Big Kid Adds (Week 24)

Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

While the NFBC Main Event garners most of the attention, there are a handful of leagues with even larger entry fees ($2.5K to $15K). They are named “High Stakes Leagues,” and there are eleven of them. With so much money on the line, these fantasy managers 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 leagues.

Batters

Francisco Alvarez (8): Returned from the IL a little earlier than expected from two injured fingers.

Drew Gilbert (8): Gilbert only faces righties with just four on this week’s schedule. I don’t know that much about him. First off, here are his Steamer600 comps.

None of those options I’m rushing off to add.

This year in AAA, he hit .262/.369/.466 with 14 HR and 6 SB in 408 PA. In the majors, he’s not getting eaten up (17% K%, 3 HR in 66 PA) but not standing out. If Mike Yastrzemski is in play, so should Gilbert.

Parker Meadows (6): The strong-side platoon bat is off the IL (scheduled to face 14 righties in the final 21 games). For his career, the 25-year-old has 15 HR and 20 SB while batting .231/.308/.389 in 586 PA (see Cedric Mullins, 16 HR, 21 SB, .217 AVG). Rosterable if the team can take a batting average hit.

Sal Stewart (5): Stewart wasn’t added in every league, which surprised me a bit. Usually, all the top prospects get added but these managers stayed away.

The concern with him is the lack of playing time (four starts in seven games since being promoted) while struggling to make contact (31% K%, .188 AVG). There isn’t enough time left in the season to wait for him to turn it around.

Alec Burleson (5): Solid add of a productive player.

Oswald Peraza (5): Best utilized as a bench streamer (qualified at all four infield positions) for limited production. Over four seasons, the 25-year-old has only 485 PA and just an unrosterable .264 OBP for any contending major league team. The Angels aren’t contending, so they have given him nine straight starts. Ignore

Freddy Fermin (5): An average catcher who is playing on a decent team.

Starters

Luis Garcia (11) and Tyler Wells (11) [Garcia might be hurt, so his schedule may change.]: The pair came off the IL this past week with good starts. While not the most talented starters, they both have some great matchups lined up. Garcia starts with a two-step (at TOR, at ATL), then the Mariners and Angels. For Wells, his schedule is the Pirates, White Sox, and the Rays.

Joey Cantillo (9): For a bit, it looked like Cantillo was going to get two starts this (KC, CWS). Without the two starts, I backed off adding him to any league where I couldn’t take a WHIP hit. On the season, he has a 1.40 WHIP (4.7 BB/9), which does as much damage as a 4.93 ERA. Not an ideal add, but available.

Randy Vásquez (7): While not much should be expected from Vásquez, he does get to face the Rockies this week. While the 3.91 ERA doesn’t look bad, the rest of his profile is a disaster. 5.84 xFIP, 1.38 WHIP, 4.8 K/9. 3.8 K/9. One and done.

Nabil Crismatt (6): The 30-year-old righty came into the week scheduled for two starts. In the first against the Giants, they got to him for 4 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, and 3 K in 4 IP.

I don’t see a reason to hold him for a possible start against the Phillies next week.

Luis Severino (5): The 4.50 ERA talent’s matchups over the next two weeks are decent (vs CIN, at PIT). He’s not missing bats this year. None of his pitches has a swinging-strike rate of 10%. Usually, he has a couple of pitches above a 10% SwStr%, but not this year. In his two games since coming off the IL, I could not spot any profile changes, so he remains a matchup-only add.

Ryan Weathers (5): He’s coming off the IL with a start against the Nationals. Weathers might be one of the few pitchers featured today with season-long rosterability. On the season, he has a 3.28 ERA (4.24 xFIP), 1.05 WHIP (.212 BABIP), and 8.4 K/9. His changeup (22% SwStr%) and slider (13% SwStr%) are missing a ton of bats. He just needs to keep the ball in the yard (1.5 HR/9).

Jameson Taillon (5): Streaming option with decent matchups to end the season (ATL, PIT, CIN, STL).

Caden Dana (5): Ranked as one of the top-100 prospects in the game, but unrosterable right now. While he has some swing-and-miss (10.9 K/9), he’s walking way too many batters (6.3 BB/9 in the majors, 5.1 BB/9 in AAA). His 1.60 WHIP and 6.32 ERA are … bad. Like really bad.

Stephen Kolek (5): An interesting arm going into 2026. Since joining the Royals, he’s dropped his walk rate from 2.9 BB/9 to 0.7 BB/9. While the strikeouts are low (4.9 K/9), he is keeping the ball on the ground (50% GB%). Our STUPH models are not fond of his stuff (44 botStf, 92 Stuff+), but when combined with the command (70 bot Cmd, 112 Location+), they project him to be an above-average pitcher.

Besides the improved control, the Royals have worked with his pitch mix. He’s throwing more four-seamers and sliders and fewer cutters and sinkers.

Simeon Woods Richardson (5): For the managers who took a chance on him this week, their gamble paid off with 5 IP, 6 K, 1 BB, 3 ER, and the Win in 5 IP. We’ll see if those managers keep him for a possible two-start next week against the Yankees and Guardians.

Relievers

Jordan Leasure (8): In September, Leasure had three Saves and one Hold. It would be nice if the walks dropped (4.5 BB/9), but the 11.6 K/9 helps to cover up some errors.

Brad Keller (7): Assumed to be the Cubs’ closer with Daniel Palencia on the IL. As a reliever this season, Keller has a 2.17 ERA and 9.4 K/9.