Ty Buttrey (RP, LAA) - Week 7 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 22% of leagues ANALYSIS: The pressure is about as low as it can get for members of the 12-22 Los Angeles Angels bullpen, as Hoby Milner and Cam Bedrosian are currently sidelined on the IL; Jaime Barria isn't even currently with the major league club; and the likes […]

Josh Staumont (RP, KC) - Week 6 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 8% of leagues ANALYSIS: The Kansas City Royals have had quite an interesting year when it comes to bullpen management, as we have seen Trevor Rosenthal blast out of the gates with six saves as the Royals primary closer and longtime veteran Greg Holland has picked up a […]

Johnny Cueto (SP, SF) - Week 6 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 32% of leagues ANALYSIS: Johnny Cueto has quietly been one of the best starting pitchers in the game since his debut for the Reds in 2008, but the jury was out on how Cueto's career would proceed as a San Francisco Giant after injuries held him to making […]

Alec Bohm (3B, PHI) - Week 6 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 21% of leagues ANALYSIS: It has been virtually raining top-50 prospects in the MLB over the past week, with several extremely talented and high-profile young players getting the call up to the major leagues to provide a much-needed boost to their clubs in the race for the playoffs […]

Sean Murphy (C, OAK) - Week 6 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 23% of leagues ANALYSIS: If you took a look at any preseason odds for who would win the AL Rookie of the Year distinction for this season, you certainly saw Sean Murphy on the majority of shortlists, and that projection was well earned after Murphy earned five doubles, […]

Joey Bart (C, SF) - Week 6 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 32% of leagues ANALYSIS: With a decent record yet a fifth-place standing in the ultra-competitive NL West, the San Francisco Giants, not satisfied with the play of either Tyler Heineman or Chadwick Tromp at backstop, made a huge decision this past week by calling up highly-touted catching prospect […]

Cristian Pache (OF, ATL) - Week 6 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 11% of leagues ANALYSIS: With Atlanta outfielders Ronald Acuna Jr. and now Nick Markakis sidelined on the IL, the Braves were in need of someone to step up immediately, and they chose to direct that call of duty to consensus top-25 prospect Cristian Pache. While Pache has only […]

Miguel Castro (RP, BAL) - Week 5 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in Very Deep Leagues/Saves+Holds Leagues ROSTERED IN: 2% of leagues ANALYSIS: Miguel Castro made his MLB debut back in 2015 for the Toronto Blue Jays, and in the five years since, Castro has had an up and down career as a bullpen prospect for the Jays, Rockies, and now the Baltimore Orioles (unfortunately bouncing […]

Zack Burdi (RP, CWS) - Week 5 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in Very Deep Leagues/Saves+Holds Leagues ROSTERED IN: 0% of leagues ANALYSIS: It hasn't always been the easiest path to the majors for the Burdi brothers of the University of Louisville, and Nick Burdi saw his season ended almost immediately after being named the interim closer for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Now, Zack Burdi has made […]

Casey Mize (SP, DET) - Week 5 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 24% of leagues ANALYSIS: No one expected the Detroit Tigers to be contending for a playoff spot one-third of the way through this season, and now the organization is in the precarious predicament of what to do with the upper echelon of its prospect pool. Now that Ivan […]

Brandon Nimmo (OF, NYM) - Week 5 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 15% of leagues ANALYSIS: Brandon Nimmo is always worth paying attention to for his talent and power/speed capabilities, and it might be easy to lose sight of his production this season while fellow Met Michael Conforto has the hot hand, but Nimmo is off to a hot start […]

Nick Solak (2B/3B/OF, TEX) - Week 5 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 25% of leagues ANALYSIS: This is a season when every AB matters and defensive versatility can help maximize those opportunities, and with availability in the outfield and the corner and middle infield, Nick Solak presents can easily be plugged in on any given day. The former Louisville Cardinal […]

Pablo Lopez (SP, MIA) - Week 5 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 23% of leagues ANALYSIS: Pablo Lopez is one of several young and promising starting pitchers for the Miami Marlins, and though his time in the big leagues thus far has been a bit shaky, he is off to an excellent start so far in 2020. In three starts, […]

Spencer Howard (SP, PHI) - Week 4 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 24% of leagues ANALYSIS: In a season with much more day-to-day urgency than any we have seen before, some teams are finding it to be the right time to give the major league call to some of the organization's top prospects. On Sunday, facing a doubleheader, the Phillies […]

Anthony DeSclafani (SP, CIN) - Week 4 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in All Leagues ROSTERED IN: 35% of leagues ANALYSIS: The Cincinnati Reds starting rotation has been off to a hot start in 2020, and in his two starts since returning from the IL, Anthony DeSclafani has contributed to that wave of momentum in a big way. In an encouraging volume of work (11.0 IP), […]

