Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire: Top 10 Pickups for Week 25
Heading into MLB's penultimate week, the top fantasy baseball adds are about to get weird.
In June, everyone would probably ignore most of these guys, fully expecting them to fall off by the All-Star break. With only two weeks left on the schedule, gamers might as well go for the ride.
This list features a few highly regarded veterans catching a second wind during a down year. Others are unlikely rookies heating up and two journeyman veterans suddenly becoming relevant for the first time in years. Three pitchers come from a team whose staff became a punchline for most of the year.
Keep an open mind with these waiver-wire suggestions. All available in over half of Yahoo Sports leagues, most remain unclaimed in significantly more. If they can keep the magic going for a tad longer, they'll sway some championships.
Honorable Mentions
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Mixed Leagues
Eddie Rosario, 2B/OF, Minnesota Twins
Kelby Tomlinson, 2B/SS, San Francisco Giants
Jake Marisnick, OF, Houston Astros
Tommy Pham, OF, St. Louis Cardinals
CC Sabathia, SP, New York Yankees
Tyler Duffey, SP, Minnesota Twins
AL-Only
Carlos Perez, C, Los Angeles Angels
Taylor Featherston, 2B/3B/SS, Los Angeles Angels
Jake Smolinski, OF, Oakland Athletics
Adam Warren, SP/RP, New York Yankees
Cody Martin, RP, Oakland Athletics
NL-Only
Dustin Garneau, C, Colorado Rockies
Jordy Mercer, SS, Pittsburgh Pirates
Melvin Upton Jr., OF, San Diego Padres
Jhoulys Chacin, SP, Arizona Diamondbacks
Ariel Pena, RP, Milwaukee Brewers
10. Adam Conley, SP/RP, Miami Marlins (1 Percent Owned)
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Teams out of contention often provide gems for fantasy owners in the heat of a playoff race. Fresh off the best start of his career, Adam Conley waits on nearly every league's wavier wire as an interesting streaming opportunity.
Last week, the 25-year-old rookie tossed seven shutout innings against the New York Mets, baseball's hottest offense since late July. The lefty limited them to three hits and no walks, notching six strikeouts. In his last six starts, he has accumulated 35 punchouts through 31 innings.
His 4.22 ERA and 1.39 WHIP won't impress anyone, but the Miami Marlins newcomer will make a home start against the Philadelphia Phillies this week. The Phillies are better against lefties than righties, but that just means they're below average rather than one of the worst.
Conley has also harnessed an unheralded skill. He 22.4 infield fly-ball percentage places first among all pitchers with at least 40 innings pitched. While most batted balls can find open terrain, a light pop-up will almost always land harmlessly into a defender's glove, also forcing baserunners to stay put.
Big ballpark, weak offense and a pitcher inducing strikeouts and weak contact. Sounds like a nice streamer.
9. Wilin Rosario, C/1B, Colorado Rockies (26 Percent Owned)
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The Colorado Rockies play seven games at Coors Field this week. Four are slated against left-handed starting pitchers (J.A. Happ, Jeff Locke, Brett Anderson and Alex Wood). It's Wilin Rosario's time to shine.
Once a top-five fantasy catcher due to his immense power at home, the 26-year-old now sports a .689 OPS due to a dismal five homers and six walks through 222 plate appearances. Most people rightfully dumped him months ago.
Time to grab him back for old time's sake. Over his career, Rosario has registered an .878 OPS at home and a .945 OPS against lefties. Whether at first base or catcher, Colorado typically gets his bat into the lineup against southpaws. He not only starts, but he usually bats fourth or fifth.
He also hasn't homered since June 23, but that could change this week. Don't be surprised if some head-to-head players are furious over Rosario contributing to their demise.
8. Robbie Ross, SP/RP, Boston Red Sox (4 Percent Owned)
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Back in April, eager and energetic managers will snatch up any relief pitcher who locks down a single save. Five months later, they're too tired to care.
