Waiver Wire: May 5
Austin Kearns | OF | Cleveland (9% owned)
Remember the good ol’ days when Kearns was considered good? Well, he’s not quite ready to give up the ghost. After two very lackluster years in Washington, Kearns has found his stroke in Cleveland. He’s currently hitting .333/.405/.561 in 18 games. The .435 BABIP and 27.3 K% lets us know that he’s not going to keep the average above .300 for the year, but there is still hope in the power category. Kearns currently has a .227 ISO rate and he hasn’t surpassed .200 over a full season since ’06 when he slugged 24 homers.
Juan Pierre | OF | Chicago AL (30%)
It’s not often that you’ll find the Major League steals leader available in 70% of leagues at the end of April. Unfortunately, speed is his only offering right now. Have faith, though. Pierre isn’t a great all-around ball player, but he has a career .299 batting average, so he’s going to improve over the .218 that he’s currently hitting. Proven speedsters like Pierre don’t post a BABIP of .227 forever and his 4% strikeout rate shows that he’s putting a lot of balls into play. Quite a few fantasy managers could use his extra 14 steals right about now; just make sure you can afford the hit in batting average.
Nate Schierholtz | OF | San Francisco (2%)
Schierholtz is finally getting a chance to play in San Francisco. The 26-year-old outfielder is currently hitting .350/.426/.517 in 69 at-bats. He’s owned in just 2% of leagues and he’d be in the Top 10 in batting average if he had enough at-bats to qualify. On the downside, he’s being platooned against left-handers (which is actually quite possibly a blessing) and he has yet to hit a homer this year. Have faith, though, the young player has excellent raw power so the homers are going to come. Grab him before he goes on a power run and gains more attention, especially in NL-only leagues.
Jose Contreras | RP | Philadelphia (6%)
With the recent news that Ryan Madson is going to be gone for a while, Contreras moves up in the pecking order for save opportunities. With Brad Lidge being as volatile as a pit bull in a washing machine, Contreras could see some end-game chances in the near future. In nine games, the veteran Cuban has a 0.33 xFIP, as well as a 16.43 K.9 rate and he has yet to walk a batter. Wow. Small sample size be damned. That’s still impressive.
*Ownership numbers based on Yahoo Fantasy Baseball
Marc Hulet has been writing at FanGraphs since 2008. His work focuses on prospects and fantasy. Follow him on Twitter @marchulet.
Waiver wire from 2004? Kearns plays for the tribe.
Happy Cinco de Abril!
Wow. Don’t write at night when you’re tired… you go back in time.
Small sample size, but Lidge has looked alright so far. But I’ve owned Contreras in my NL only league for awhile, just for the Ks and ratios, and hey he might get to start at some point as well. I mean, I don’t really trust Moyer and Kendrick all that well.
Aviles looks like he might be back. With so many mediocre SS’s he could become relevant quickly. He’s 2% owned.
Save speculation is hard work. I’ve already got Broxton and Health Bell, and I’ve currently got Gregerson, Joba, Romo, Meek, and Carlos Villanueva as SV speculation, as well as for Ks and rates (good middle relief is a big reason my pitching is almost always top 3 in Ws and Ks and top 5 in ERA and WHIP).
But now I really want to pick up Contreras (I’ve been watching him pitch against my Cards, and he looks good enough to almost justify that absurd K/9 and BB/9), and I’ve got no one available to drop save the relievers.
Who should I let go of (if anyone)? Gregerson seems the least likely to get saves, but he’s got a good skill set and I think of him as Bell’s handcuff (though that might be Mike Adams unfortunately). Joba has the most upside above and beyond relief, and Romo, Meek, and Villanueva are all behind shaky guys. I guess I should drop Gregerson, but it’s tough!
I would suggest that L Gregerson and S Romo are the most droppable. Gregerson has great stuff but as soon as I saw M Adams consistently pitching the 8th at the beginning of the season I dropped Gregerson. Unfortunately, I had already let Gregerson give up 3 runs in his first IP before he started missing bats again. Not all but many teams turn to their 8th inning guy when the closer is unavailable/hurt/traded and Adams has not been reserved for lefty situations, so I think he’s the guy when H Bell is out. In fact, that’s how Bell got the job, as the regular 8th inning guy before T Hoffman left.
As for Romo, I think B Wilson has a pretty secure job. He has become more consistent as he had garnered closing experience and I don’t see him losing the job anytime soon.
In a deep or NL-only league, Manny Corpas is worth a flyer. He is COL’s best RP and Street is no lock to regain or keep his health.