Waiver Wire Report (3/22/23)

I don’t have a good feel on who will or won’t be available on waiver wires this weekend. I normally look at players who are rostered in 40% or fewer CBS leagues, but I bumped up the number to ~50%. I gave Yahoo a look and the only players moving a lot are some of the relievers featured below. For that reason, I will take requests for players in the comments to place them in the above list and add them to the rankings Wednesday night or Thursday morning.

In the article, I cover the players using CBS’s (about 50% or less initial roster rate) and Yahoo’s ADD/DROP rates. Both hosting sites have the option for daily and weekly waiver wire adds. CBS uses a weekly change while Yahoo looks at the last 24 hours. Yahoo is a great snapshot of right now while CBS ensures hot targets from early in the week aren’t missed. The players are ordered for redraft leagues by my rest-of-season preference grouped by starters, relievers, and hitters.

The names with an * were requests from the crowd.

Batters

* Elvis Andrus: He will be soon dual-position qualified while leading off.

Ha-Seong Kim 김하성: Projected for around 15 SB and 15 HR in 600 PA. Nice balance.

Garrett Mitchell: If getting full-time at-bats, he could steal 20 to 30 bases and hit a dozen home runs. Projections for his batting average are all over the place (.227 to .250). Also, projections have him for a sub-.700 OPS so there is a chance he struggles and is demoted.

Wil Myers: The 32-year-old is dual-qualified and could provide a balance of power, speed, and average.

Seth Brown: Steady all-around contributor who is qualified at the infield and outfield. Could end up in a platoon.

Jurickson Profar: Profar is so tough to value. In over 650 PA last season, he had 15 HR and 5 SB. He’ll see a batting average boost playing in Colorado, but might not be startable on the road.

Mark Canha: Steady 15 HR, 5 SB, and .250 AVG guy with a low ceiling and high floor.

Avisaíl García: The hope is that he rebounds close to his 2021 stats (29 HR, 8 SB, 262 AVG). The key will be for his strikeout rate to drop (24% in ’21, 29% in ’22).

Eddie Rosario: It seems like he’ll get everyday at-bats, but they could dry up if he struggles. If he were to get 600 PA, he is projected for 20 HR and 10 SB with a .240 AVG.

Isaac Paredes: Qualified at three positions (1B, 2B, 3B) and can hit for power (20 HR in 381 PA and 38 HardHit% in 2022). He’s not going to steal any bases and be a sink in AVG (.209 AVG in 574 career PA).

Jorge Soler: 40 HR power and nothing else.

Adam Duvall: 35 HR power and nothing else.

Oscar Colas: Projected to be the starting right-fielder for the White Sox. His best trait is power but he could struggle with batting average.

* TJ Friedl: I was higher on him just a week ago, but since Will Benson has heated up (.780 OPS, 6 SB), I wonder if Benson will steal some playing time.

Esteury Ruiz: I’m not a fan of rostering bad baseball players and Ruiz hasn’t shown many signs of being good (.452 OPS last season). Even counting seven tracked batted balls from this spring, he hasn’t hit a ball over 100.2 mph (Dee Gordon/David Fletcher zone). I do understand he could go off with the stolen bases if given the opportunity but will be a drag in all other categories.

Jon Berti: A career .688 hitter who could carry a team in stolen bases … if starting.

* Mike Moustakas: He would be going higher if I was sure he wouldn’t get platooned against lefties.

* Brett Baty: While he’s having a hot spring (.914 OPS), he’s not showing much power (.108 ISO). Projections have a wide range of outcomes (.661 OPS to .755 OPS). A combination of power and swing-and-miss.

Jake Fraley: I’m probably the lowest analyst on Fraley. He can’t be started against lefties (.476 OPS) but does provide some late power and speed when he faces a righty.

David Peralta: Peralta is a clone of Fraley but with no stolen bases but on a better team.

Luis Rengifo: He is a decent bench bat who could quickly have three qualified positions (2B, SS, and 3B) with a decent floor but limited upside. If rostered, monitor his playing time to start the season.

Oswaldo Cabrera: I’m worried that his talent (projected for a sub-.700 OPS) will not be able to overcome spotty playing time.

* Trevor Larnach: While he could get some at-bats with several injuries on the team, he’ll struggle with AVG (34% K% in the majors) and provide no steals.

David Hensley: He could see the bulk of the time at second base (i.e. Altuve replacement) with a suspect profile. The nearly 27-year-old isn’t likely to break out so he’s a deep-league filler.

