FAAB Frenzy and Waivers Wild: Week 21

Every Monday, this column will break down the most popular waiver wire and free agent acquisitions from the weekend. I dig into the top adds on the ever-popular Fantrax and in the NFBC Online Championship (OC), a national mid-stakes contest with 240 total leagues of 12 and a six-figure grand prize. Reviewing player adds between the two should provide us with a well-rounded perspective and barometer of the fantasy baseball marketplace.

Week 20 Overview

Hitters

The Boston Red Sox piled on the runs last week, leading all teams with seven per game, 49 total. Wilyer Abreu and Caleb Durbin led the way, driving in nine runs apiece. Cleveland’s Angel Martínez tied the Boston duo for the league in RBI last week, producing six against the White Sox on Friday night. The Chicago Cubs smashed a league-high 13 homers last week, though no one hit more than two. The New York Mets were right behind them with 12 homers; no hitter hit more than two. Alec Burleson and Jackson Chourio led the way last week with four homers each. Burleson hit three of them in one game, last Monday. Colorado Rockies outfielder Jake McCarthy tallied 14 hits, bringing his average up to .306. He’s tied with Pittsburgh’s Nick Gonzales for fourth in batting average among qualified hitters. Houston’s Yordan Alvarez is the only AL hitter in the top five. Speaking of Alvarez, he has a legitimate shot at the AL Triple Crown, leading his league in average (.322), home runs (35) and runs batted in (79).

Pitchers

Five of the 30 (16.7%) two-start pitchers last week earned two wins: Sean Manaea (NYM), Matthew Boyd (CHC), Ian Seymour (TB), Bubba Chandler (PIT) and Randy Vásquez (SD). Vásquez allowed just four hits and one walk over 11 innings, but managed just two strikeouts. Jesús Luzardo led the week with 19 strikeouts, allowing eight hits, two runs and three walks over 15 innings, though only managed to score one win. Manaea had 18 punchouts with three runs allowed on 10 hits and five walks. Luzardo will likely nab NL Pitcher of the Week honors. Boston’s Payton Tolle punched out 14 A’s hitters on Friday night in his lone start of the week. Brandon Pfaadt continued to marvel with the same arsenal, but a new arm slot. He blanked the struggling Dodgers in seven innings of work on Saturday. In eight starts since getting called up in late June, Pfaadt is 6-0 with a 1.32 ERA (4.57 xFIP), 0.97 WHIP and a 3.8% walk rate, though his 12.4% is strikeout rate is tied with Royals’ Randy Dobnak for the lowest mark among 61 qualified starters since June 30. Closers Bryan Baker (TB), Riley O’Brien (STL), and Trevor Megill (MIL) snagged three saves apiece last week. An in-season waiver/FAAB acquisition, Baker leads the Majors in saves with 34.

Most Added Players: NFBC Main Event, NFBC OC, and Fantrax

This was a massive spending weekend due to the promotions of three shortstop prospects and the returns of several notable pitchers. The average free agent budget remaining in Main Events and OCs is between $150-$180, with dozens of managers having moved onto football drafts or are no longer actively bidding.

George Lombard Jr., Kaelen Culpepper, and Angel Genao made immediate splashes for their respective squads. Lombard homered in his MLB debut on Wednesday, smashed another on Saturday and earned hits in four straight contests. The Yankees’ 21-year-old top prospect batted eighth in his debut, moved up to seventh on Friday, and batted sixth against a lefty on Saturday. Though Culpepper also homered in his first big-league game and is the top prospect in his organization, the “New York FAAB Tax” remains undefeated. I projected Lombard and Culpepper to have similar average winning bids (+/- $5) in NFBC, but Lombard easily beat him out, with a 30+ percent spread in both the Main Event and the Online Championship. It probably didn’t help Culpepper’s case that he was not in the Twins lineup against a lefty on Sunday. It’s quite possible that manager Derek Shelton has shortstop Ryan Kreidler in his 20-team AL-only league.

