Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire: Top 10 Pickups for Week 16

In most competitive fantasy baseball leagues, it's too late to snag the most game-changing free agent.

The Chicago Cubs caught everybody off guard by calling up Kyle Schwarber after the All-Star break. After making a brief cameo during interleague action, the 22-year-old catcher will now stick around, making him an immediate mixed league option.

Provided he gets enough playing time, the 2014 first-round pick has the bat to start anywhere. Why is he getting mentioned here rather than as Week 16's No. 1 add? When a prospect of his caliber gets promoted during the week, it's old news by Monday.

As of Sunday night, Schwarber held a 49 percent ownership rate in Yahoo leagues. That technically kept him eligible under this column's arbitrarily instituted guideline of below 50 percent, but it still felt like cheating. If he's not owned in a majority of leagues by Monday afternoon, he will be by Monday night.

If he's still available, go grab him. If not, focus your attention on these less obvious selections.

Honorable Mentions

David Zalubowski/Associated Press

Mike Leake, SP, Cincinnati Reds (32 Percent Owned)

Kelly Johnson, 1B/3B/OF, Atlanta Braves (14 Percent Owned)

Eugenio Suarez, SS, Cincinnati Reds (4 Percent Owned)

Tim Cooney, SP, St. Louis Cardinals (3 Percent Owned) 

Michael Conforto, OF, New York Mets (1 Percent Owned)

Previously Mentioned, Still Worth Adding

Aramis Ramirez, 3B, Milwaukee Brewers (44 Percent Owned)

Rougned Odor, 2B, Texas Rangers (41 Percent Owned)

Ken Giles, RP, Philadelphia Phillies (38 Percent Owned)

Roberto Osuna, RP, Toronto Blue Jays (34 Percent Owned)

Brett Anderson, SP, Los Angeles Dodgers (29 Percent Owned)

Randal Grichuk, OF, St. Louis Cardinals (26 Percent Owned)

10. Welington Castillo, C, Arizona Diamondbacks (5 Percent Owned)

Rick Scuteri/Associated Press

Tossed around all season, Welington Castillo's third team has proven a charm. In 28 games with the Arizona Diamondbacks, the twice-jettisoned catcher has carved out a new home by hitting .283/.365/.522 with five homers.

Nobody can blame the Chicago Cubs and Seattle Mariners for casting him aside. Chicago already has a crowded catcher crew with Schwarber, Miguel Montero and David Ross. In 25 at-bats with Seattle, Castillo failed to deliver an extra-base hit.

Now he has caught fire for Arizona, which had previously endured a .542 OPS from Tuffy Gosewisch. A career .253/.320/.403 hitter can make his presence felt behind the plate, especially in two-catcher or NL-only leagues.

9. Brad Miller, 2B/SS, Seattle Mariners (13 Percent Owned)

Ted S. Warren/Associated Press

No shortstop is closer to reaching double-digit home runs and stolen bases than Brad Miller, who respectively has eight and nine this season.

He has also offered a humdrum .243 average with 27 runs and RBI apiece. The 25-year-old isn't becoming the good Ian Desmond, but he currently beats the bad one. While more helpful for daily players, an active manager can utilize Miller's .802 OPS against righties and sit him versus southpaws.

At such a scarce position, anyone with power and speed deserves notice. The streaky Seattle Mariners shortstop is a worthwhile short-term play when rolling and a strong middle infielder in deeper pools. 

He's essentially Marcus Semien, who is owned in 37 percent of Yahoo leagues but trending in the opposite direction. Despite carrying less name value and past success than Desmond and Jimmy Rollins, Miller is providing better immediate value.

8. Robbie Ray, SP, Arizona Diamondbacks (12 Percent Owned)

Ross D. Franklin/Associated Press

Your device is not deceiving you; Robbie Ray has registered a 2.29 ERA through nine starts.

Through 55 innings, the 23-year-old lefty has posted 46 strikeouts and 12 walks. After initially struggling to net many punchouts, he has amassed 30 over his past 30.1 innings. 

His 2.57 fielding independent pitching (FIP) suggests less regression than other telling signs. Opponents have struggled to touch him despite a 39.5 hard-hit percentage, and he has only relinquished two homers while sporting a 43.6 fly-ball percentage.

But no advanced metrics are necessary to surmise Ray finishing with an ERA above 2.29 after debuting with an 8.16 mark last year. The strikeout gains, however, make him worth a look while the good times last.

7. Drew Hutchison, SP, Toronto Blue Jays (43 Percent Owned)

Michael Dwyer/Associated Press

Some onlookers may view Drew Hutchison as one of baseball's luckiest pitchers. Despite a dreadful 5.19 ERA, he's sitting pretty with a 9-2 record for the Toronto Blue Jays. While fortunate in the win column, he's actually MLB's unluckiest hurler elsewhere.

No starting pitcher carries a greater difference between his ERA and FIP than Hutchison, who holds a passable 3.75 FIP. The popular preseason sleeper has tallied 94 strikeouts and 32 walks through 104 frames, but he has already yielded 121 hits.

A 25.0 line-drive percentage factors into his troubles, but only Nathan Eovaldi has a higher batting average on balls in play (BABIP) than Hutchison's .350. The BABIP doesn't fully excuse his struggles, but he's a solid starter getting torpedoed.

The 24-year-old righty has fallen victim to too many blowup outings, allowing six or more runs on four separate occasions. For now, stream him against a weak opponent until he builds back more trust.

6. Jonathan Schoop, 2B/3B, Baltimore Orioles (6 Percent Owned)

Carlos Osorio/Associated Press

In nine games back from the disabled list, Jonathan Schoop has already pummeled three homers. The 23-year-old second baseman now has six long balls in 61 plate appearances this season.