* Elehuris Montero: Unrosterable because he doesn’t have a full-time role.

Miguel Rojas: If a fantasy team has rostered Miguel Rojas, they have failed somewhere along the way.

* Michael Taylor: Even if Taylor was getting full-time at-bats he’d still not be rosterable.

Catchers

Blake Sabol: The Giants Rule-5 pick will be outfield qualified in most leagues but might end up as the nice catcher option. Have a backup option as his playing time becomes clear.

Elias Díaz: A streaming catcher when the Rockies are on at home.

* Cooper Hummel: Backup catcher who could get some part-time at-bats in the outfield. I’m not sure it matters for the 28-year-old who is projected to hit a .668 OPS. His .210 projected AVG is a huge drain in Roto leagues.

CBS Hitter Rostership Rates
Name Previous Roster% Current Roster% Change
Oscar Colas CF CHW 47% 53% 6%
Eddie Rosario LF ATL 44% 55% 11%
Garrett Mitchell CF MIL 41% 44% 3%
Wil Myers RF CIN 40% 43% 3%
Mark Canha LF NYM 40% 42% 2%
Jon Berti 2B MIA 35% 37% 2%
Esteury Ruiz LF OAK 35% 38% 3%
Jon Berti 2B MIA 35% 37% 2%
Seth Brown 1B OAK 34% 38% 4%
Jorge Soler LF MIA 34% 36% 2%
Avisail Garcia RF MIA 32% 35% 3%
Isaac Paredes 3B TB 31% 38% 7%
Luis Rengifo 2B LAA 30% 34% 4%
Ha-seong Kim SS SD 27% 31% 4%
David Peralta LF LAD 27% 35% 8%
Jake Fraley LF CIN 27% 35% 8%
Elias Diaz C COL 26% 32% 6%
Oswaldo Cabrera RF NYY 26% 28% 2%
Miguel Rojas SS LAD 24% 29% 5%
Adam Duvall CF BOS 16% 19% 3%
Jurickson Profar LF SD 14% 19% 5%
David Hensley DH HOU 1% 5% 4%
Blake Sabol 0% 0% 0%

Starters

Eduardo Rodriguez: Rodriguez’s rotation spot is safe and from 2017 to 2021, his strikeout rate was over 9.4 K/9 in each season.

Hayden Wesneski: Roster for the upside. I’d not be surprised one bit if he ends up being the best starter on the Cubs. He has the total package of missing bats, throwing strikes, and generating ground balls.

Clarke Schmidt: When he’s in the Yankees rotation, he needs to be started and rostered in all formats for the Wins and Strikeouts. The big worry with him is the walks (4.2 BB/9 in 70 MLB innings).

Steven Matz: When healthy, Matz needs to be rostered and starting.

Ross Stripling: Safe, boring pick on an OK team.

Mitch Keller: He’s working in a few more pitches with a tick more velocity. Roster to see where his talent stabilizes.

* Graham Ashcraft: He has been dominant in 17 Spring Training innings with 25 K and just 2 BB in 17 IP. And gets the Pirates the first weekend.

Matthew Boyd: I’m worried about his workload coming off Tommy John surgery and how many home runs he’ll allow with the home fences moving in (career 1.6 HR/9). His fastball velocity is back to previous levels.

Nick Martinez: In the Padres rotation right now. Last year he got decent strikeouts while starting (8.1 K/9) but struggled with walks (4.6 BB/9).

Roansy Contreras: While he strikes out a decent number of guys (8.2 K/9), he walks too many (3.7 BB/9) while giving up a ton of flyballs (36% GB%). He might get a limited number of Wins with the Pirates.

Justin Steele: While emphasizing his slider last season, he barely became a serviceable starter. Worth taking a chance on but cut if struggling.

Michael Lorenzen: There is some pitch mix out there that should work for Lorenzen with a focus on this slider (24% SwStr% in Spring Training). Right now, he’s dealing with a groin injury so he should be free in most leagues.

Garrett Whitlock: He’s dealing with a hip issue and I’d rather start the season with all the pitchers above him to see how they perform than wait on Whitlock.

Spencer Turnbull: He has his fastball (94 mph, 9% SwStr%) and slider (18% SwStr%) working this spring but not much else as he returns from Tommy John Surgery. I’m holding off adding him until I see more.

