine of the last 10 games.

Mets

• No major changes.

Nationals

• CJ Abrams (5 SB) has hit second in the last three games.

Padres

• José Azocar (.641 OPS, 5 SB, 6 CS) has started in 11 of the last 12 games.

• Josh Bell (.573 OPS with the Padres) has only started in five of the last 10 games.

Phillies

• Nick Castellanos (.710 OPS) has started two of three games and hit sixth since returning from the IL.

Pirates

• Miguel Andújar (.574 OPS, 1 HR, 4 SB) has started three straight games, hit third or fifth, and played in leftfield since joining the Pirates.

• Ji Hwan Bae (.703 OPS, 2 SB) has started in five of the last six games.

• Cal Mitchell (.620 OPS, 5 HR, 3 SB in 224 PA) has started in eight of the last 10 games.

• Catcher qualified Zack Collins (.155/.231/.320, 4 HR) has started in seven of the last 10 games, six times at the first baseman.

Reds

• Jake Fraley isn’t even starting against all righties (two starts in the last five games).

• Stuart Fairchild (.803 OPS, 5 HR in 82 PA) has started in five of the last six games.

• Matt Reynolds (.665 OPS, 3 HR, 5 SB) has started in six of the last seven games.

Rockies

• Top prospect, Ezequiel Tovar, has started at short in five of the last six games.

• Alan Trejo (.770 OPS) has started in nine of the last ten games at second, third, and short.

• Sean Bouchard (.288/.472/.423, 2 HR) has started eight straight.

While the NFBC Main Event garners most of the attention, there are a handful of leagues with even a larger entry fee ($2.5K to $15K). They get originally named “High Stakes Leagues” and this year there are nine of them. With so much money on the line, these fantasy managers are going to try to gain any advantage. Most of the time, these managers will be a week or two ahead of everyone else on their adds. Here are the players and some information on the ones added in five or more of these leagues: Read the rest of this entry »

7:45	Jeff Zimmerman:

Read the rest of this entry »

In the article, I cover the players using CBS’s (about 40% or less initial roster rate) and Yahoo’s ADD/DROP rates. Both hosting sites have the option for daily and weekly waiver wire adds. CBS uses a weekly change while Yahoo looks at the last 24 hours. Yahoo is a great snapshot of right now while CBS ensures hot targets from early in the week aren’t missed. The players are ordered for redraft leagues by my rest-of-season preference grouped by starters, relievers, and hitters. Read the rest of this entry »

American League

Angels

• Catcher-qualified Matt Thaiss (.213/.296/.340, 2 HR) has started in six of the last 10 games.

• Matt Duffy (.630 OPS, 2 HR) has started in 12 of the last 13 games.

• The 22-year-old Livan Soto (6 HR, 18 SB, .281 AVG in AAA) has started in four of the last five games at short. Read the rest of this entry »

While the NFBC Main Event garners most of the attention, there are a handful of leagues with even a larger entry fee ($2.5K to $15K). They get originally named “High Stakes Leagues” and this year there are nine of them. With so much money on the line, these fantasy managers are going to try to gain any advantage. Most of the time, these managers will be a week or two ahead of everyone else on their adds. Here are the players and some information on the ones added in five or more of these leagues: Read the rest of this entry »

7:31	Jeff Zimmerman:

Read the rest of this entry »

In the article, I cover the players using CBS’s (about 40% or less initial roster rate) and Yahoo’s ADD/DROP rates. Both hosting sites have the option for daily and weekly waiver wire adds. CBS uses a weekly change while Yahoo looks at the last 24 hours. Yahoo is a great snapshot of right now while CBS ensures hot targets from early in the week aren’t missed. The players are ordered for redraft leagues by my rest-of-season preference grouped by starters, relievers, and hitters. Read the rest of this entry »

Note: All the lineups were based on games through Thursday. No Friday starts were considered. 

American League

Angels

• Catcher-qualified Matt Thaiss (.308/.444/.752 and 2 HR in 39 PA) has started in five of the last seven games.

• Matt Duffy (.589 OPS) has started in 11 of the last 13 games.

Astros

• Chas McCormick (.723 OPS) starts two games in center and then Mauricio Dubón (.584 OPS) starts one.

Athletics

• The only rosterable players are Ramón Laureano, Sean Murphy, and Seth Brown (when he’s facing a bunch of righties).

Blue Jays

• Santiago Espinal, Cavan Biggio, and Whit Merrifield are splitting time at second base.

Guardians

• Nothing actionable.

Mariners

• Another lineup without any changes.

• Sam Haggerty (.807 OPS, 5 HR, 12 SB, 157 PA) had a run of four straight starts but it coincides with Mitch Haniger getting hurt.