Robbie Ross doesn't give anyone reason to get excited. He holds a 3.97 ERA, 49 strikeouts and 19 walks through 56.2 innings for the Boston Red Sox. Rather than throwing gas like most relievers, he excels on the strength of a 50.0 ground-ball percentage.
He has also pocketed four saves this month. Granted, he needed one out to snag the first one and salvaged the third in spite of surrendering two runs. Let's discuss the ludicrousness of the save category another day. Fantasy gamers need them, and Ross now belongs to a select club of guys afforded chances to get them.
Nitpicking for optimism, he has also struck out over a batter per inning since the All-Star break. While his 3.66 first-half ERA has jumped to 4.38, his fielding independent pitching (FIP) dipped from 4.55 to 3.27. He's not awful, and that's good enough from a widely available pitcher in line for saves.
7. Angel Pagan, OF, San Francisco Giants (17 Percent Owned)
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Hardly the most exciting outfielder these days, Angel Pagan is hitting a tame .266/.303/.330 with two homers and nine steals. The veteran has lost any semblance of power he once possessed, but he remains a solid speed source in deeper formats.
During September, he's hitting .319 (22-for-69) with two homers and three steals. Riding the hot hand, the San Francisco Giants have vaulted him up to the leadoff spot, optimizing his plate appearances and thus providing more chances to reach base, steal bases and score runs.
In five-outfielder formats, that's a useful guy to have around, especially for anybody needing help in stolen bases. The only other three years when he logged at least 100 games, Pagan swiped 98 combined bags from 2010-12. Even last year, he poached 16 in 98 games.
The 34-year-old's not a flashy add, but he'll scatter some hits, runs and hopefully a couple of steals over the final two weeks.
6. Jake Peavy, SP, San Francisco Giants (16 Percent Owned)
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Jake Peavy suddenly doesn't look washed up anymore. On Wednesday, the 34-year-old matched a season-high eight strikeouts against the Cincinnati Reds, allowing two runs during his third consecutive victory.
Hold up there, this is supposed to be a win-free zone. Relax, he earned those triumphs by allowing six combined runs in 18.2 innings, notching 15 strikeouts to two walks. He even held his own at Coors Field, limiting the Colorado Rockies to three runs.
This usually wouldn't be enough to recommend an aging hurler with a 4.08 ERA and 6.60 strikeouts per nine innings. Yet this late in the game, pitcher pickups are all about matchups. Peavy will return to his old stomping grounds, Petco Park, to face the San Diego Padres.
The pitcher's paradise won't magically transform him back into an ace, but he should string together a strong outing against a squad ranking No. 28 in weighted on-base average (wOBA). At home, he stymied the Padres to two hits and one run on Sept. 11. For anyone looking for a streamer, there's nothing more beautiful than a hot hand and good matchup aligning.
5. Domingo Santana, OF, Milwaukee Brewers (4 Percent Owned)
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There are clear warning flags within Domingo Santana's torrid power surge. A .386 batting average on balls in play (BABIP) has helped him hit .280 despite a 33.8 strikeout percentage. Over half of his batted balls are grounders, and one-third of his fly balls have left the park for his eight homers.
Acquired from the Houston Astros in the Carlos Gomez trade, the Milwaukee Brewers couldn't have anticipated getting the better of the deal this season. Yet the 23-year-old outfielder has generated an .894 OPS since joining the big leagues. In this historic sea of rookie standouts, Santana has blended in as just another guy.
Remember those red flags next spring before spending a high pick on him, but regression doesn't always arrive immediately. Until pitchers make necessary adjustments, his raw power can engineer a few more dingers for fantasy owners needing power.
When it comes to power bats, most managers can't afford to be picky during the last days of summer. While he's not a blue-chip prospect a la Kris Bryant or Miguel Sano, he hit .333/.426/.573 with 18 homers before the promotion. Had he frequented top prospect rankings this spring, everybody would be drooling over Santana rather than letting him fester in free agency.