Cleveland Guardians newest call-up Angel Genao had the grandest entrance of them all with his four-hit debut on Wednesday, which set a franchise record. Originally promoted because José Ramírez was dealing with a sore hand, Genao has been doing everything he can to prove he should stay up. He’s been in the lineup in the nine-hole every day since and cracked his first career dinger off White Sox reliever Jordan Hicks on Saturday. Brayan Rocchio has yet to have a day off since Genao joined the team, so Genao hasn’t had the opportunity to start at shortstop yet, though Genao has started at second base in three contests while fellow rookie Travis Bazzana sat in one and was the designated hitter in the other two. It’s nice to see manager Stephen Vogt get creative. I may be in the minority preferring Culpepper to Lombard in redraft leagues for the rest of the season.

The big spend on the pitching side was former third-overall Tigers draft pick Jackson Jobe, going for the highest AWB in Main Events ($68) and second highest in OCs ($37). Jobe pitched well in his five-game minor-league rehab assignment (1.76 ERA, 4 BB, 17 K in 15.1 IP), then tossed a one-hit gem against the Giants on Saturday, touching over 100 mph in the outing. Jobe’s AWBs would have still been highest among starting pitchers this week, but perhaps by $10-$15 less if that first outing went poorly. Jobe’s next start will likely come this Friday, at home against the White Sox. After that, he will take on the Pirates on the road (Week 22) and the Rays at home (Week 23), which means he won’t draw a two-start week until the last week of August. I’m sure not every start will be Pedro, Roger and Randy rolled into one, but Jobe should help invested fantasy managers out with strikeouts and ratios.

The next most added starting pitchers in 15-team Main Events were Cody Bradford (TEX), Drew Anderson (DET), and Hunter Dobbins (STL). If Bradford maintains good elbow health and his plus control, he should help fantasy managers lower their squad’s WHIPs. The one road block is Bradford’s weekend start at Sutter Health Park in Sacramento against the Athletics. Though the A’s are a shell of their former selves without Rooker, Langeliers, and Kurtz, so perhaps it won’t be that bad. Anderson has two starts this week, but it will take him a few starts to build up to that 75-85 pitch count range, so he’s unlikely to qualify for wins in either start this week, should the Tigers find themselves in that advantageous position. He may be a nice ratio boon in September. Cardinals management pulled the old switcheroo last week, and it was painful for Week 20 investors of Cardinals’ top pitching prospect Quinn Mathews. Mathews pitched a lovely gem in his debut. We were certain he’d stick in the rotation, so we bid big last Sunday with a home-Rockies start on tap, then the wool was pulled over our eyes when Mathews was demoted last Tuesday. Lineups were locked for the week since the Cardinals played on Monday, so those of us with Mathews were stuck staring at a zero in our lineups. Enough complaining, though. Dobbins has produced solid, mostly painless outings, though there have been a few starts where he walked three or more batters. He encounters two tough draws this week: the Phillies on Monday and the Cubs on Sunday. I’m not particularly comfortable with it, so I did not prioritize Dobbins in my bid groups. Or perhaps I’m biased because if those starts don’t go well, perhaps our boy Quinn will get back in the rotation to spin some gems and win, so our Week 20 investments don’t look so grim.

Newest Angels power hitter Moisés Ballesteros had a poor week (4-for-23, no R, HR, or RBI), but officially earned his NFBC catcher eligibility for starting his 10th game there, so some managers prioritized him, raising his AWB to $18.

Hayden Wesneski was the second most added starting pitcher in NFBC’s 12-team national contest behind Jobe. Wesneski’s allure is two-fold: a secure spot in the Astros’ rotation and a pretty-on-paper two-start week against the Giants (road) and Mariners (home). The Giants offense has been depleted by injuries and trades. The Mariners offense has been ice cold, averaging just 3.29 runs per game over the last month. Only the Yankees (3.25) and Angels (2.57). Wesneski pitched well in his second start on Tuesday against the Blue Jays, at home. He allowed two runs on four hits, with two walks and four strikeouts over six innings. I added Wesneski in three of my four OCs, expecting this week to go well for him. Atlanta’s Bryce Elder was acquired for an average of $10, as there is always slight trepidation that he implodes on us. Elder was dominant earlier this season, struggled mightily over a seven-game stretch from May 27 through July 9 (1-4, 8.47 ERA, 1.76 WHIIP),  and has been much better in his four starts since the All-Star break (3-0, 1.88 ERA, 1.00 WHIP). His two-step of Mets and Diamondbacks (both at home) looks mild enough, but we can’t help but worry. In those four starts, Elder’s xERA was 4.33 and his walk rate was over 10 percent. For folks who can still add players before Week 21 locks, I recommend giving Wesneski the nod over Elder.

