Waiver Wire: Replacing Posey Edition

by
May 26, 2011

By now you’ve seen the play and heard the news; Buster Posey will miss significant time after tearing ligaments and breaking his leg in a collision at the plate last night. Despite a subpar start to the season (just a .341 wOBA), Posey was still one of fantasy’s top backstops and will be tough to replace. Here’s a few guys lying on the waiver wire that can help fill the void…

Ryan Doumit | Pirates | Ownership: 15% Yahoo!, 1.7% ESPN

It’s been a while since Doumit broke out with a .367 wOBA in 495 PA back in 2008, which he then followed up with consecutive seasons of sub-.330 wOBA’s. He’s righted the ship a bit this year, coming into today with a .272/.337/.446 (.342 wOBA) line and solid peripherals (8.8 BB%, 17.4 K%, .174 ISO). The rebound is coming at a good time too, because the Bucs have to make a decision about Doumit’s 2012 and 2013 options after the season. As an added fantasy bonus, he’s also OF eligible.

Jonathan Lucroy | Brewers | Ownership: 28% Yahoo!,32.2% ESPN

Lucroy missed the start of the season after breaking a finger late in Spring Training, but he’s been pretty fantastic since returning in mid-April. A 5.5% walk rate is nothing special, but an overall batting line of .321/.369/.509 (.385) with five homers sure is when it comes to catchers. Lucroy will come back to Earth a bit once his .369 BABIP regresses (and it will since he’s hitting more and more balls in the air), and a 17.2% HR/FB rate isn’t sustainable as well. ZiPS calls for a .266/.327/.396 line the rest of the way, which isn’t terrible for the position and should lead to a decent amount of RBI given the lineup he’s in.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia | Red Sox | Ownership: 8% Yahoo!,0.8% ESPN

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Salty’s .240/.296/.340 (.314 wOBA) batting line is easy to overlook, but he’s been tearing the cover off the ball for more than three weeks now (.283/.333/.585 since April 30th). He’s not walking at all (6.9 BB%), but as a switch-hitter with some pop in that lineup and in that ballpark? It shouldn’t be a surprise that Saltalamacchia has put that April slump behind him to turn into a productive hitter for the Red Sox or in fantasy. It’s worth mentioning that ZiPS hates him though, pegging him for .233/.306/.395 with seven homers the rest of the way. I’ll take the over thanks to Fenway.





 

Mike writes about the Yankees at River Ave. Blues and baseball in general at CBS Sports.

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bartleby
14 years ago

Playing time is the big issue with Doumit. He’s been productive when on the field. If I’m the Pirates, I call the Giants right now and see if anything’s possible.

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AK707
14 years ago
Reply to  bartleby

Sabean has a track record with them. Morris for Davis? Alderson for Sanchez? Both those look like winners for the G-men, tho Alderson is actually striking people out this year instead of giving up dongers. Maybe Sabes can spin something filthy, like Clayton Tanner for Doutmit? The Pirates are pretty big losers when it comes to trades, so anything is possible.

0
buzz
14 years ago
Reply to  AK707

don’t forget Jason Schmidt for Rios and Vogelsong…

0