Waiver Wire Targets: Week 9

The final week has some interesting two-start pitchers and some well-rounded hitters taking off for teams needing a boost. My one caution for owners is that even though one category (e.g. Saves) could be the easiest to gain (or lose) point in, it is possible to drop in other categories if they are ignored.

As usual, I’m going to at least cover the players in demand using CBS’s (40% 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 by my preference grouped by starters, relievers, and hitters.

Hitters

  1. Jared Walsh (35%): A .415 ISO. Holy crap. Hopefully, he’s still available to help teams.
  2. Chris Taylor (45%): I think I’m all in for the all-around talent (6 HR, 3 SB, .276 AVG) who’s qualified at several positions.
  3. Miguel Rojas (22%): Rojas has been an all category contributor (3 HR, 3 SB, .333 AVG) who should be playing every day as Miami fights for a playoff spot.
  4. Nate Lowe (15%): His production is not as balanced (.282 AVG, 3 HR, 1 SB) as those I ranked ahead of him, but it’s a hell of a lot better than the rest.
  5. Jurickson Profar (39%): It’s interesting to see his value jump around.
  6. Willi Castro (9%): The .347 AVG (.448 BABIP) will drop but to what? It’s not an average-only profile with his five homers.
  7. Manuel Margot (23%): If an owner only needs steals, this low-power part-timer is the guy.
  8. Josh Fuentes (2%): He’s on fire (.339/.349/.525, 2 HR, 1 SB in 63 PA).
  9. DJ Stewart (28%), Jedd Gyorko (5%), and José Marmolejos (6%): Power only profiles with an OK batting average.
  10. Bobby Dalbec (28%): I’m not even sure his six homers are worth a 51% K% at this point.
  11. Ke’Bryan Hayes (22%): Ride the out streak but know the .378 BABIP isn’t going to last and the rest of the profile is boring at best.
  12. Ty France (26%): He’s got the multi-position eligibility and an empty .302 AVG. He’s an accumulator.
  13. Garrett Cooper (24%): It’s Ty France with a lower batting average.
  14. Rougned Odor (40%): Fantasy managers are now interested in Odor since he on a “hot” streak (.238/.273/.714, 3 HR)? Don’t chase his hot streaks, only a cold one is coming next.
  15. Jackie Bradley Jr. (20%): The epitome of a replacement-level outfielder.
  16. James McCann (42%), Jorge Alfaro (34%), Andrew Knapp (1%), and Ryan Jeffers (5%): This week’s members of the catcher carousel.
  17. Mickey Moniak (4%): He’s like Nick Madrigal (AVG and SB), but worse.
  18. Corey Dickerson (36%): I just don’t see the upside here for a platoon bat.
  19. Matt Carpenter (20%): Why? There is nothing to hope for here except the Cards shut him down the Embarrassment Tour.

Starters

  1. Keegan Akin (13%): This week’s best option with two starts against Boston and a Buffalo team who will have nothing to play for on the last day.
  2. Drew Smyly (8%): It’s two starts (vs Padres, vs Rockies). While he was effective in his start off the IL, he only went 3.2 innings (78 pitches).
  3. Brady Singer (51%): A must-add for some team needing Strikeouts and Wins. Singer (4.14 ERA, 8.6 K/9) has two starts against St. Louis and Detroit.
  4. Dean Kremer (27%): It’s just one start against Boston (Eovaldi). While some regression is heading his way, it’s tough to pass up a 1.69 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, and 11.3 K/9.
  5. Jaime Barria (8%): He has been surprisingly OK with a 3.26 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, and an 8.0 K/9. His start is against the Padres.
  6. Tyler Anderson (13%): Consider rostering him in leagues where strikeouts and Wins are needed. His first game is against the Giants and the next is versus the Padres who will likely be taking it easy.
  7. Kris Bubic (16%): It’s one start against Detroit. He’s an OK streaming option depending on who else is on the waiver wire.
  8. Tanner Houck (7%): The 24-year-old righty didn’t allow a run in his five-inning debut and will face Atlanta (Tomlin) next week.
  9. Michael Lorenzen (6%): He’s transitioning to starting and was able to throw five innings in his first start.
  10. Vince Velasquez (20%): The way the rotation is lining up, he’s likely headed to the bullpen for long relief.
  11. Jorge López (4%): There is no way I could recommend him against Toronto.
  12. Cole Hamels (40%): Just stay away. In his first start off the IL he allowed three runs in three innings with his fastball velocity down 3 mph.
  13. Braxton Garrett (6%), Jonathan Stiever (4%), and Luis Garcia (6%): Demoted to the secondary site.