Through 160 career games, Schoop has now deposited 23 home runs. That comes with a .222/.256/.392 slash line and 24.7 strikeout percentage, but hey, power isn't easy to find from a middle infielder. For that matter, nobody will find a .661 slugging percentage at any position.

Don't expect a Giancarlo Stanton impersonation throughout the season, but he has flashed serious muscle on his way up the Baltimore Orioles farm system. This surge has won the youngster regular playing time, giving him a chance to make a major power impact.

Unless he learns to take a pitch or three, Schoop's .305 average will drastically decay. Yet how many other second basemen are threats to tally 10 dingers the rest of the way?

5. Carter Capps, RP, Miami Marlins (7 Percent Owned)

Lynne Sladky/Associated Press

Any reliever who makes the cut either recently fell into saves or is on the cusp of receiving an opportunity. Not Carter Capps, who won't usurp the superb A.J. Ramos as the Miami Marlins closer.

Yet through 26.1 excellent innings, he has shown the makings of an elite setup man, a la Wade Davis or Dellin Betances. The 24-year-old has already recorded 50 punchouts, giving him 17.09 strikeouts per nine innings—higher than Aroldis Chapman and all other relievers with at least 20 innings pitched. His ridiculous 25.7 swinging-strike percentage also tops the leaderboard.

Capps has also submitted a 1.37 ERA and 0.76 WHIP, backed by a 1.16 FIP. He has dominated by developing an unhittable breaking pitch. According to Brooks Baseball, opponents are hitting .081 against his curveball with a 40.16 whiff percentage.

If he pitched in the ninth inning instead of a tad earlier, Capps would draw the same buzz as an All-Star stopper. Instead, nobody cares. He's a must-add in leagues counting holds, and he will even help standards with elite ratios and a surplus of strikeouts.

4. Martin Prado, 2B/3B/OF, Miami Marlins (35 Percent Owned)

Wilfredo Lee/Associated Press

Not everybody needs to swing for the fences. Schoop's polar opposite, Martin Prado also recently returned from a lengthy absence.

The Marlins veteran wasted little time, collecting five hits over the weekend. A career .290 hitter, the 31-year-old has hit above .280 during all but one season, making his current .278 rate a floor rather than a ceiling.

With players often at the BABIP gods' mercy, average is the toughest offensive category to chase. Yet Prado has helped throughout his career while submitting six straight double-digit homer seasons. Lugging around eligibility at second, third and outfield also bolsters his appeal.

Not the flashiest selection, Prado provides great roster depth and flexibility.

3. Eduardo Rodriguez, SP, Boston Red Sox (43 Percent Owned)

Michael Dwyer/Associated Press

Three starts into his MLB debut, Eduardo Rodriguez was all the rage. The 22-year-old elevated from Triple-A like a guardian angel for the pitching-starved Boston Red Sox, yielding one run through three starts.

Of course, such dominance never lasts. The Toronto Blue Jays, baseball's best offense against left-handed pitchers by a wide margin, punched the freshman southpaw for nine runs. Eleven days later, the Orioles shelled him for another six.

Let's give him one mulligan for the Toronto start, because managers should have known better than to start him against Toronto. During his eight other starts, including the Baltimore blunder, Rodriguez has registered a 2.25 ERA and 1.02 WHIP. 

Including his rookie hazing, he has a 3.59 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 3.57 FIP on the year, accumulating 46 strikeouts and 16 walks through 52.2 innings. Well over 50 percent owned after his initial success, Rodriguez has fallen by the wayside in favor of newer toys. Don't move on just yet.

2. Jung Ho Kang, 3B/SS, Pittsburgh Pirates (14 Percent Owned)

Morry Gash/Associated Press

Any shortstop with a pulse and upside warrants a look. After a solid yet unspectacular United States debut, Jung Ho Kang is hitting .326/.415/.500 this month.

The 28-year-old South Korean is quietly putting together a nice season, albeit one the Pittsburgh Pirates will appreciate more than rotisserie players. Among shortstops with at least 150 plate appearances, his 117 weighted runs created plus (wRC+) ranks fifth behind Jhonny Peralta, Carlos Correa, Brandon Crawford and Troy Tulowitzki.

He only has five homers and steals apiece, but Kang displayed tremendous power overseas before jumping to MLB. Besides, a 10/10 shortstop with a decent average and plate discipline is usable beyond shallow mixed leagues.

If the power ever develops, he's a top-10 option deserving a vote over Rollins, Desmond, Semien and Kodos.

1. Marcell Ozuna, OF, Miami Marlins (41 Percent Owned)

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Rushed to the majors before truly maturing, Marcell Ozuna broke out sooner than expected, clubbing 23 homers during his first full season. Yet his rawness bubbled to the surface this season, when he played his way to a promotion by hitting .249/.301/.337.

This has all the makings of a brief stay to light a fire under the struggling outfielder. Sinking in the standings with Giancarlo Stanton on the disabled list, Miami gains nothing by playing Ichiro Suzuki. A team willing to call someone up after 10 Double-A games needs to deal with the ensuing growing pains.

Ozuna hasn't polished his plate discipline much in the farm. He has yet to draw a walk in 37 plate appearances, but he has recorded 13 hits and two homers. Never a strength of his, he generated a 6.7 walk percentage and 26.8 strikeout percentage during a successful 2014.

Although he'll likely never develop into the full package, Ozuna boasts massive pop. Expect him back up by the end of July to remedy his power outage.

Note: All advanced stats courtesy of FanGraphs.