Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Analysis: Buyer Beware for Week 9? (2025)

May 24, 2025

Michael's fantasy baseball waiver wire analysis for Week 9 (2025), and whether to buy into MLB hitters and pitchers. Should you avoid these popular names?

Welcome back to Week 9 of the Buyer Beware waiver wire series, in which we analyze some of the popular names being recommended and provide a questioning, critical perspective.

It’s the week of underwhelming prospect call-ups! We have a pitcher that Pirates fans wish was named Bubba and a former top outfielder prospect fallen on harder times in recent years.

We also take a dive into a toolsy Reds outfielder with a history of both enticing and disappointing us. Should you bid your precious FAAB dollars on this trio?

Will Benson, OF, Cincinnati Reds

31% rostered

If you’ve been playing fantasy baseball the past few years, you’ve likely picked up or been tempted to pick up Benson off waivers. He has extremely enticing power-speed tools marred by even more extreme problems making contact.

Benson was called up on May 10 as the Reds looked for an offensive spark. He delivered in the short term with five home runs in four games. Then Benson, a lefty, did not start the next three games as Cincinnati faced southpaws. That’s the first problem: he’s in a strict platoon.

The more disturbing issue is Benson’s aversion to contact. He somehow hit .275 in 2023 despite a 31.3% strikeout and 70% contact rate. His xBA was .230. It all crashed to earth last season as he hit .187 and struck out nearly 40% of the time.

Despite the hot streak, many of the plate discipline metrics look similar this season. Benson has a 14.1% swinging strike rate and 79.2% zone contact, both worse than average and similar to 2023-24. He’s even chasing a little more. We have seen what happens when Benson runs high whiff rates:

Eventually, the power and on-base skills evaporate. We saw a similar trend in 2024 as Benson’s run with the big club ended with a .150 average and 19 strikeouts over his final 40 at-bats as he lost regular playing time.

The Reds will face more righties this week and Benson should play. Just remember this is an extremely volatile profile and new manager Terry Francona has not suffered fools (or long slumps). Benson is worth a flier but bid accordingly.

Robert Hassell III, OF, Washington Nationals

6% rostered

Hassell was called up to fill in for the injured Dylan Crews. A former first-round pick in 2020, Hassell was a hot prospect a number of years ago, but since moving from San Diego to Washington in the Juan Soto trade, his stock has taken a hit.

At least until this season, when Hassell put together his best start since 2022: .288 average, four home runs, nine stolen bases, and 24 RBI in 43 games at Triple-A. He is taking over for Crews in center field, at least for the next few weeks, as the latter recovers from an oblique strain.

Hassell appears to be a decent fielder, but for fantasy purposes, the value is going to be tied to a moderate hit tool and above-average speed (55 grade from FanGraphs). He stole a base in his first game Thursday with the Nationals. That makes him 10 for 11 on pilfers this season including the minors.

Hassell’s impact will likely be limited beyond the speed. Although he posted a decent 40% hard hit in Tripe-A, the 5.3% barrel rate and 104.3 90th percentile exit velocity are below average.

Perhaps he will eventually tap into more power but a history of 6° launch angles and 50% ground ball rates, including this season, indicates it likely won’t happen as he faces tougher competition. Indeed ATC projects Hassell for just eight home runs over 600 plate appearances. On top of that he is batting seventh in the order for the Nats.

If you need speed from an outfielder Hassell isn’t the worst waiver addition. Just exercise caution and do not overpay for the formerly shiny name value.

Mike Burrows, SP, Pittsburgh Pirates

3% rostered

Burrows is probably more well-known for blocking the path of Bubba Chandler than for his own solid minor-league career.

Burrows held good strikeout numbers throughout the minors including a rate of 11.41 K/9 across nine Triple-A games this season. His control has wavered at times into double-digit walk rates, though he’d kept it under 9 percent in the minors this year.

The repertoire is driven by a 60-grade changeup. Burrows’ fastball sits close to 95 miles per hour but doesn’t miss bats and has given up hard contact even in the minors. He has a slider with average whiff rates and a curveball used mainly to steal strikes. Burrows’ FanGraphs prospect report pegs him as a middle reliever long-term.

Burrows first start against the Brewers earlier this week went about as expected. He did pitch five innings but gave up four earned runs on two homers, both against his fastball. The changeup missed bats with eight whiffs (42% whiff rate) and he stole a few strikes with his breaking balls.

Overall Burrows has the middling profile of a fourth or fifth starter on a bad team. The staff models confirmed as much with an 88 Stuff+ based on his first start (scaled to 100 as average):

Burrows’ other issue is the probable schedule. If he sticks in the rotation, he is lined up to face the D’Backs next week, who rank first in wOBA against right-handed pitching. After that, he likely gets the Astros, Phillies, and then Cubs, which are among baseball’s best offenses.

Burrows has limited upside, and the rookie will be hard to trust in any of his likely upcoming games. This is a deep league play only, and even then, we would keep the bids minimal.

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