Orioles

• Cedric Mullins (.812 OPS vs RHP, .554 OPS vs LHP) is still sitting against lefties. Jesús Aguilar starts instead by moving guys around the DH position.

• Gunnar Henderson (.890 OPS, 1 HR, 1 SB) has started in 13 of the last 14 games.

Rangers

• Josh Smith (.563 OPS) has been promoted and has started in five of the last seven games, four in left field.

Rays

• Wander Franco has started in seven of eight games since coming off the IL while hitting .276/.276/.345 during that time.

Red Sox

• Triston Casas (.579 OPS) and Christian Arroyo (.737 OPS) are splitting time at first base.

• Connor Wong (.250/.321/.458, 1 HR in 29 PA) has started in five of the last 10 games at catcher.

Royals

• The bottom four spots are just several guys cycling through with no one getting enough time to fantasy relevant.

Tigers

• Such a mess. It is tough to find full-time hitters in this lineup. Harold Castro, Riley Greene, and Javier Báez are the only regulars.

Twins

• Luis Arraez does not start against lefties (.686 OPS vs LHP, .846 OPS vs RHP).

• Nick Gordon has started in 18 straight games and is hitting .271/.314/.396 in September.

• Gio Urshela (.273/.322/.425, 12 HR, 1 SB) has started 24 straight games.

White Sox

• AJ Pollock, Andrew Vaughn, Gavin Sheets, and Luis Robert are sharing four outfield spots.

Yankees

• Oswaldo Cabrera (.523 OPS) has started nine of 10 games and has hit fifth for four straight games.

• Marwin Gonzalez (.596 OPS) has started eight of nine games at first base with Anthony Rizzo on the IL.

National League

Braves

• With second baseman Ozzie Albies off the IL, Vaughn Grissom will need a position, especially with Ronald Acuña Jr. as the primary DH.

• Eddie Rosario (.575 OPS) and Marcell Ozuna (.664 OPS) are splitting time in left field.

Brewers

• Garrett Mitchell (.518 OPS) and Tyrone Taylor (.717 OPS) are splitting time in center field.

• Kolten Wong (vs RHP) and Luis Urías (vs LHP) are in a second base platoon.

• Jace Peterson (vs RHP) and Mike Brosseau (vs LHP) are in a third base platoon.

Cardinals

• Lars Nootbaar (.778 OPS, 12 HR, 4 SB) has dropped down the lineup and only started in five of the last seven games.

• Albert Pujols (.854 OPS, 18 HR) has started five straight games, all against righties.

• Brendan Donovan (.771 OPS, 4 HR, 2 SB) has leadoff for six of the last seven games.

Cubs

• An absolute mess trying to find full-time batters.

Diamondbacks

• Stone Garrett (1.030 OPS) is still only facing lefties while Corbin Carroll is just facing righties.

• Josh Rojas (vs RHP) and Emmanuel Rivera (vs LHP) are in a third base platoon.

Dodgers

• Steady.

Giants

• David Villar is no longer getting full-time at-bats with the promotion of Willie Calhoun. Calhoun is only facing righties.

Marlins

• Jordan Groshans (.266/.364/.334, 3 HR, 3 SB in 412 AAA PA) has started three straight at third base.

• Bryan De La Cruz (.214/.261/.359 with 9 HR and 3 SB in 283 PA) has started four straight in the outfield.

Mets

• Top prospect, Mark Vientos (.877 OPS with 24 HR in AAA) is only starting against lefties.

• Luis Guillorme is back and might start cutting into Eduardo Escobar’s production.

Nationals

• Alex Call (.236/.288/.455 with 3 HR and 1 SB in 59 PA) has started in seven of the last eight games.

• CJ Abrams (.311/.311/.400 with 0 HR and 1 SB in September) has started in 11 of the last 12 games.

Padres

• Brandon Drury is off the IL, so Wil Myers will likely get moved to the bench.

Phillies

• Nick Maton (1.079 OPS and 5 HR in 63 PA) has started in four of the last five games. He might just be on the strong side of a platoon.

Pirates

• The two outfield slots and the DH are being filled by five players (Ben Gamel, Cal Mitchell, Jack Suwinski, Greg Allen, and Diego Castillo)

Reds

• Aristides Aquino has started 11 straight games while hitting .311/.367/.756 with 5 HR in September.

• There are too many infield regulars with two of Jonathan India, Kyle Farmer, Donovan Solano, Spencer Steer, Jose Barrero, and Matt Reynolds needing to sit each game.

Rockies

• Michael Toglia (.220/.278/.460, 2 HR) is the latest Rockie to get a nice run of starts (14 straight) but I’m sure that will end for no reason in the next week.

• Alan Trejo (.265/.306/.456 and 3 HR) has started eight of the last nine games at shortstop.