Kyle Bradish: His slider (16% SwStr% in ’22, 20% in Spring Training) is doing all the work with no other pitch taking a step forward. I might become interested if he starts throwing the slider over 40% of the time.

Jared Shuster and Dylan Dodd: I wrote both up last week with both battling for the last spot in Atlanta’s rotation. The “winner” should have a spot in the rotation and that arm I’d move ahead of Conteras with the other to the bottom.

Corey Kluber and Michael Wacha: Boring but streamable arms who have no upside and a ton of downside.

Kenta Maeda: I’m out as he comes back from elbow surgery. His fastball is averaging under 90 mph and he’s walking everyone (6.5 BB/9). There are just too many other arms to take a chance on.

CBS Starter Rostership Rates
Name Previous Roster% Current Roster% Change
Ross Stripling SP SF 39% 44% 5%
Garrett Whitlock RP BOS 39% 43% 4%
Michael Wacha SP SD 38% 49% 11%
Steven Matz SP STL 38% 47% 9%
Spencer Turnbull SP DET 37% 54% 17%
Justin Steele SP CHC 37% 41% 4%
Corey Kluber SP BOS 36% 48% 12%
Kenta Maeda SP MIN 36% 46% 10%
Roansy Contreras SP PIT 35% 37% 2%
Matthew Boyd RP DET 34% 51% 17%
Eduardo Rodriguez SP DET 32% 34% 2%
Hayden Wesneski SP CHC 28% 37% 9%
Michael Lorenzen SP DET 26% 34% 8%
Clarke Schmidt RP NYY 22% 31% 9%
Nick Martinez RP SD 21% 27% 6%
Nick Martinez RP SD 21% 27% 6%
Kyle Bradish SP BAL 20% 24% 4%
Mitch Keller SP PIT 20% 23% 3%
Jared Shuster SP ATL 11% 25% 14%
Dylan Dodd P ATL 1% 10% 9%

Relievers (Saves-based ranks)

José Leclerc: Decent reliever who is most likely the closer.

David Robertson: Decent reliever who is most likely the closer.

Evan Phillips: Great reliever who will get some Saves.

Michael Fulmer: Decent reliever who could end up the closer.

Alex Lange: OK reliever who could end up the closer.

Dylan Floro: Below-average reliever who could be the closer.

Brusdar Graterol: Good reliever who will get some Saves.

Giovanny Gallegos: Good reliever who will get some Saves.

Carlos Estévez: Average reliever who could be the closer but is struggling this Spring Training.

Seranthony Domínguez: Decent reliever who should get some Saves.

Kendall Graveman: Below-average reliever who could be the closer.

Adam Ottavino: Decent reliever who could end up the closer.

Scott McGough: OK reliever who is one of several guys who could be the closer or share the closer role.

Daniel Hudson: Injured reliever who might eventually get a few Saves.

Michael King: Good reliever who might be next in line Saves.

Will Smith: Decent reliever who is next in line for Saves.

CBS Reliever Rostership Rates
Name Previous Roster% Current Roster% Change
Jose Leclerc RP TEX 44% 55% 11%
Evan Phillips RP LAD 42% 45% 3%
Daniel Hudson RP LAD 39% 51% 12%
Kendall Graveman RP CHW 38% 46% 8%
Alex Lange RP DET 35% 44% 9%
Carlos Estevez RP LAA 35% 43% 8%
Dylan Floro RP MIA 35% 39% 4%
Giovanny Gallegos RP STL 34% 37% 3%
Seranthony Dominguez RP PHI 31% 33% 2%
Will Smith RP TEX 30% 42% 12%
Brusdar Graterol RP LAD 19% 23% 4%
Michael King RP NYY 18% 21% 3%
David Robertson RP NYM 13% 69% 56%
Adam Ottavino RP NYM 11% 35% 24%
Michael Fulmer RP CHC 6% 14% 8%
Scott McGough RP ARI 3% 10% 7%





Jeff, one of the authors of the fantasy baseball guide,The Process, writes for RotoGraphs, The Hardball Times, Rotowire, Baseball America, and BaseballHQ. He has been nominated for two SABR Analytics Research Award for Contemporary Analysis and won it in 2013 in tandem with Bill Petti. He has won four FSWA Awards including on for his Mining the News series. He's won Tout Wars three times, LABR twice, and got his first NFBC Main Event win in 2021. Follow him on Twitter @jeffwzimmerman.

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dezremember
1 year ago

Excellent! Thank you, sir