Waiver Wire: July 15th

Two blasts from the past that could give your team a little nudge in the right direction…

Freddy Garcia | SP | White Sox | 13% owned

You have to hand it to the now 35-year-old Garcia. The guy made just 23 starts over the last three seasons because of shoulder issues, but he’s returned this year and hasn’t missed a single start. The former Randy Johnson trade bait has fired off ten quality starts in his last 12 outings, and has pitched to a 3.25 ERA since late-May. No, the season peripherals don’t line up (5.57 K/9, 2.69 BB/9, 1.21 HR/9), but they have been better during this recent run of success (6.15 K/9, 1.88 BB/9, 0.68 HR/9).

(R) ZiPS understandably predicts just eight more starts with a 4.93 ERA (4.61 FIP) and 5.79 K/9 the rest of the season, but Chicago’s schedule features 13 consecutive games against the Mariners and Athletics following this weekend’s four game set with Minnesota, so there’s definitely an opportunity to steal some wins here. Plus the ChiSox never seem to lose these days (25-5 over the last month or so). If nothing else, recent history is on his side.

Corey Patterson | OF | Orioles | 10%

Yeah yeah yeah, call me hypocrite, I deserve it. Admitting your mistakes is part of the fantasy game, we’ve all been there. In my defense, we’ve reached the point of the season where legitimate bargains are nowhere to be found on the waiver wire, replaced by the usual dreck of injury fill-ins and the occasional player on a hot streak. Patterson is one of those guys on a hot streak.

Since mid-June, Patterson has fashioned a more than solid .333/.362/.468 batting line from atop Baltimore’s lineup, and best of all he’s stolen ten bags in that time. His season BABIP sits at .361, and during the recent hot streak it was an unsustainable .416, but there’s no reason we can’t ride this thing out, especially when there are stolen bases involved. (R) ZiPS calls for 204 plate appearances of utter mediocrity the rest of the way (.249/.288/.389, eight steals), but if he can chip in a half-dozen steals and not kill your AVG over the next week or two, what’s not to like?

Ownership rates are based on Yahoo! leagues.