Deeper League Catchers: Waiver Wire Options for Week 25

September 17, 2014

RotoBaller analyzes the top 3 catcher waiver wire pickups. These sleeper hitters can have an immediate impact for week 25 and should be owned in more leagues.

Three Catchers For Deeper Leagues

As we near the end of the MLB season and the fantasy baseball playoffs are upon us, here are some sleeper waiver wire catcher options that might help you in deeper leagues and two-catcher formats, if they’re still available.

Hopefully your fantasy baseball teams are still in the thick of it, and you are in contention for your league championships. Good luck RotoBallers!

Dioner Navarro - C, Toronto Blue Jays

BALLER MOVE: Add in Most Leagues

ANALYSIS: I'm starting to feel like a broken record talking about Dioner Navarro again in this segment, but he's still being grossly under-appreciated. At 38% ownership in Yahoo, he's more than likely available in your league. He's been the third-best fantasy backstop over the past month, only behind the insanely hot Buster Posey and Carlos Santana.

Navarro has gotten a hit in fourteen of his past seventeen games, bringing his season slash line to a respectable .284/.326/.411. During his current hot stretch, Dioner has had six multi-hit games, three home runs, fifteen RBI and eight runs. Toronto has been hot as they're making their final push for a wild-card spot, and Navarro has been a key contributor to their success both behind the plate, and at the plate.

Tyler Flowers - C, Chicago White Sox

BALLER MOVE: Add in Very Deep Leagues

ANALYSIS: Tyler Flowers just ended a nice little eight-game hitting streak late last week. He seems to be capping off a great second half to the season for the White Sox with five home runs, five runs, and seven RBI in the aforementioned streak. After a horrid 2013 season, and a mediocre beginning to this season, Flowers took full advantage of the time off during the All-Star Break.

Since then he's become bespectacled, and has a .299/.360/.591 slash line while wearing said glasses. While Tyler will still not admit that this newly found offensive production doesn't correlate with the eyesight, it's easy to see they certainly aren't hurting the offensive-first back-stop. Flowers is currently owned in 12% of Yahoo leagues, meaning he's more than likely available in your league and is a viable option in all 14+ team leagues, and all 2-catcher leagues. 

Russell Martin - C, Pittsburgh Pirates

BALLER MOVE: Add in Deeper Leagues

ANALYSIS: Feeling somewhat like a broken record again, here to remind you of the offensive season one of the league's best defensive catchers has been having. Russell Martin still isn't getting the recognition he should be in fantasy this season, currently owned in 41% of Yahoo leagues.  The Pirates currently hold the second NL wild-card spot, and are only 2.5 games out of the Central Division race.

Martin has been a key component for Pittsburgh this season, with a season slash .291/.407/.421. He's been on somewhat of a tear here in the early goings of September as well, with two home runs, four runs and seven RBI while collecting a hit in seven of his nine contests. Fantasy managers in a bind at the position could do much worse than Russell in 12+ team leagues.