Colin Moran & Jake Marisnick: Deep League Wire

Welcome to an all Astros edition of the deep league waiver wire! With a series of roster moves, opportunities abound.

Colin Moran | 3B HOU | CBS 7% Owned

Moran was ranked by Dan Farnsworth as the team’s fifth best prospect heading into the season and got his first taste of Triple-A action this year. Unfortunately, things didn’t go so well, as his walk rate dipped to a career low and his strikeout rate spiked above 20% for the first time. Furthermore, he continues to show limited power.

But there is some things to like. He has been a BABIP machine in the minors, posting nothing less than a .359 mark since his stint at Double-A in 2014. While BABIPs are higher in the minors, it does suggest that Moran should be able to post an above average mark in the Majors.

The other positive for his outlook is strictly based on playing time. Incumbent third baseman Luis Valbuena is sporting a pathetic .290 wOBA, as his power has disappeared, suggesting that last year was the fluke when his HR/FB rate nearly doubled. Furthermore, Preston Tucker was demoted to the minors, leaving a hole at the designated hitter spot. While Evan Gattis is sure to serve in that role at times, there will probably be a rotating cast of characters, which will include Moran. So even if technically a reserve player, between third base and DH, Moran should play more often than not.

To be honest, I don’t expect Moran to be up for a significant amount of time. The eventual promotion of A.J. Reed is going to create another playing time jam and I don’t think Moran is ready to hit enough to justify designated hitter at-bats, and I don’t believe he’s necessarily better than Valbuena offensively. But for now, he should earn decent playing time, so at the very least, should have some short-term value.

Jake Marisnick | OF HOU | 1% Owned

Carlos Gomez’s placement on the disabled list opens up the center field job and Marisnick figures to be the primary beneficiary. You might remember him as the guy who batted .379 last April, thanks to a .426 BABIP, to go along with a whopping eight steals. Naturally, everyone rushed to the free agent pool to pick him up. He then hit no higher than .204 over the next four months as his playing time waned, before picking things back up again in September.

The flaws here are many — he strikes out far too much, he rarely walks, and he owns mediocre power at best. On the positive side, though, he has that speed. He stole 24 bases last year in just 372 plate appearances, and has swiped a total of 38 bases over his entire career over 758 plate appearances. He’s also excellent defensively, so the Astros could live with a weak bat as long as he continues his strong fielding work.

There’s no telling how long Gomez is going to be out for and he hasn’t exactly been the model of health recently. So even when he returns, Marisnick is worth keeping around on your roster.