Relievers (Saves based)

  1. Rafael Dolis (25%): A good reliever with the closer’s role.
  2. Stefan Crichton (9%): An OK reliever with the closer’s role.
  3. Greg Holland (49%): An OK reliever with the closer’s role.
  4. Matt Barnes (36%): A below-average reliever with the closer’s role.
  5. Devin Williams (37%): Possibly the league’s best reliever but no Saves.
  6. Alex Reyes (16%): An OK reliever who might have the closer’s role.
  7. Bryan Garcia (4%): A below-average reliever who might have the closer’s role.
  8. Mike Mayers (2%): A good setup man.
  9. John Curtiss (2%): A good setup man.
  10. Yimi García (4%): A good setup man.
  11. Matt Andriese (3%): An average setup man who recently lucked into a couple of Saves.
  12. Yohan Ramirez (10%): An OK setup man.
CBS Ownership Changes
Name Prev Own% Current Own% Diff
James McCann 40% 42% 2%
Rougned Odor 38% 40% 2%
Devin Williams 36% 37% 1%
Jurickson Profar 34% 39% 5%
Corey Dickerson 34% 36% 2%
Matt Barnes 34% 36% 2%
Greg Holland 33% 49% 16%
Brady Singer 31% 51% 20%
Chris Taylor 30% 45% 15%
Jorge Alfaro 30% 34% 4%
Cole Hamels 28% 40% 12%
Bobby Dalbec 27% 28% 1%
Ty France 21% 26% 5%
Ke’Bryan Hayes 21% 22% 1%
Garrett Cooper 19% 24% 5%
Dean Kremer 18% 27% 9%
Manuel Margot 18% 23% 5%
Miguel Rojas 18% 22% 4%
Jackie Bradley 18% 20% 2%
DJ Stewart 17% 28% 11%
Matt Carpenter 17% 20% 3%
Alex Reyes 14% 16% 2%
Rafael Dolis 13% 25% 12%
Vince Velasquez 12% 20% 8%
Kris Bubic 12% 16% 4%
Tyler Anderson 10% 13% 3%
Keegan Akin 9% 13% 4%
Nate Lowe 8% 15% 7%
Yohan Ramirez 8% 10% 2%
Willi Castro 7% 9% 2%
Jaime Barria 6% 8% 2%
Drew Smyly 5% 8% 3%
Michael Lorenzen 5% 6% 1%
Braxton Garrett 4% 6% 2%
Luis Garcia 4% 6% 2%
Jared Walsh 3% 35% 32%
Jose Marmolejos 3% 6% 3%
Jedd Gyorko 3% 5% 2%
Ryan Jeffers 3% 5% 2%
Mickey Moniak 3% 4% 1%
Stefan Crichton 2% 9% 7%
Tanner Houck 2% 7% 5%
Bryan Garcia 2% 4% 2%
Jorge Lopez 2% 4% 2%
Yimi Garcia 2% 4% 2%
Jonathan Stiever 1% 4% 3%
Josh Fuentes 1% 2% 1%
Matt Andriese 1% 3% 2%
John Curtiss 1% 2% 1%
Daniel Palka 0% 1% 1%
Andrew Knapp 0% 1% 1%
Mike Mayers 0% 2% 2%
Alex Lange 0% 1% 1%
Patrick Weigel 0% 1% 1%





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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kevinthecomic
3 years ago

I am in the finals of my daily lineup h2h redraft 12-team 7 x 7 league (R, HR, RBI, SB, BB, OBP, SLG) — start C (d’Arnaud), 1B (Voit), 2B (Albies), SS (Lindor), 3B (J. Ramirez), MI (DeJong), CI (Gyorko), LF (E. Jimenez), CF (Canha), RF (H. Dozier), OF (McNeil), Util (Olson), Bench (Sano, Cronenworth, Grandal), IL (Soler) — need some advice regarding WW pickups at a few positions: (1) CI: Gyorko or Bohm? (2) CF: Canha, Gallo or JBJ Jr.? Thanks!