Ottoneu Hot Right Now: June 4, 2025

The 2025 version of Hot Right Now will typically include three sections:

1. Current Auctions: A closer look at players being auctioned at a high rate.
2. Roster Adds: Analysis of players with high add% changes.
3. Hot Performers: Players with a high P/G or P/IP in recent weeks.

The FanGraphs Ottoneu team plans to run this feature weekly, updating fantasy managers on the biggest movers in Ottoneu leagues with an analysis of how these players could or could not help your roster.

Current Auctions

Ronny Mauricio – 66 current auctions

It’s not often that I can fully endorse a guy up for this many auctions. There has to be a reason a player is rostered at a low enough level to allow for this many auctions to start. And there is a reason, but it isn’t performance based.

Mauricio has crushed the minors this year, after some brief struggles starting his rehab assignment. His numbers in Triple-A are eye-popping and it is worth remembering that Mauricio is still just 24. His story makes him feel older – he’s been an intriguing prospect since as far back as 2018; he debuted in MLB in 2023; he suffered an injury that cost him all of 2024. For all that time we have been thinking about Mauricio, he is still little more than a prospect, ready to graduate, despite having 108 MLB PA to his name.

So now we have a guy who is managing Triple-A well (for the second time), who already had an impressive first 65 MLB PA before he went cold, being given a chance to show the adjustments he’s made. This is a player I want to roster.

The reason he is so widely available is that he’s coming off a serious injury, he has no positional eligibility, and his role remains unclear. For the near future, you really can’t use Mauricio much. He’s unlikely to be your best option at utility, and it might be a while before he earns eligibility elsewhere. Mauricio started at 3B last night (going 0-4 with a K) but Brett Baty has laid claim to that spot vs. RHP, so Mauricio might be limited to a platoon role. The Mets face two more LHSP in the next 10 days, then they have the Rays (who don’t have a LHSP) and Atlanta (who have one), before they finally, on June 20, face the Phillies and their three LHSP. Things could change, but there is a good chance we are about 3 weeks away from him getting his fifth start at 3B.

He could also play other spots, as he has played both MI positions in the minors this year, but even if he spells Francisco Lindor or Jeff McNeil at times vs. RHP, that won’t get him eligibility much sooner, if at all.

So we are left hoping he at least partially displaces Baty and gets some starts vs. righties. In the meantime, I am happy to roster him, but I am treating him more like a top prospect. I don’t expect to have him in my lineup until he qualifies at another position, but I’ll hold him and see if he proves more useful than I expect.

Triston Casas – 52 current auctions

We are about a month removed from Triston Casas hitting the IL and ending his season prematurely, which means we are hitting that window where managers who cut Casas can now re-auction him and cut him again to reduce their cap penalty. Maybe some of those managers plan to stash Casas, but I suspect he’ll be back on the market in a lot of leagues.

That said, he is on the 60-day IL so if you have enough cash to do it, he isn’t a bad stash option. He won’t use a roster spot, so if you don’t need the money, you might as well hold and see what happens in the off-season.

Roster Adds

Daniel Palencia and Ronny Henriquez – Add% Change (7 Days) – 49.2% and 39.8% respectively

Both were covered in last week’s edition when they were being auctioned. Since then, Henriquez had one rough inning, while continue to pile up strikeouts. Palencia has further solidified his job as the Cubs closer. Palencia is still the one I want.

Cole Young – Add% Change (7 Days) – 35.2%

Young has used good plate discipline and a consistently high line drive rate to make up for the fact that he offers limited power. In his brief MLB career, he is struggling to adapt to big league pitching. He has 3 K and 1 walk in 11 MLB PA, with just one hit, though he did walk off his first MLB game, which is pretty cool.

If you are intrigued by Young, or have Young, the upside is that his defense is strong at 2B, keeping him regularly in the lineup, allowing him to adjust so he can be a high average/high OBP who hits 10-15 HR while stealing 20 bases over a full season. In most Ottoneu formats, that isn’t that exciting. It can play, but things really need to break right and the upside is limited. He is more intriguing in 5×5 where the speed helps him play up relative to Ottoneu Points or 4×4 leagues.

Hot Performers

Stats reflect the last 14 days for both hitters and pitchers. Players selected are usually rostered at lower levels.

Carlos Santana – (10.8 P/G)

I hated the Santana signing for the Guardians and for a while felt fairly vindicated by his performance. Through April 23, he had a 59 wRC+. Since April 23, his wRC+ is 180. That’s pretty good and that’s a legit 5-6 week stretch, not just 10 games or something. BABIP is playing a role – and he has never been a high BABIP guy – but he’s also flashing decent power, walking a ton (even by his standards) and avoiding strikeouts. The big improvement is that after five straight seasons of being a below average hitter vs. RHP, he is mashing righties this year – and his BABIP against righties isn’t driving that.

I am not going to tell you Santana is back to being the OBP stalwart he was for years, but a lot of this hot streak looks legit and it has been going on a while now. He should be more than 25% rostered, though I expect age will catch up to him again soon and when it does, he’ll become a cut again. But right the wave while you can.