Last Minute Players to Add in Ottoneu

The end of the regular season is quickly approaching and that means it’s time to get those final auctions started in your Ottoneu leagues before rosters lock for the first phase of the offseason. Any auctions you start before Friday will end before the end of the season which means it’s your last chance to add any prospects, injured players, or even a pitcher for the final weekend of the season. Here are a few recommendations of players owned in less than 70% of Ottoneu leagues in a few different categories.

Prospects

If you’ve got a favorite prospect or sleeper who has quietly had a strong season in the minor leagues, now’s your chance to add them to your roster. One thing to remember about adding any players at this point is that they’ll be subject to the same salary inflation as any other player rostered, but that inflation is halved for prospects. You’ll need to remember to build in that extra dollar into your auction bid if you’re looking to keep the prospect into next year, but it’s also just as easy to cut them at the keeper deadline if the salary ends up being too high.

Here are a few prospects who you might consider adding, though I’m certainly not a prospect expert and am usually reluctant to actually roster a large number of prospects on my Ottoneu teams.

Last Chance Prospects
Player Position Minor League Lvl. FV Roster%
Bryce Eldridge 1B/OF AAA 50 68.7%
Sebastian Walcott SS/3B AA 55 66.8%
Jac Caglianone 1B A+ 50 51.1%
Leodalis De Vries SS A 50 46.7%
Hagen Smith SP A+ 50 41.7%
Colt Emerson SS A+ 50 40.1%
Chase Dollander SP AA 55 38.6%
Travis Sykora SP A 45 11.6%
Alejandro Rosario SP AA 50 11.3%
Chayce McDermott SP AAA 50 8.5%

Personally, I’m more interested in rostering prospects that are closer to the majors who could be potential contributors sooner rather than later. That means I’m usually not looking at players below Double-A, though there are certainly a few interesting names on the list above that are finishing the season in the low minors. Of the players above, I’m most interested in rostering guys like Sebastian Walcott or Bryce Eldridge; both of them had huge minor league seasons and will be quickly knocking on the door of the big leagues as soon as next year.

Injured Players with Keepable Value

Another category of players who could be nice pickups if you’re looking forward to next year are those players currently on the IL and on track to be healthy by the time spring training rolls around. For the most part, that list is populated by pitchers but there are a few injured position players who could be interesting keepers too.

One thing to note about adding these players to your roster is that if they’re on the 60-day IL, they’ll be activated right as the MLB offseason begins and they’ll end up taking up an Ottoneu roster spot as a regular player would. Some leagues have rules about the shape of your offseason rosters, specifically to enforce a team hoarding a ton of 60-day IL players at the end of the season and then entering the offseason with more than 40 players on their roster.

Last Chance Injured Players
Player Position Injury Roster%
Jordan Romano RP Elbow 69.91%
Luis Garcia SP Elbow 62.70%
Cade Cavalli SP Elbow 60.82%
Liam Hendriks RP Elbow 57.05%
Endy Rodriguez C Elbow 45.45%
Lucas Giolito SP Elbow 40.44%
Spencer Turnbull SP Lat 39.81%
Lance McCullers Jr. SP Elbow 32.92%
Esteury Ruiz OF Wrist 28.84%
Tony Gonsolin SP Elbow 27.59%

Picking up any of these injured pitchers is a real gamble since their recovery isn’t guaranteed. Take Luis Garica for example: he was supposed to return from his Tommy John surgery sometime this season and actually started a rehab assignment, but after a couple of setbacks, he’s now looking to regain his health over the offseason. If you really like any of these players and think they can be contributors next year, it might be worth throwing a dollar or two at them at the end of this season, but they’ll be hit by the $2 salary inflation and will most likely be available in the draft anyway.

Last Gasp Players

The final group of players I’ll highlight are for those of you in an extremely close battle in your standings heading into the final weekend of the season and you desperately need a small boost to get you over the edge.

SP/RP Brant Hurter – 42.6% roster%
I wrote up Hurter a few weeks ago and he’s turned in another couple of solid outings since then. He’s being used as a bulk pitcher behind an opener which means you’ll have to monitor his usage and ensure he’s in the right roster slot in Ottoneu, but he should line up to face the White Sox this weekend which is an extremely juicy matchup.

SP Andre Pallante – 21.94% roster%
Pallante has quietly had a really solid second half of the season — 3.60 FIP since the All-Star break — and has turned in two brilliant outings in a row against the Pirates and Guardians. He’s on track to start in San Francisco during the final weekend of the season and that’s as good an environment you can find for a streamer.

SP/RP Landen Roupp – 11.91% roster%
Opposing Pallante in that final series in San Francisco is Roupp, though he’s slated to pitch on Friday. The Giants have been giving Roupp a longer leash out of the starting rotation to finish the season and he’s responded by putting up some decent numbers across three starts.





Jake Mailhot is a contributor to FanGraphs. A long-suffering Mariners fan, he also writes about them for Lookout Landing. Follow him on Twitter @jakemailhot.

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EonADSMember since 2024
2 months ago

Hurter’s changeup has opened up his entire game. That thing has plus, late fade and tunnels well with his sinker and sweeper both while having near-perfect spin efficiency. Nasty, nasty pitch.