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Mid-week fantasy baseball waiver wire rankings for Week 18 (2025). Free-agent hitters and pitchers to add include Griffin Jax, Cade Smith, JoJo Romero, Luis Gil, Luke Keaschall, Kristian Campbell, Spencer Arrighetti, and Andrew Painter.
The MLB trade deadline has officially arrived, and we have already seen some big names on the move. The Mariners acquired Eugenio Suarez, the Phillies traded for Jhoan Duran, while the Mets acquired relievers Tyler Rogers and Ryan Helsley. There will likely be many more moves as teams look to improve their roster for the World Series run. At RotoBaller HQ, we are back with more fantasy baseball waiver wire advice after the trade deadline with our waiver wire rankings for Week 18-- July 28 through August 3 to help managers in leagues that allow daily moves.
With Duran and Helsley traded on Wednesday, the closer role for the Twins and Cardinals suddenly becomes available. Griffin Jax will likely handle ninth-inning duties for the Twins, but has struggled at times this season and has a 4.50 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, and 72 strikeouts over 42 innings. JoJo Romero is the likely favorite to take over the Cardinals' closer role and has been excellent with a 2.04 ERA and a 24.0 K% across 35 1/3 innings this season. With Emmanuel Clase placed on leave as part of MLB's sports-betting investigation for gambling, Cade Smith has become Cleveland's primary closer with Clase out.
For anyone unfamiliar, we release all sorts of fantasy baseball waiver wire articles every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. As part of that, Nick Mariano releases our waiver wire rankings list on Sundays to help you prioritize which players to target as free-agent adds off waivers. Stay on top of our weekly waiver wire rankings and turn on MLB news alerts to stay ahead of the curve. Once you're done here, check out our fantasy baseball prospects articles for the latest names to stash and pick up.
Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups List
Since many fantasy baseball leagues have daily waiver-wire moves or multiple waiver-wire runs per week for adding players, this mid-week rankings list should help you keep track of players emerging in the middle of the week before we reach Sunday. This article will guide you through our weekly ranking of the relevant waiver-wire pickup options, including how to prioritize them for your league (depending on the league size).
| Rank | Player Name | Position | % Ros. | Baller Move |
| 1 | Cade Smith | RP | 46 | Add in All Leagues |
| 2 | Griffin Jax | RP | 26 | Add in All Leagues |
| 3 | Chase Burns | SP | 55 | Add in All Leagues |
| 4 | Chandler Simpson | OF | 42 | Add in All Leagues |
| 5 | Tyler O'Neill | OF | 51 | Add in 10+ Team Leagues |
| 6 | Roman Anthony | OF | 56 | Add in 10+ Team Leagues |
| 7 | Daniel Palencia | RP | 57 | Add in 10+ Team Leagues |
| 8 | Matt Shaw | 2B,3B,SS | 51 | Add in 10+ Team Leagues |
| 9 | Jasson Dominguez | OF | 52 | Add in 10+ Team Leagues |
| 10 | Edward Cabrera | SP | 55 | Add in 10+ Team Leagues |
| 11 | Jo Adell | OF | 43 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 12 | Otto Lopez | 2B,SS | 40 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 13 | Andrew Vaughn | 1B | 23 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 14 | Noelvi Marte | 3B | 25 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 15 | Noah Cameron | SP | 61 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 16 | Colson Montgomery | 3B,SS | 21 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 17 | Alex Vesia | RP | 25 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 18 | Trevor Rogers | SP | 61 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 19 | Austin Hays | OF | 22 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 20 | Jurickson Profar | OF | 45 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 21 | Alec Burleson | 1B,OF | 51 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 22 | Ramon Laureano | OF | 33 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 23 | Josh Jung | 3B | 32 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 24 | Blake Treinen | RP | 18 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 25 | Zebby Matthews | SP | 27 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 26 | Ryne Nelson | SP,RP | 51 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 27 | Luis Gil | SP | 52 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 28 | Giancarlo Stanton | OF | 43 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 29 | Nolan Schanuel | 1B | 20 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 30 | Eric Lauer | SP,RP | 62 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 31 | Max Scherzer | SP | 51 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 32 | Caleb Durbin | 2B,3B,SS | 15 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 33 | Cedric Mullins | OF | 52 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 