Ottoneu Free Agents to Fill Out Games Played

Even though it comes from a football coach, the saying, “The best ability is availability” absolutely applies to Ottoneu baseball leagues, particularly points leagues. Having the best players won’t do you much good if you aren’t able to fill out all your games played.

Just as an example, in one of my points leagues, the best offense is putting up 5.72 points per game. The second best is putting up 5.61. For the second-place team, at that scoring rate, a full season of 162 games per position at all 12 positions would be 10,905.84 points. If the team at 5.71 P/G ends the year having left 35 games on the table, that would be enough to fall behind the other team in total offensive points. Put another way, those teams are separated by 138 points right now. Leaving 24 games on the table could make up that difference.

As injuries, COVID cases, and other issues increase, Ottoneu managers should be searching for players they can add to help max out that 162 games player per position. Here are some names that are rostered in less than 50% of leagues who can help you out.

Catcher
Kyle Farmer – 29.65% Rostered; $1 Median Salary – Farmer is only technically a catcher, but that is the best kind of catcher. He hasn’t caught a game since 2019, but he has catcher eligibility. Meanwhile, he has taken over as the starting SS in Cincinnati for now, and while that job may be in danger as the team gets healthier, he is making a strong case to hold onto it. He appeared as a pinch hitter the day before the All-Star break and has started all but one game since then. Over that stretch of 17 starts, he has a 195 wRC+. Is he going to maintain that? I highly doubt it. But he will likely play regularly – far more than a typical catcher – and he can slot into your lineup at C or any other infield position.

Elias Díaz – 6.1% Rostered; $1 Median Salary – Díaz isn’t as reliable as Farmer, but he is starting more often than not. Thanks to the two catcher slots in Ottoneu, even a part-time guy like Díaz can be useful, as you start him alongside another C when you need him. Like so many other Rockies, Díaz is more useful at home (.327 wOBA) than on the road (.296). But since June 1, his home wOBA is .433 and his road wOBA is .360. That’s a pretty useful bat in any park, particularly at C.

Jacob Stallings – 40.41% Rostered, $1 Median Salary – Stallings overall line on the year is dragged down by a brutal June, in which he posted a 58 wRC+. Every other month he has been above average or very close to it (114 in April, 96 in May, 123 in July, 159 in the tiny portion of August so far). He’s the regular catcher in Pittsburgh, so you can rely on him to be in the lineup. His challenge in Ottoneu is his low power output, which caps his points potential. But if you need a bunch of games at C, and you can look beyond that dreadful June, he’s not a bad option.

Infield
Rowdy Tellez – 45.06% Rostered, $2 Median Salary – Even if you don’t need games at 1B, you should probably be looking at Tellez. He comes cheap, his potential has been well documented, and he is putting up 6.22 P/G since moving to Milwaukee. I have no idea what it is Milwaukee does so well, but they seem to fix a lot of guys and Tellez looks like the latest. He’s one of the few on this list who will not only help you fill out games this year, but could easily be a keeper for 2022.

Ji-Man Choi – 34.3% Rostered, $1 Median Salary – Platoon bats are a little tougher to use as backup plans, because you can’t rely on them to be available when you need them, and Choi is definitely a platoon bat. They also can be easy to miss when you look at total points because they often put up very low-scoring games. For example, in his last ten appearances, Choi has scored 63.8 points. But one of those appearances was a PH walk, which you would not have had in your lineup. So while he has scored 6.38 P/G over that stretch, as a starter he has put up 6.76 P/G (60.8 over 9 games). If you could use another bat in your 1B/Util rotation, you could do a lot worse than that.

Asdrúbal Cabrera – 34.59% Rostered, $1 Median Salary – Asdrubal Cabrera is far removed from his days as a useful starter in Ottoneu leagues, but that doesn’t mean he can’t help you out. The 35-year-old has been playing nearly every day, is putting up more than 6 points per game over his last ten games, and qualifies at 1B, 2B and 3B. Don’t count on 6 P/G going forward, of course, but even at something a couple points per game lower, a freely available bench piece that can slot in all over the infield is pretty useful.

Alcides Escobar/Luis Garcia – 7.27% Rostered, $1 Median Salary/47.09% Rostered, $2 Median Salary – Now all of their former teammates have been shipped to the West Coast, these two have clear paths to playing time up the middle in the nation’s capitol. Garcia is definitely my preferred choice – he is younger and may be part of the future in DC, increasing his potential long-term value. He was putting up 7.48 P/G in Triple-A, which won’t directly translate to MLB, but shows what he is capable of. But Escobar has two things working to his advantage: he is 3B eligible, in addition to 2B, and SS; and he is far more widely available. Unless you desperately need 3B help or can’t get Garcia, I would go with the kid.

Outfield
Sam Hilliard – 15.41% Rostered, $2 Median Salary – Was this entire article just an excuse to talk about Sam Hilliard? That’s entirely possible. I am a huge Hilliard fan so I am very intrigued by his recent performance. He spent some much-deserved time in Triple-A after a rough start to the season, but whatever he did down there seems to have worked. Since coming back after the All-Star break he has a 131 wRC+ in 50 PA. Lately he has also been a regular piece of the Rockies starting lineup, and if he keeps hitting like this, that should continue. He’s another guy who could play his way into being a keeper in addition to helping you fill out your 2021 games played.

Gregory Polanco – 38.37% Rostered, $1 Median Salary – There was a time when Gregory Polanco looked like the next big thing, and while he has shown flashes, it has never really come together. I am still not sure it has, but since June 18 he has a 115 wRC+. The .246 BABIP over that stretch helps me feel good that he can maintain this, if he can stay healthy. That is a big if, but go ahead and take advantage of his performance while you can. As a bonus, he has seven stolen bases in that stretch, without being caught, which adds a nice little boost to his point total.

Adam Engel – 13.08% Rostered, $1 Median Salary – I hesitated to include him because the White Sox are getting healthy and things might get crowded there soon. Between Engel, Eloy Jimenez, Gavin Sheets, Andrew Vaughn, Jose Abreu, Luis Robert, Jake Lamb…there are a lot of moving parts. But Engel is easily the second-best defensive OF of the group and has been hitting well enough to keep his job and he’s playing for now. I don’t believe he is as good as his 142 wRC+ on the year, but I think he is definitely better than some of the projections for him. If you grab him and he loses playing time, feel free to move on. But if you need OF depth, he’s been hitting awfully well since the start of 2020.

Darin Ruf 러프 – 21.22% Rostered, $1 Median Salary – Ruf has managed to outshine even Engel, with a 152 wRC+ on the year. And even that understates how good he has been since the first couple weeks, as he has a 164 wRC+ since April 18. Since coming back to MLB from Korea for the 2020 season, Ruf has been a legitimately elite bat – his 151 wRC+ is 11th among players with 250+ PA (he has 298). He’s nearly 36 years old, so the bottom could fall out at any time, but he should be rostered in far more than 1 in 5 leagues.