Starting Pitcher Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 5

"It's April" is a common response to many questions at this juncture of the season. This is the last week we can say that, of course, but patience remains a virtue even as we cross the calendar into May. That doesn't mean you can't tinker on the edges, which is precisely what this column is... Read More

Call Up Chaos - Carter Kieboom & Waiver Wire Hype

We all knew a couple of days ago that Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was set to make his major league debut on Friday. After a grueling few weeks in the minors, his defense is finally deemed fit for public consumption or whatever crap rationale Toronto trotted out there. Very special thanks to the Blue Jays for... Read More

1B and 3B Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 4

Despite there having been enough injuries for an entire season at this point - or at least it feels that way - we're still only about a eighth of the way through the 2019 campaign. Knowing full well that I am in broken-record territory at this point, you are nevertheless encouraged to avoid extreme measures at... Read More

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

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 18% of leagues ANALYSIS: A hamstring strain has kept Joey Wendle sidelined for the entire month of April, but he's nearly ready to return to action. The 29-year-old was a pleasant surprise for the Rays and fantasy owners alike last season, hitting .300/.354/.435 while stealing 16 bases and... Read More

Scott Kingery (3B/SS/OF, PHI) - Week 4 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 28% of leagues ANALYSIS: After signing a six-year, $24 million deal last spring that set a record for money guaranteed to a player with no MLB experience, Scott Kingery's rookie season failed to live up to expectations. He appeared overmatched against big-league pitching, with terrible plate discipline and... Read More

Ryan McMahon (1B/2B/3B, COL) - Week 4 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in All Leagues OWNED IN: 41% of leagues ANALYSIS: A popular target in the middle-to-late rounds of fantasy drafts after a torrid spring, early returns were disappointing for Ryan McMahon and owners who had invested in his services. He produced a lousy .200/310/.280 line in the season's opening week before landing on the injured... Read More

Starting Pitcher Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 4

Time flies when you're having fun, but it's important to remember that we're still in the first month of a six-month odyssey. Difficult as it may be to watch your team struggle out of the gate, you might just be making matters worse by doing something drastic to your roster. That doesn't mean you can't... Read More

Manuel Margot (OF, SD) - Week 4 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 22% of leagues ANALYSIS: Much like dril will never log off, I will never stop touting Padres outfielders as waiver wire additions. In previous weeks, we've looked at Hunter Renfroe and Franmil Reyes, and today it's Manuel Margot's turn in the spotlight. The 24-year-old is off to a... Read More

Ty Buttrey (RP, LAA) - Week 4 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 11% of leagues ANALYSIS: Save speculation seems even more fraught than usual in 2019, but the proliferation of committee approaches has made locking down consistent saves even more critical in many formats. Ty Buttrey doesn't currently have a grip on the ninth inning or even a save... Read More

When The Hype Train Derails

It begins innocently enough in the wintry depths of the offseason, with just a few industry scribes or regular folks in the fantasy community. Whispers of the next great hope, the prospect who was promised, the prodigal post-hype sleeper returned. Whispers turn to murmurs in short order. Last season's exit velocity surges and spin rate... Read More

1B and 3B Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 3

Two weeks down, 24 to go. As we'll continue to remind you in our early-season coverage, the fantasy baseball season is long. The most likely outcome of drastic decisions at this point in the year is regret. That doesn't mean you can't look for ways to improve your roster at this juncture. The good news... Read More

Starting Pitcher Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 3

As tempting as it may be if your squad is off to a slow start, resist the urge to make an overabundance of drastic roster decisions. Remember - the fantasy baseball season is a marathon, not a sprint. That doesn't mean you can't tinker on the edges, which is precisely what this column is designed... Read More

Jeremy Jeffress (RP, MIL) - Week 3 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in All Leagues OWNED IN: 35% of leagues ANALYSIS: Jeremy Jeffress is expected to be activated from the injured list prior to Monday's game against the Cardinals. While he will likely be eased back into action, the veteran figures to see some save chances once he's up to speed. It's true that Josh Hader... Read More

Freddy Galvis (2B/SS, TOR) - Week 3 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 31% of leagues ANALYSIS: April makes for strange bedfellows. Case in point, we're seriously putting Freddy Galvis forward as a viable mixed-league option. Though it may not last, the veteran has been scorching the ball in the early going, with a .395/.435/.744 line, four home runs, and 16... Read More

Kevin Kiermaier (OF, TB) - Week 3 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 25% of leagues ANALYSIS: If he could ever manage to stay healthy, Kevin Kiermaier probably wouldn't ever appear in the hallowed pages of our waiver wire blog. Alas, his career has been marred by a variety of injuries that have kept him from logging 500 plate appearances in... Read More

Franmil Reyes (OF, SD) - Week 3 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in all leagues OWNED IN: 31% of leagues ANALYSIS: A quick glance at Franmil Reyes' current circumstances might make one wonder why he deserves the coveted "universal add" designation. After all, he's hitting just .167/.270/.400 and fighting for playing time in a crowded Padres outfield. Go deeper, though, and there's plenty to be excited... Read More