4. Eduardo Rodriguez, SP, Boston Red Sox (34 Percent Owned)
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What's better than streaming a streaking pitcher with a solid matchup? Streaming a streaking pitcher with two solid matchups.
Eduardo Rodriguez has allowed six earned runs over his last five starts, keeping the opposition to one in each of his past three outings. The rookie southpaw looked particularly crisp over his latest two turns, recording seven strikeouts against the Phillies and nine versus the Baltimore Orioles.
He'll start the week against the Tampa Bay Rays, a tougher offense against lefties but still a strikeout-prone lineup without potent power. He'll conclude the weekend with another shot at Baltimore, giving him two opponents in the top 10 of strikeout percentage against southpaws.
Like any rookie pitcher, Rodriguez is a risky choice. This is the same guy who twirled seven superb innings at Yankee Stadium, only to get torpedoed for eight runs at Miami. He has finished 14 of his 19 starts with two earned runs or fewer, but he has relinquished 33 during the other five mishaps.
A high-risk, high-reward gamble, he's at least a good bet to compile double-digit strikeouts this week. Go big or go home.
3. Billy Butler, 1B, Oakland Athletics (35 Percent Owned)
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Better late than never, Billy Butler is finally showing a pulse for the Oakland Athletics.
After sleeping through most of the opening season of his three-year deal, the designated hitter is hitting .338 (23-for-68) with four homers and 14 RBI this month. That outburst, however, has only proven enough to bolster his OPS to .710.
Yet "Country Breakfast" has served up more power this year, padding his homer tally to 13. Hot streak aside, his .283 BABIP represents a career low. The 29-year-old has two weeks to repair a career-worst .252 average.
Oakland plays the Texas Rangers and Giants this week, but it will avoid Cole Hamels and Madison Bumgarner. That leaves a bunch of exploitable right-handed pitchers, all of whom give Butler a golden opportunity to keep raking.
2. Rich Hill, RP, Boston Red Sox (4 Percent Owned)
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"Rich Hill. Yeah, that name vaguely rings a bell. Hmm, I think I drafted him in 2007. Then he kind of disappeared. Why do you bring him up?"
The 35-year-old, who hadn't made a major league start since 2009, has posted a pair of 10-strikeout games in both of his September starts. After stifling the Rays to one hit through seven innings, he allowed three runs through seven against the formidable Toronto Blue Jays inside the Rogers Centre.
Against Tampa Bay, Hill didn't allow a single line drive or hard-hit ball. Maybe he's just super well-rested? Either way, it's awfully tempting to roll the dice for one more gem against Baltimore, another opponent with high-strikeout tendencies.
Felix Hernandez has two double-digit strikeout games all season. Zack Greinke has one. It's not an easy feat, and Hill has accomplished it twice in two tries. Even if it's fool's gold, there's immense upside in the K column.
1. Franklin Gutierrez, OF, Seattle Mariners (8 Percent Owned)
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If Franklin Gutierrez is going to keep pretending he's Babe Ruth, everyone might as well jump on board for the ride.
Much like the Chewbacca defense, his .692 slugging percentage does not make sense. Yoenis Cespedes has a .634 slugging percentage through his 46 amazing games with the New York Mets. Does that make Gutierrez an AL MVP candidate?
This is a career .259/.310/.406 hitter who has spent most of his tenure shuttling between the majors and Triple-A. The 32-year-old outfielder, who hit a career-high 18 homers in 2009, has crushed 15 long balls in 50 games this season.
This does not make sense. An insane 40.5 percent of his fly balls have cleared the fences, and a .356 BABIP has helped him maintain a shiny .319 average. He can't keep this up, but it's tough to ignore someone with a homer in four straight starts.
Remember, he only needs to stay hot for two more weeks. Heck, one more week would make him a worthwhile grab at this juncture of the season.
Note: All advanced statistics courtesy of FanGraphs.
