Archive for Waiver Wire

While the rest of the world is going gaga over the resurgence of Bartolo Colon (I’m not buying it), there’s another pitcher out there who has apparently hopped into his Delorean and gunned it to 88.  San Francisco’s Ryan Vogelsong made his first start of the season in replacement of the injured Barry Zito this past week, pitched 5.2 innings allowing two runs on four hits and a pair of walks, and picked up his first win as a starter since 2002.  He actually looked better than his stat line reads as opening jitters got the better of him in the first, but he settled down very nicely and matched a career high eight strikeouts.  But now the question remains — is he worth a spot on your fantasy roster? Read the rest of this entry »

In today’s edition of the Waiver Wire, we look at a tubby starter who’s putting up numbers, a speedster, and an octogenarian outfielder.

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Timing is an important factor in this space. I had been planning to include Alexi Amarista, a second baseman in the Angels org who leads the minors with a .455 batting average. Except Amarista no longer plays in the minors…because the Angels called up the 22-year-old earlier this week to be a part of their middle infield mix in a utility role. Oh well. That just means one of these minor leaguers got some pub instead.

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In all honesty, virtually all of the legitimate talent has likely already been plucked from your league’s waiver wire by now.  Everyone gets so transaction crazy early on, that it’s hard to believe there are still some stones left unturned.  And yet, there always seems to be a player or two that slips through the cracks for a variety of reasons.  Here’s a look at two that might interest you… Read the rest of this entry »

When searching each week for those under-owned gems for deep league use, it reminds me how bad I feel for those Only-leaguers dealing with an injury. Your replacement options are throw up inducing and you’re basically flipping a coin between two hitters that get five at-bats a week. That is no fun! Though the first player discussed below is most certainly owned in all NL-Only leagues, he should be available in deeper mixed leagues and would therefore be worth a look.

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Today, I am going to look at some players that are on the DL and being dropped at a high rate (all numbers are from ESPN).

Angel Pagan (oblique) – 51.0% owned, down 45.5% – Owners are dumping Pagan at a pretty alarming rate. Owners know they aren’t paying for power with him, they are hoping for a player that steals a few bases (4 in 2011) and hits for decent average. The average has been a disaster this year at 0.159, which is being fueled by his 0.164 BABIP. Normally his BABIP is around 0.300, so the batting average should improve substantially. He has been moved around the lineup quite a bit, mainly hitting in the 2nd, 5th or 6th spots. He will have chances to score and drive in a few runs. He is expected to be back from the DL after his 15 days are up on April 30th. He looks to be a perfect player for a team needing SB or AVG help.

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In today’s edition of Deep League Waiver Wire, we look at a second baseman who has fallen into playing time, a backup outfielder, and a third baseman that should probably already be owned in your league.

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Chalk it up to small sample size. This column is off to a 2-for-2 start, with each edition having highlighted a minor leaguer who was called up to the bigs only days later. First Chris Davis two weeks ago, then Jerry Sands last week. Don’t expect Mining the Minors to maintain this type of perfection because, frankly, that would be impossible. In fact, the three players chosen in this installment, while certainly capable of making an impact at some point in 2011, will definitely not be doing so in the next few days. Even Jobu doesn’t have that kind of power.

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Today’s edition of Waiver Wire revolves around two “raw” outfielders and a reliever who’s made a slight change.

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Last week I looked at a few 2B that were getting more playing time than expected when the season began. I have continue on this week looking at 3 more 2B that weren’t expected to have much of an impact this season.

Jonathan Herrera: 39 PA/0.359 AVG/1 HR/4 SB – 36% owned – The 26 year old Herrera has been a pleasant surprise this season for the Rockies. Even though he didn’t start the season at 2nd base, he has only been benched twice since starting in game six and has taken advantage of the situation.

He currently has a slash line of 0.359/0.510/0.513. Along with getting on base half the time, he is showing some of his speed by swiping 4 SBs so far this season. Also, he is a nice source of runs, 10 in just 12 games played. The amount of runs scored should not really be a surprise for someone getting on base 1/2 of the time and has CarGo, Tulo and Helton hitting after him.

There is no way that he is going to continue to get on base at his current clip, but if he ends up batting 0.300, with 100 runs and 20 SBs, he may just be one of the top fantasy steals of the year.

Jayson Nix: 42 PA/0.238 AVG/2 HR/3 SB – 3% owned – Nix is qualified at second base, but is getting all his playing time this season at 3B. He is doing OK. The 28 year old currently has a slash line of 0.238/0.360/0.429 to go along with 2 home runs and 3 stolen bases. His 0.238 may look low, but it is actually a career high for him which is being helped by a career high BABIP of 0.308.

His major problem has been that he has struck every third time he come to the plate. He may regress a bit to his lifetime rate of striking out 1/4th of the time. His walk rate of 16% has help his baseball value, but for fantasy leagues that use AVG, those walks are of no help. Toronto has now placed him at the bottom of the lineup in 6 of the last 8 games, so he will have less at bats and chances to score or drive in runs.

Right now Nix looks like an replacement level option at 2nd base in deep or AL only leagues.

Chris Getz: 57 PA/0.263 AVG/0 HR/2 SB – 2% owned – Getz has started all but 2 games at 2nd base for the Royals this season. Getz is mainly known for his defense and that is why he has been playing quite a bit. He has little fantasy value though. He will probably hit around 0.260 and generate no home runs. He does steal a few bases and since he is usually in the 1st or 2nd spot in the lineup, he may score a few runs this season.

Another problem is that his playing time is not assured. The Royals right now have Getz, Aviles and Betemit swapping between 2nd and 3rd base. Getz started the season hot compared to Aviles, so he has gotten more playing time recently. Getz has sense cooled off, so Aviles may be seeing more time at second. Betemit and his 1.010 OPS looks entrenched at 3B for now. This situation becomes even more jumbled once the Royals call up top prospect Mike Moustakas to play 3B.

Right now Getz is a possible option at 2nd base in deep or AL only leagues for owners that are needing some SB help.