Arencibia & Alcides: Timely AL Waiver Wire Adds

As we wrap up the month of April it’s time to go back to your waiver wire and sift through some of the names of players that have been dropped over the last few weeks.  Usually they are players who were taken in the later rounds of your draft and, with an early season slow start, have been discarded by their owners and forgotten on the free agent scrap heap.  However, a number of those players are now starting to turn things around and could be timely adds to your roster, whether it’s for a starting position or even just quality depth.  Here are a pair of just such examples and, even better, at thin positions.

J.P. Arencibia, TOR  |C|  Ownership:  Yahoo – 62.0%  ESPN – 27.8%

Obviously the ownership percentage in Yahoo leagues is high, so maybe he’s more of a buy-low trade target than a potential waiver add, but he seems to be readily available in the majority of ESPN leagues out there.

After being listed as a top ten catcher coming into the season, JPA started off so cold that the mere mention of his name gave fantasy owners frostbite.  He went 1-for-7 with a home run on Opening Day and then proceeded to go 1-for-25 over the next seven games with one walk and 10 strikeouts.  By the time he had gotten his next hit, he had a slash line of .063/.156/.118 and if we wasn’t dropped outright, he was being benched by nearly every fantasy owner paying attention.

But that third hit of the season has seemingly done something to  him as Arencibia is currently on a five-game hitting streak and is 8-for-18 (.444) with a pair of doubles, four RBI and one stolen base.  No home runs since Opening Day, but they’ll come soon enough.  His batting average is now up to .200 and it looks like things are clicking for him, finally.  You should look at Arencibia now the same way you looked at him on draft day.  He’s a low average/big power type guy who has the ability to go deep at least 20 times this season, possibly even more.  You won’t get much else from him, but once that Toronto lineup begins to heat up, he’ll throw you in some pretty sound RBI totals as well.

And for those concerned that Travis d’Arnaud, the big-time catching prospect in Triple-A, will soon be promoted thus rendering JPA useless, fear not.  The club wants him to get a full season at the Triple-A level anyway.  It also doesn’t hurt that he’s currently batting just .220 with one home run in the always hitter-friendly PCL.  Arencibia’s job is safe.

Alcides Escobar, KC |SS|  Ownership:  Yahoo – 26.0%  ESPN – 14.9%

While the Royals are mired in a 10-game losing streak, fantasy owners are forgetting about the boys from K.C. not named Hosmer or Butler, so that can easily benefit you, especially if you need help in the middle infield.  Escobar is quietly having himself a solid start to the season, batting .310 with one home run and four stolen bases.  He might not walk too often, but he also doesn’t strike out very much.  Though he hits at the bottom of the lineup, thus limiting his opportunities, Escobar still has the chance to swipe at least 20 bases this year giving him a decent value, especially for what it would cost to get him.

Now it’s true, he is not a .300 hitter by any means.  His average is being supported by a .347 BABIP and should decrease over time.   Still, because he is streaky and has decent speed, he can still be highly useful despite an average that could finish the season under .270.  As a plug-and-play candidate, you could get him on a run like he’s on right now (7-for-13 with two stolen bases) and use him to replace your injured or slumping starter.