The center of the baseball world seems to be South Beach right now, though perhaps not for the reasons Marlins’ fans would have hoped. Admit all the wheeling and dealing of the front office, there are a pair of interesting fantasy options.

Justin Ruggiano (ESPN: 45 percent owned; Yahoo!: 24 percent owned)

Ruggiano came up from Triple-A swinging and for the first time in his major league career, good things started happening when he made contact. Counting from the first game he started this season on June 2, Ruggiano’s OPS has never dipped below 1.000, and yet, the Marlins’ outfielder was one of ESPN’s most dropped players over the last week. After multiple stints as one of the biggest risers, Ruggiano hit a 2-for-19 skid and enough people cut bait that he went from virtually unavailable in ESPN leagues to ownership rates under 50 percent; he’s consistently been more available on Yahoo!. Read the rest of this entry »

Between the rash of injuries and the flurry of trades we’re seeing right now, your league’s waiver wire should be a hotbed of action. It may or may not be depending on how many owners in your league have given up and turned their attention to the upcoming fantasy football season, but if you’re in a heated competition with just the two months remaining on the baseball season, then you should be keeping up to date with any player that is starting to sniff some regular playing time and can contribute to your cause. Here are two that may help you out…

Casper Wells, SEA  |OF|  Ownership:  ESPN – 14.5%  Yahoo – 5.0%

In the wake of the Ichiro Suzuki trade and the demotion of Justin Smoak, the Mariners appear to be going with Wells and Carlos Peguero in the corner outfield spots with recent call-up Mike Carp likely taking over first base duties.  All three are in line to receive major increases in playing time, but Wells, seems to be the most seasoned of the three and likely the one to play with the most consistency.  Sure, people will talk about Peguero’s power potential, but I look at his strikeouts and see a guy who could do more harm than good to your team.  Carp has some promise, but given the shoulder concerns and the weak numbers he showed in Triple-A this season, Wells might just be the safer bet here for some added power.

There are definitely some flaws in Wells’ game right now between the low contact rates and the excessively high SwStr%, but he’s never had a full-time job before and a lot of his impatience at the plate could be him trying to do too much because he feels like he has a limited number of at-bats to prove his worth.  That’s likely true to some extent, but now, in a situation like this where the Mariners are folding up their tents for the season, there’s little or no reason for him to put excessive pressure on himself.  It’s not that he can just coast the rest of the way, but he can certainly take some time to relax at the plate and get back to the basics.  With ISO numbers so strong at every level, there’s no question that the power is for real.  With a full-time job for two months and little or no pressure, Wells finally has the opportunity to blossom and show what he can do.

Josh Rutledge, COL  |SS|  Ownership:  ESPN – 13.4%  Yahoo – 8.0%

With so much still up in the air regarding Troy Tulowitzki’s return, Rutledge is looking like a solid pick-up if you need help in your middle infield.  Tulo insists that he will be back at some point in August, but as it stands right now, he hasn’t even picked up a bat yet.  Rutledge has filled in admirably recently and over a quick 10-game span, has his .368 with six runs scored, one home run, six RBI and three stolen bases.  His .382 BABIP is pretty inflated, but in looking at his recent minor league totals, he’s routinely posted high BABIP totals.  If he can continue to make strong contact and keep the ball in play like this, the hits should continue to fall.  True the sample size is small, but we’re also now dealing with a two month long season not six.  Short-term help can be quite beneficial, especially if the guy can get on-base regularly and can kick in with some speed.

But there’s also the chance that Rutledge sticks even when Tulo makes it back, so long as he’s playing well.  It’s not like Jordan Pacheco is tearing it up at the plate and the Rockies have made the rest of the league well aware that Marco Scutaro is available.  If Scutaro goes, then Rutledge can slide over to the keystone once Tulo returns or, if he doesn’t, then perhaps he gets a chance to play some third.  He’s an interesting choice for the short term and could easily pan out to be a full-time guy over the next two months.

In today’s waiver wire column, I look at two hitters who will see increased playing time due to some surprising roster moves. Let’s dive in…

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Sunday night, Alexi Amarista played a little center field and a little left field. Not so ground-breaking if you consider he’s been doing a lot of this sort of thing recently. Since the All-Star break, Amarista has played at every position other than the third, first, pitcher and catcher. There’s an outside chance that Amarista can put up real value for daily leaguers, in the vein of — but of course not quite exactly like — Emilio Bonifacio.

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Let’s start the week with an up-and-coming young catcher and a veteran reliever hanging on by the skin of his teeth…

Salvador Perez | C | Royals | Owned: 39% Yahoo!

A trendy breakout pick for 2012, Perez’s season debut was delayed because of a knee injury. He returned to the Royals late last month and has hit .350/.373/.600 (.408 wOBA and 160 wRC+) in 83 plate appearances, building on last season’s .331/.361/.473 (.361 wOBA and 127 wRC+) performance. In a whopping 241 big league plate appearances, Perez owns a .338/.365/.518 batting line (.377 wOBA and 160 wRC+).