The Cincinnati Reds promoted 22-year-old outfielder Héctor Rodríguez last Tuesday to face right-handed starting pitchers and provide some pop. At the time of Rodríguez’s activation, his 27 home runs were the second-highest mark in Triple-A after St. Louis Cardinals’ exciting prospect, Joshua Báez. The kid who some (including, probably me) will call “H-Rod” managed just one hit in his first four games, as well as another hit as a pinch-hitter on Sunday. That didn’t stop NFBC managers from spending $16-$17 on him. Veteran TJ Friedl hasn’t made a start in well over a week and Noelvi Marte may rarely start against RHPs going forward unless he heats up, so H-Rod (sorry) will probably stick with the Reds for the relative short term.

With the MLB Trade Deadline falling on a Monday this year — one day after the FAAB deadline — there were plenty of relievers on the bone for acquisition this past Sunday. Giants righty and new closer Dylan Smith was the most added. Smith is primarily a four-seam fastball (95-96 mph) and slider pitcher. The Giants don’t project for many wins going forward, but Smith should have the opportunity to run with the job. If he falters, Keaton Winn would be the candidate most likely to step in. Steven Cruz was a popular add as well, though some managers pumped the breaks after our familiar old friend from The Land of Fantasy Disappointments, Nate Pearson, earned Sunday’s save for the Royals. Cruz earned a save earlier in the week, but came on in the eighth inning in Sunday’s contest before Pearson closed it out. RosterResource lists them as co-closers. I’d bet on Cruz earning more saves going forward, but Pearson’s presence certainly deflates Cruz’s ROS redraft value. Yennier Cano and Andrew Kittredge should continue sharing save opportunities, though Cano has been much more steady. Cano’s stats (2.04 ERA, 2.69 SIERA, 0.91 WHIP, 17.9% K-BB%) are far superior to Kittredge’s (3.67 ERA, 3.84 SIERA, 1.37 WHIP, 12.4% K-BB%) and Cano should be the Baltimore reliever we trust more to not set us back in the ratio categories. Luke Weaver was scooped up in 32% of OCs at a $25 AWB, the highest amount among relievers. He has yet to record a save for the Pirates, but is very likely to be their top option. Lefty Mason Montgomery has been stellar and should occasionally earn save chances, but Weaver is their primary ninth-inning weapon.

A quick shoutout to Boston’s Andruw Monasterio, who has taken the shortstop gig and has run away with it. Monasterio has started 17 straight games there, and though he has just one home run and one stolen base over those 71 plate appearances, he’s slashing .344/.408/.492 with six doubles, 14 runs batted in and a 149 wRC+. Trevor Story was evaluated over the weekend, though a rehab appearance and his return does not seem imminent, so Monasterio should maintain a stronghold on his role for at least the next few weeks.

Drop of the Week

It’s a double-whammy this week as we said goodbye to two starting pitchers with a preseason ADP in the top 100, Hunter Greene and Emmet Sheehan. Greene was activated off the 60-Day IL on July 4 and made five starts — one great, one mediocre, and three really bad — and is officially shut down for at least a year due to a partial UCL tear in his right elbow. Sheehan was unable to build on his breakout 2025 season. Instead, he was wildly volatile and undependable, posting a 5.29 ERA over 20 starts, though he did punch out 108 batters in those 95.1 innings. With Tarik Skubal joining the team, Blake Snell being activated this week, and Tyler Glasnow back soon, there won’t be any room in the Dodgers rotation this season, though he may be recalled sometime soon to bolster the bullpen.