Waiver Wire: April 29th
Going to change it up a little bit today and give you one two rolls of the dice and one no-brainer…
John Jaso | C | Rays (1% owned)
Unless you were able to go out an nab a Joe Mauer or a Victor Martinez, I’m a big believer in getting whatever production you can out of the catcher’s spot even if it means picking up a new guy every few days and just riding the hot hand while it lasts. Jaso was recalled after Kelly Shoppach hit the disabled list, and he’s started five of the team’s last six games (with a hat tip to Dioner Navarro’s two game suspension). During that time, he’s hit .412/.522/.647 with eight frickin’ runs batted in, zooming him past guys like Martinez, Matt Wieters, Geovany Soto, and Russell Martin on the leaderboard. It’s obviously an unsustainable pace and the RBI’s are just a function of opportunity, but if you’ve got a two catcher setup, or are in an AL-only or deep mixed league and weren’t able to land one of the big three, you could do a lot worse than grabbing Jaso and enjoying his hot streak, even if it only lasts into the weekend. Every little bit helps.
Jonathon Niese | SP | Mets (4%)
Okay, I’m going to admit that this one is nothing more than an ever so slightly educated hunch, but I like Niese’s next matchup against the Phillies. First of all, the opposing starter in Kyle Kendrick, who is certifiably awful and increases the chances of a Mets win. Secondly, even though Chase Utley has no platoon split (seriously, dude’s got a .386 wOBA vs. LHP and a .387 wOBA vs. RHP in his career), Ryan Howard and Raul Ibanez sure do, and both are susceptible to breaking balls just like Niese’s big ol’ Uncle Charlie. That’s half the meat in the middle of Philadelphia’s lineup right there (though Ibanez sitting in favor of Ben Francisco is a possibility), and don’t discount the magic winning powers of Ike Davis (kidding … or am I?). Like I said, it’s just a hunch, but who doesn’t enjoy disregarding common sense every once in a while? You have just enough time to grab Niese for tomorrow night’s start, if you’re willing to roll the dice of course.
Colby Rasmus | OF | Cardinals (76%)
How in the world is this guy still available in one out of every four leagues? Rasmus leads the National League in OBP (.459) and is second in ISO (.424), giving him the second highest wOBA in baseball (.493). His six homeruns are good for the second most among all outfielders, and his RBI total should start to climb once Matt Holliday decides it’s probably best for the team if he gets on base more than 32.6% of the time. I suspect that if you’re reading this site, you’re well aware of Rasmus’ exploits and he’s either on your team or is already owned in your league, but damn, one out of four? Really?
Ownership rates are based on Yahoo! leagues.
Mike writes about the Yankees at River Ave. Blues and baseball in general at CBS Sports.
i believe ibanez has had a reverse split for the last few years
I gotta say, I am benching Niese in that match-up. The Phillies have been a killer for decent pitchers the last few years and Niese hasn’t shown enough this year to make me think he can handle the matchup. His WHIP so far of 1.86 and the hits and walks that go with it are likely to turn into runs against that good Phillies line-up.
Which side do you like:
I give Aramis + Kershaw for Zimmerman + Guitierrez (Qualls handcuff).
Wow tough one. You got the best player in the deal (Zimmerman) which is usually how I determine winner/loser. But IMO a closer handcuff is about as valuable as a 3rd catcher (which means not very valuable) so if I look at it like that I might say you lost the trade… I’d say this whole trade depends on Aramis Ramirez. He is capable of putting up very similar numbers to Zimmerman and if he does that you lose big time on this trade…
Would Wainwright for Rasmus and Price be a fair offer? I’d be giving Wainwright.
It would be, but you better be pretty confident in Rasmus/Price to sustain their breakouts. I’d rather be holding Wainwright personally (In fact I traded Lester, Rasmus, Ian Stewart, and Miguel Cabrera for Morneau, Wainwright,and Rafi Soriano in week 1. Suffice it to say I like Wainwright’s fantasy value a lot.
Do the ownership numbers Yahoo! reports include only standard leagues? Because I would imagine the fraction of leagues with a very small number of teams is pretty close to a quarter. For instance, my brother is in TWO mixed leagues with 4-5 other people. I doubt any of them own Rasmus.
Many Yahoo! leagues are notorious for draft and ditch. So that would make sense that Rasmus may not have been drafted in some of those leagues. Also, I don’t know if Yahoo! has format set up for NL and AL-Only leagues, but if they do, obviously AL-Only leagues would not include Rasmus.
There are all sorts of funky leagues like that out there.
The point is well taken, though, any league with typical player pools and scoring should see Colby owned.
My point is that every league with typical player pools and scoring (and active managers) might *already* see Colby owned.
A-Team – Thanks. I know it’s a high risk/reward trade, which I guess I’m willing to take. I’ve got a couple of other bonafide SP’s in Jimenez, Garza, and Kershaw. The other owner will probably reject anyway…
I drafted Jay Bruce and Rasmus is un-owned right now. Is that a no-brainer swap? This league uses OBP and SLG instead of AVG. Bruce has hit well the last couple weeks after a bad start.
Bruce for Rasmus is not a no brainer. You must have someone worse to drop for Rasmus as you can’t leave him in the ww unless this is an 8 team league.
A-team, I would have to say you got hosed in that deal. Cabrera is better than Morneau so you lost that swap, Lester is equal to Wainwright so that is a wash and you gave up Rasmus and Stewart for Soriano which is a lot to give up especially as Rasmus continues to break out.
Matty G, if this is a keeper league then I would definitely trade Wainwright for Price and Rasmus. If it is a one year league I would probably still do it, although I will admit that Wainwright is safer than either of those two but you don’t win leagues (especially competitive ones) by playing it safe. Grab guys with explosive growth potential and ride the wave to the title.
Transaction deadline for my NL league is Thursday morning. Read your article and activated Jon Niese based on your writing. NICE CALL. Owe you one