Jason Hammel & Angel Pagan: Fantasy Baseball's Waiver Wire Winners

Every week, aside from my standard Fantasy Baseball dealings, I practice a little exercise to improve my research and team management skills.

On Sunday evenings I comb through who is available on the waiver/free agent wire, regardless of need, to familiarize myself with the current inventory.

Next, I try and create an entire starting team from all available players to compete against my current starting squad. This helps me on a broad spectrum for watching the trends of potential replacements, upgrades, and the occasional spot starter.

Below are the players I feel have the best chance of competing against my Starters.  FYI: It’s a Yahoo – 12 Team - H2H - 5X5. 



Included are the previous four weeks stats:



Week 12 Hitters (R-HR-RBI-SB-AVG)

C = Ronny Paulino FLA  (11-1-15-1-.333): With John Baker on the 60-day DL until August, Ronny has been very productive playing every day, and is worth the start with the hot bat.



1B = Lyle Overbay TOR (10-3-11-0-.298): Lyle has had four mutli-hit games in the past ten days. I’ll take that over the inconsistency of rookie Justin Smoak, even though his numbers are better over the month.



2B = Neil Walker PIT (12-2-9-2-.299): WHO??? That’s right Neil Tops my list at a VERY weak position. He was the 11th overall pick in 2004, but is still only 25. Needing runs from this position, he fits the bill because of his ability to get on base while hitting 2nd in the order.



3B = Kevin Kouzmanoff  OAK (11-3-14-1-.327): Finally….Kouz since May 31st has raised his BA 41 points from .244 to .285.  It didn’t hurt that he had seven multi-hit games in nine days over the last two weeks.

SS = Cliff Pennington OAK (11-0-3-3-.213): Anther Athletic making the list here.  Rookies like Cliff have stats that are Volatile and Inconsistent. I’ll ride the bullish bat in a current five game hit streak and seven of eight.



OF = Delmon Young MIN (15-4-26-1-.360): Ninth HOTTEST hitting Outfielder in ALL of baseball right now.



OF = Angel Pagan NYM (16-1-13-9-.311): Pick a Met, any Met (I can’t believe I’m saying that). You get a little bit of everything with Pagan. The stolen bases are especially nice.



OF = Jason Kubel MIN (12-6-22-0-.277): The law of baseball averages is never wrong…it was only a matter of time. Hitters will hit.

Week 12 Pitchers (IP – W – SV – K – ERA – WHIP)

SP = Jeremy Bonderman DET (40.2 -2 -0-30-3.32-1.20): Good to see him back to form. 



SP = Mark Buehrle CWS (32.2-3-0-23-3.86-1.47): Probably the most consistent in baseball. One of only a few TRUE Aces.



SP = Bronson Arroyo CIN (40.2-3-0-16-4.20-1.43): Ground ball pitcher is finally getting run support & Wins.  Can’t rely on him for many or any strikeouts he’s just not overpowering enough.



SP = Scott Feldman TEX (39.1-4-0-24-4.35-1.53): 17 Wins in 2009, but only five in 2010. The good news, four have been in the last month, and the Rangers are winning lots of games. May still get to 15 this season.



SP = Jason Hammel COL (41.1-4-0-32-1.74-1.16): WOW I can’t believe this guy is not on a roster.



RP = R.A. DICKEY NYM (32.1-5-0-29-2.78-1.39): There are NO closers available, so I felt that R.A. deserved the final spot on my roster.  As my reliever (Duel Eligibility SP/RP) he has more wins than any of my starters over the past month with five.  And oh yeah…. Pick a Met, any Met.

Who could you use to beat your starters?  
Post a comment with your thoughts and your Free Agent Roster. 
I’ll post the results next Sunday night.

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