One issue I’ve had with pick up articles in the past is that so few ever recommend anyone to cut so which is arguably tougher than recommending who to pick. Sure, a player in question should probably be on a roster, but should it be your roster? I have a group of interesting free agents but also a player at each of those positions who you can consider cutting as well.

This article is designed mostly for 10- and 12-team leagues as a lot of these guys aren’t available in 15+ teamers and the recommended cuts are likely worth giving a bit more time to in deeper formats as well. I’m using ESPN’s roster rate for guidance.

• Vol. 1

Here are the picks for volume 2:

Available Under 40% | Cuttable at 60%+

• C Max Stassi – 23% | Will Smith – 78% (the cut recommendations at this position are for 1-C formats)

Stassi is looking like this year’s iteration of Christian Vázquez or Robert Pérez with 4 HR in 25 PA already. There was some prospect heat on Stassi many moons ago for the 29-year old. He’s now in a platoon with Jason Castro, though it’s starting to shape up as a 50/50 as opposed to being pitcher hand-based. This rate of power will obviously slow down, but it’s earning him some extra playing time and makes him worth a look if you need a catcher. Also consider Austin Nola (5%) as he’s now catcher-eligible and the starter in Seattle with Tom Murphy nursing a foot injury.

Smith had an excellent start to his MLB career last year with a 1.072 OPS through 37 games with 13 HR in 129 PA. He closed on a down note with a .582 OPS in September and those struggles have joined him in 2020 thus far with a .182/.345/.364 line and 1 HR in 29 PA this year. This was originally slated to be more of a 70/30 split, but it’s trending at a 55/45 right now with Austin Barnes starting six games to Smith’s seven.

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Transactions are up as teams try to fill their rosters. With every player added, someone becomes available. Some players are duds but a few have some value on the right team. Here is a look at some players who may be heading to the waiver wire.

For this analysis, I use the NFBC Main Event because of the number of identical leagues. Additionally, the owners stay engaged longer since each spent over $1000 per team. I tried to find that sweet spot between obvious and bizarre and will focus on players dropped in six to nine leagues.

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Right now, the fantasy game has …. changed …. shifted … has gone just bizarre. It has only been a week and a half of games, but I’ve never dealt with so much uncertainty and the way I set these rankings reflects that change. I’m valuing MLB playing time and experience over potential whenever possible. I’m trying to limit the variation for now and will gamble more if a team starts falling behind in a couple of weeks.

As usual, I’m going to at least cover the players in demand using CBS’s (40% or less initial ownership) 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 by my preference grouped by starters, relievers and hitters.
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Sometimes you are all set for the week. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t start thinking about the future. This article takes a look ahead for the following week to see if maybe there are things to consider or players to stash that may not have as much value right now. Don’t forget to check out the companion article to this one, Who’s On First?

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One issue I’ve had with pick up articles in the past is that so few ever recommend anyone to cut so which is arguably tougher than recommending who to pick. Sure, a player in question should probably be on a roster, but should it be your roster? I have a group of interesting free agents but also a player at each of those positions who you can consider cutting as well. Some of these are difficult cuts, but consider that we’re the equivalent of about 3 weeks in at this point so I think your bar for cutting someone needs to be lower than past seasons.

This article is designed mostly for 10- and 12-team leagues as a lot of these guys aren’t available in 15+ teamers and the recommended cuts are likely worth giving a bit more time to in deeper formats as well. I’m using ESPN’s roster rate for guidance.

Available Under 40% | Cuttable at 60%+

• C Danny Jansen – 15% | Yadier Molina – 68%

Pickings are a little slim behind the dish, but Jansen is off to a decent start after being highly touted in 2019 and failing to deliver on the hype. He’s hitting .235/.381/.412 with 1 HR and matching strikeout and walk rates at 19%.

Meanwhile, Molina has sputtered out of the gate at .222/.222/.222 in 18 PA. It’s obviously super early and veteran catcher will likely find his level, but he’s not so good that you must hang onto him in a 1-catcher league.

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After using the NFBC Online Championship transactions last week to find those players on the decline, it’s time to get back to analyzing the 38 NFBC Main Event leagues. I like using this overall competition because of the number of identical leagues. Additionally, these leagues stay engaged longer since each owner spent over $1000 for a team.

Also, if anyone forgot about the original series, I tried to find that sweet spot between obvious and bizarre. Just those players who are a tough choice.  I’m mainly going to focus on players dropped in six to nine leagues. Here are those players on the move.

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Some FAAB results are in from last weekend and it seems like everyone has their wallets open. Fantasy managers should not be surprised to see some bids using up 50% of the budget, especially for an everyday difference-maker. There still might be one or two in each league, so expect to pay up for the obvious ones. The following players are in demand based on adds or players I’m targetting.

In the following article, I’m going to at least cover the players in demand using CBS’s (40% or less initial ownership) 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 by my preference grouped by starters, relievers and hitters.
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With the first major FAAB period running last night, it’s time to find some why owners soured on some players. Cole Hamels and Buster Posey are obvious choices but some of the others are just head-scratchers. It’s time to dive into who is headed to the waiver wire and why.

Normally, I use the NFBC Main Event, but it still needs to draft most of its leagues. With the Main Event drafts still happening, the maximum number of players dropped was four. For this week, I’m going to focus on the NFBC Online Championship. These drafts started around July 1st and should not be filled with many obvious drops as there would be for the March TGFBI drafts. Next week I’ll be back using the Main Event.
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