34 | Trent Grisham | OF | 18 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 35 | Mickey Moniak | OF | 25 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 36 | Ronny Henriquez | RP | 34 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 37 | Bubba Chandler | SP | 25 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 38 | Evan Carter | OF | 12 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 39 | Joe Boyle | SP | 24 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 40 | Drake Baldwin | C | 22 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 41 | Randy Rodriguez | RP | 29 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 42 | Shelby Miller | RP | 29 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 43 | Patrick Corbin | SP | 32 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 44 | Logan Henderson | SP | 18 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 45 | Dennis Santana | RP | 17 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 46 | Brice Matthews | 2B,3B,SS | 6 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 47 | Brooks Lee | 2B,3B,SS | 5 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 48 | Tyler Freeman | SS,OF | 10 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 49 | Brett Baty | 2B,3B | 6 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 50 | Kevin Ginkel | RP | 9 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 51 | Shane Bieber | SP | 41 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 52 | Brady House | 3B | 4 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 53 | Corbin Martin | RP | 1 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 54 | Edwin Uceta | RP | 5 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 55 | Jeremiah Estrada | RP | 21 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 56 | Tyler Locklear | 1B | 1 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 57 | Luke Keaschall | 1B,2B,OF | 25 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 58 | Logan Allen | SP | 21 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 59 | Sean Murphy | C | 25 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 60 | Grant Taylor | SP,RP | 7 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 61 | JoJo Romero | RP | 6 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 62 | Adrian Morejon | RP | 23 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 63 | Louis Varland | SP,RP | 8 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 64 | Jack Perkins | SP,RP | 1 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 65 | Troy Melton | SP | 7 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 66 | Hunter Gaddis | RP | 14 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 67 | Dylan Lee | RP | 7 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 68 | Pierce Johnson | RP | 1 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 69 | Lars Nootbaar | OF | 25 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 70 | Victor Caratini | C,1B | 16 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 71 | Yennier Cano | RP | 4 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 72 | Cade Horton | SP | 23 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 73 | Spencer Arrighetti | SP | 34 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 74 | Isaac Mattson | RP | 1 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 75 | Andrew Painter | SP | 17 | Add in 12+ Team Leagues |
| 76 | Kyle Bradish | SP | 11 | Add in 15+ Team Leagues |
| 77 | Jordan Lawlar | SS | 7 | Add in 15+ Team Leagues |
| 78 | Michael McGreevy | SP | 9 | Add in 15+ Team Leagues |
| 79 | Ryan Mountcastle | 1B | 23 | Add in 15+ Team Leagues |
| 80 | Ryan McMahon | 3B | 46 | Add in 15+ Team Leagues |
| 81 | Reid Detmers | SP,RP | 9 | Add in 15+ Team Leagues |
| 82 | Kyle Teel | C | 4 | Add in 15+ Team Leagues |
| 83 | Warming Bernabel | 1B,3B | 4 | Add in 15+ Team Leagues |
| 84 | Nathan Lukes | OF | 2 | Add in 15+ Team Leagues |
| 85 | Ke'Bryan Hayes | 3B | 4 | Add in 15+ Team Leagues |
| 86 | Christian Moore | 2B | 4 | Add in 15+ Team Leagues |
| 87 | Michael Kelly | RP | 0 | Add in 15+ Team Leagues |
| 88 | Owen Caissie | OF | 5 | Add in 15+ Team Leagues |
| 89 | Justin Crawford | OF | 2 | Add in 15+ Team Leagues |
| 90 | Keegan Akin | SP,RP | 2 | Add in 15+ Team Leagues |
| 91 | Jonah Tong | SP | 2 | Add in 15+ Team Leagues |
| 92 | Spencer Horwitz | 1B,2B | 3 | Add in 15+ Team Leagues |
| 93 | Riley O'Brien | RP | 1 | Add in 15+ Team Leagues |
| 94 | Joey Loperfido | OF | 2 | Add in 15+ Team Leagues |
| 95 | Adrian Del Castillo | C | 2 | Add in 15+ Team Leagues |
| 96 | Jose A. Ferrer | RP | 1 | Add in 15+ Team Leagues |
| 97 | Thairo Estrada | 2B | 5 | Add in 15+ Team Leagues |
| 98 | Coby Mayo | 1B,3B | 10 | Add in 15+ Team Leagues |
| 99 | Kristian Campbell | 2B,OF | 16 | Add in 15+ Team Leagues |
| 100 | Quinn Mathews | SP | 4 | Add in 15+ Team Leagues |
The roster percentage is from Yahoo! leagues.
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