Amir Garrett (RP, CIN) - Week 4 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team Leagues/Saves + Holds Leagues ROSTERED IN: 4% of leagues ANALYSIS: The Cincinnati Reds have had plenty of things going for them to start the 2020 season, but bullpen performance has not been one of them, with Lucas Sims and Amir Garrett being the only two relievers with ERA below 5.06, which […]

Joey Wendle (2B/3B/SS, TB) - Week 4 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 5% of leagues ANALYSIS: Here's an interesting note: if you were going strictly by WAR, Joey Wendle would've beaten Shohei Ohtani, Miguel Andujar, and Gleyber Torres for the 2018 AL ROY with a 4.8. Aside from that, Wendle is attempting to recover in 2020 from a subpar showing […]

Jesus Aguilar (1B, MIA) - Week 4 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 7% of leagues ANALYSIS: Just by assuming that you have access to the internet or information at all, I can guess that you might have heard that it's already been a roller coaster season for the Miami Marlins, and even more surprising, they are playing very well when […]

Max Stassi (C, LAA) - Week 4 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in Two-Catcher Leagues OWNED IN: 12% of leagues ANALYSIS: Just 27 AB into the 2020 season, and Max Stassi already looks poised for a career campaign. The 29-year-old backstop has already swung his way to four home runs, a slash of .296/.355/.741, and the addition of six runs and ten RBI for the competent […]

James McCann (C, CWS) - Week 3 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in Two-Catcher Leagues OWNED IN: 14% of leagues ANALYSIS: Last season, in his first year with the Chicago White Sox, James McCann turned in by far the best campaign of his career, putting up 18 home runs, four stolen bases, and a slash of .273/.328/.460 in 439 AB on his way to his first […]

Danny Jansen (C, TOR) - Week 3 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 23% of leagues ANALYSIS: There is no shortage of young and talented catching prospects that have made their way to the MLB (or very soon will) in 2020; from Sean Murphy, Tyler Stephenson, Joey Bart, Francisco Mejia, Daulton Varsho, and Reese McGuire, just to name a few. However, […]

Marco Gonzales (SP, SEA) - Week 3 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 28% of leagues ANALYSIS: With K/9 figures of 7.8, 6.5, and 6.8 over the last three seasons, Marco Gonzales doesn't have a lot of sex appeal on the mound, but since the start of 2018 he has been the picture of durability and control for the Seattle Mariners […]

Nick Madrigal (2B/SS, CWS) - Week 3 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 13% of leagues ANALYSIS: By all accounts, 23-year-old Nick Madrigal is one of the top 50 prospects in baseball, and with only two seasons (628 AB) of minor-league play under his belt, the youth-stocked Chicago White Sox have already given Madrigal the major league call up. Putting the […]

Austin Riley (CI/OF, ATL) - Week 2 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 29% of leagues ANALYSIS: Austin Riley garnered considerable attention for the offensively astute Atlanta Braves in 2019 by hitting 18 home runs with a .471 slugging percentage over 274 AB, and that kind of attention doesn't come easily when you share the field with Ozzie Albies and Ronald […]

Kyle Lewis (OF, SEA) - Week 2 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in All Leagues OWNED IN: 34% of leagues ANALYSIS: Between Evan White, Shed Long, Justin Dunn, Justus Sheffield, J.P. Crawford, Tim Lopes, and Jake Fraley, it seems that the Seattle Mariners are navigating a sea of young talent all over the field, but 25-year-old Kyle Lewis has already set himself apart from the pack […]

Trevor Gott (RP, SF) - Week 2 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 2% of leagues ANALYSIS: Personally, as a fellow alum of the University of Kentucky and resident of Lexington, Kentucky, it would be hard for me not to harbor some excitement regarding Trevor Gott (just ask Jason Kipnis, James Paxton, Luke Maile, Taylor Rogers, and Evan White). However, it's […]

Nick Burdi (RP, PIT) - Week 2 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 3% of leagues ANALYSIS: Keone Kela is still out with an illness, Kyle Crick's shoulder just landed him on the IL, and just like that, the Pirates are immediately forced to dig deeper into their bullpen to fill up the high-leverage innings. That created a window of opportunity […]

Greg Holland (RP, KC) - Week 2 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 7% of leagues ANALYSIS: Greg Holland is 34 years old, and to be perfectly honest, I would've believed you if you told me that he was 42 when considering the career that he has had. Holland is a three-time All-Star with 207 career saves and two placements within […]

Kyle Wright (SP, ATL) - Week 2 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 3% of leagues ANALYSIS: The Atlanta Braves just optioned Mike Foltynewicz following a horrendous first start for the 2020 MLB season, and while Sean Newcomb put up a solid showing as a starter to kick off the year against the New York Mets, 2019 demonstrated just how much […]

James Karinchak (RP, CLE) - Week 1 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 7% of leagues ANALYSIS: It is truly a relief to once again be talking about players warranting a waiver wire selection, and in the spirit of the scale of this relief, let's kick off the 2020 MLB season by discussing one of the most promising young relievers in […]