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Replacing Joey Votto is something of a misnomer, since unless Andrew McCutchen is just sitting on the wire, any other player picked up to replace Votto is going to be a downgrade. At this point, those who have sullenly placed their star first baseman on the DL have two tasks: Limit the damage and pray for a quick recovery. The latter is between you and the vengeful, capricious fantasy gods, but the former can be helped. The best available option is going to depend entirely on specific leagues, as there are a couple good options that are available in about 50 percent of leagues, but each may not be available in any given league. Noted in parentheses are each player’s ownership, listed as (ESPN owned; Yahoo owned).  Read the rest of this entry »

With the addition of a second wild card team for each league, the decision to be a buyer or seller at the trade deadline becomes a bit more difficult, despite it being just two weeks away. For the San Diego Padres, however, the decision is neither difficult nor complicated. Sitting 14 games out of both first place in the NL West and the final wild card slot, the Padres will most definitely be sellers over the next two weeks and while collectively, they can’t seem to put it all together, individually there’s some value to be had. It’s time to bring the jalopy to the chop shop and make some money selling off the parts. Read the rest of this entry »

This week’s waiver wire includes two players who are complete opposites. One has just been called up and will get his first taste of the Majors, while the other has been playing for the past 20 years. Whether it’s speed or power you need, there’s a player for you to be had.

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Let’s kick off the week with an outfielder and an infielder…

Rajai Davis | OF | Blue Jays | Owned: 13% Yahoo! and 16.0% ESPN

This probably isn’t the best time to suggest grabbing Davis for your outfield — he’s currently mired in an ugly 0-for-23 slide (27 total plate appearances) with more ground ball double plays (three) than walks (two). He’s only struck out six times during the slump, so he’s not completely lost at the plate just yet. Rajai’s season batting line is down to .243/.300/.376 after sitting at a much more respectable .273/.324/.412 prior to this slump.

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It was supposed to be a breakout season for Lorenzo Cain, the 26-year old centerfielder acquired by the Royals as part of the return package for Zack Greinke. He was basically told that the centerfield job was his to lose during spring training and it was actually a little exciting watching him run away with it as he hit .371 with five home runs, 11 doubles, and five stolen bases. Not to mention, a 12.9% walk rate, something the Royals desperately hoped he would retain from his minor league numbers. He was slated to bat second in the order and was primed to be a serious fantasy asset this year.

But then the injury bug swooped in and bit poor Lorenzo in the groin after he went crashing into the wall during the first week of the season. He landed on the disabled list and then, to make matters worse, ended up tearing his hip flexor during his rehab stint which put him on the shelf for the rest of the first half. Some fantasy owners have been able to stash him on their DL this whole time, while others were just forced to cut bait and send him back to the player pool. Well, now as the second half is about to begin, you have your chance to run with Cain as he is back and ready to finish what he started.

If you’re looking for some outfield help and he’s out there on your waiver wire, Cain is definitely worth a look. The Royals will likely start him off easy and keep him hitting out of the seven or eight-hole to start — keep the pressure off and let him do his thing.  He’s got a little bit of pop in his bat and has good speed on the bases, so if he starts off strongly, there’s a good chance that Ned Yost starts to test him out in the two-hole, depending on the performance of Alcides Escobar. Obviously a move up in the order would boost his value, but baby steps are needed here. He appeared to be getting better during his rehab outing as he went from batting .208 at Double-A Northwest Arkansas for the first half of the session to .321 for Triple-A Omaha in the second. He dropped his strikeout rate, started taking some walks, and was just more productive overall. But while that is definitely encouraging, there’s no need to rush him with lofty expectations.

One caveat here with regard to the speed game which could be a little discouraging. Not only did Cain miss a few games towards the end of his rehab stint with sore legs, but he also never attempted a stolen base at any point. Obviously, early on in the rehab you don’t want to push it, but you would have liked to have seen him at least attempt a stolen base at some point — see what kind of a jump he gets, what kind of burst of speed he’s got right now, but nothing. It’s not certain if he was being tentative or if the coaches and trainers were just being cautious.

Now Cain’s return has more of an impact than just saying goodbye to Jarrod Dyson until September. His return also means that the promotion of Wil Myers, something everyone has been clamoring for, is on hold indefinitely. The team has already said that they will not bring Myers up unless he has the opportunity to play every day. With Cain taking over centerfield, Alex Gordon and Jeff Francoeur handling the corners and Jason Bourgeois holding down the fourth outfielder responsibilities, there’s just no room for Myers to play regularly, regardless of how well he is hitting in Omaha. Fantasy owners that have Myers stashed will simply have to wait patiently and hope that the team can find a way to pawn off Francoeur. The market for him right now is not strong, but perhaps when we’re a little closer to the trade deadline, some contending team will be looking for a right-handed bat to come off the bench. For now though, he will continue to patrol right field.

The Royals situation is definitely worth watching over the next month to see if they can recapture that spark we saw back in spring training. If they can all click as they did then you could find yourself with some strong fantasy performers for your second half run. If they don’t, then all you Myers owners will finally reap the benefits of stashing him away as the Royals would then become sellers on the market. Either way, there should be a good amount of second-half fantasy help coming out of Kansas City this year.