Clint Frazier (OF, NYY) - Week 3 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in All Leagues OWNED IN: 32% of leagues ANALYSIS: With the Yankees' roster ravaged by injury, opportunities have arisen for bench bats and minor leaguers to accrue everyday at-bats. Clint Frazier is one of those beneficiaries. The 24-year-old, acquired as part of the Andrew Miller deal at the 2016 trade deadline, has ascended... Read More

FAABulous - How To Spend Your Waiver Budget Early

It's funny. We spend the entire offseason developing our strategies for the upcoming year, carefully evaluating prior results, transactions, and countless other bits of data. We identify and lock down our targets, full of optimism for their outlooks. Then the action starts, and almost immediately we flock to the waiver wire. Truly, the grass is... Read More

1B and 3B Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 2

The second week of the 2019 fantasy baseball season is upon us. If your first week went poorly, it is officially time to cut or trade everyone on your roster. Kidding, naturally. But we've already had a bunch of injuries, which while unfortunate also creates opportunities to play the waiver wire lottery. Snagging the next... Read More

Yonny Chirinos (SP/RP, TAM) - Week 2 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 22% of leagues ANALYSIS: Most often used as a "follower" last season by the Rays, Yonny Chirinos made a strong case for himself as a traditional starter with his 2019 debut. The 25-year-old dominated a dangerous Astros lineup last Sunday, allowing just two hits and striking out... Read More

Starting Pitcher Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 2

Being only a week and a half into the season, drastic measures are to be avoided. None of us are happy with Yu Darvish right now, for example, but kicking him to the curb after two starts amounts to fantasy malpractice in most situations. That doesn't mean you can't tinker on the edges, which is... Read More

Kyle Zimmer (SP/RP, KC) - Week 2 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 1% of leagues ANALYSIS: The Royals' bullpen is, predictably, a mess. Brad Boxberger, Wily Peralta, and Jake Diekman all sport ERAs of 8.00 or higher, and while both Boxberger and Ian Kennedy have successfully nailed down a save, they've each blown one as well. None of the... Read More

Hunter Renfroe (OF, SD) - Week 2 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ team leagues OWNED IN: 35% of leagues ANALYSIS: Thus far the victim of a logjam in the Padres outfield, Hunter Renfroe may not be the best use of a roster spot in leagues with shallow benches or deep waiver wire pools. However, assuming your format is less constrained, there are few... Read More

Anthony Swarzak (RP, SEA) - Week 2 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in All Leagues OWNED IN: 34% of leagues ANALYSIS: Why recommend a 33-year-old reliever with middling ratios (4.30 ERA, 1.34 WHIP) and a pedestrian strikeout rate (6.6 K/9) over nearly 600 career innings? Because, to paraphrase the Wu-Tang Clan, saves rule everything around us. Hunter Strickland's lat strain opened the door to another... Read More

Ramon Laureano (OF, OAK) - Week 2 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in All Leagues OWNED IN: 36% of leagues ANALYSIS: With 14 strikeouts in his first 35 plate appearances of 2019, it's fair to say there is room for improvement in Ramon Laureano's first full MLB season. After leading off for the A's in the first game of the season, he's also been relegated... Read More

On Injuries and the Illusion of Control

For this week's edition of The Friday Meta, I had planned to delve into the question of how owners approach the use of FAAB (free agent acquisition budget) in the early portion of the season. That's a worthwhile topic, but it can also wait a week. There are more immediate concerns at hand - namely,... Read More

1B and 3B Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 1

After an offseason that somehow felt even more interminable than usual, the 2019 season is underway. Teams have only played a few games, of course, so you certainly shouldn't be making any drastic decisions just yet. For example, one of my rosters in a keeper league contains a slew of elite bats and is sitting... Read More

Starting Pitcher Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 1

After an offseason that somehow felt even more interminable than usual, the 2019 season is underway. Teams have only played two or three games at this point (Athletics and Mariners notwithstanding), so you certainly shouldn't be looking to do anything drastic yet. No matter how scared you might be about Chris Sale's velocity, pushing the... Read More

Zach Eflin (SP, PHI) - Week 1 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 23% of leagues ANALYSIS: After a handful of lousy starts in 2016 and 2017, Zach Eflin rode increased fastball velocity last year to an excellent first half wherein he produced tidy ratios (3.15 ERA, 1.08 WHIP) along with close to a strikeout per inning and nearly five strikeouts... Read More

Diego Castillo (SP/RP, TAM) - Week 1 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 9% of leagues ANALYSIS: Diego Castillo emerged as a key cog in the Rays' bullpen after Tampa traded away Alex Colome last season. Over 56.2 innings of work, he posted a 3.18 ERA and 0.95 WHIP, with 64 strikeouts against just 18 walks. He performed especially well... Read More