Waiver Wire: July 1st
A late evening edition of the scrap heap all stars, featuring one arm and one bat…
Gio Gonzalez | SP | Athletics | 28% owned
The curveball extraordinaire has developed into a rock solid workhorse for the A’s, posting a 4.34 xFIP even though his strikeout rate has dipped below one per inning for the first time in his (relatively short) big league career. (R) ZiPS isn’t very optimistic because they expect his walk rate and BABIP to climb in the second half. I’m a fan because Gonzalez misses bats with his curve and his velocity is at an all-time high. Gio’s final two starts before the break come on the road in Cleveland and at home against the Yankees.
Andres Torres | OF | Giants | 10 %
If you can quietly stand on 2.8 WAR on July 1st, Torres is doing it. The 32-year-old switch hitting outfielder has posted a strong .272/.371/.443 triple-slash line with 35 runs scored and 14 steals, setting the table atop the Giants’ lineup. (R) ZiPS predicts a crash back to Earth (.334 wOBA) mostly because his previous big league exploits have been uninspiring. As long as he’s producing at his current levels, he’ll have value in basically all leagues and is worth a spot on your roster.
Mike writes about the Yankees at River Ave. Blues and baseball in general at CBS Sports.
I feel like, at the moment, Torres, Pagan, and Crisp are all the same player. I have both Crisp and Torres on my team and Pagan is available. I’m stuck in a hard place here because I love Torres because I’m a Giants fan but I think Pagan will be better for the ROS. Do I dare drop him?
Do you think Fowler, Torres, or Tabata would provide more steals RoS?
Fowler has two tonight, and if he keeps playing time it will be him. It all depends on what you think the Rockies will do rest of season. I’ll have Torres second, and Tabata third.
Andres Torres was really hot for a month, and he’s gone cold now. I think you’re a few weeks late on him. His defense is still excellent, but for fantasy purposes, I don’t expect too much offense from him going forward.
I’ve bounced between Tabata, Pagan, Torres and Bernadina during the past few weeks in 6×6 (OBP) – originally I drafted Fowler and cut him when he was sent down. Currently I’ve got Pagan and Bernadina, I think they provide a little more pop than the other guys.
I think Pagan is the best of that bunch, but his playing time will probably take a hit when Beltren gets back. I like Bernadina’s walks and his 6th or 2nd spot in the lineup as I can use all the RBI I can get. After him I’d take Tabata since he seems to get the most regular playing time and has been running a lot.
Last is a toss up between Fowler and Torres. In H2H (the league I’m referring to) I’d probably take Torres last in that crew, since he’s cooled off a lot and it’s essentially one dimension AND in a lousy lineup.
Hard to figure out Torres. His splits this year are the opposite of last year. He’s still drawing walks so i imagine there’s value in an OBP league but beyond that I think the shine is gone. If DeJesus does get traded to SF I think Torres may be the 4th outfielder.