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Welcome to Week 26 and our fantasy baseball waiver wire hitters. We'll be doing this roundup of points leagues every week here at RotoBaller, with waiver wire targets and streaming pitchers being evaluated in terms of the different scoring systems of ESPN, Yahoo!, CBS, and Fantrax.
Player values can vary wildly from platform to platform, so we'll make sure to highlight where players are the best and worst fits. We know points league players get neglected and we're here to help.
These fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups are for the week of October 3rd - October 5th, looking at players below ~50% rostered for ESPN, Yahoo!, or Fantrax. Position eligibility is taken from Fantrax and players are grouped by their most valuable fantasy position, using a hierarchy of: C > 2B > OF > 3B > 1B > SS. Stats and rankings for charts are calculated using games through Friday, September 30.
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Know Your Scoring System
You know what I'm going to say, right? You must account for, as precisely as possible, how a player performs under your particular scoring system. Don't be fooled into believing you can just make rough adjustments in your head, bumping up guys with high on-base percentages and low strikeout rates. Every point, in every category, counts.
For example, ESPN and Fantrax are virtually identical in their scoring for hitters and roster size. The only difference is that stolen bases are worth one more point on Fantrax and ESPN subtracts one point per strikeout. That's the difference between Trea Turner being a top-five hitter versus a top-25 hitter.
If your league uses standard settings, then great! Turn to page 94 and you can skip ahead to the leaderboards. If you play with custom settings, it'll still be fine. Go back to page 43 and look below at the scoring systems of the four major platforms. I bet there's a chance that you'll find that your league's scoring is very similar to one of the four (well, not Yahoo!'s), even if it's not the platform you actually play on.
You'll likely find a suitable mirror to your own system if you look above. While every point counts, as long as they aren't seismic changes, you can get away with some "close enough" calls. IE. You're probably fine if everything is the same except for HBP (or something similar).
Week 26: Waiver Wire Leaderboards
All charts are updated prior to Saturday's games, on stats and ownerships, and clicking on a chart will open a new page with a magnified version. Players on overall leaderboards are ordered according to their current Roster% on Yahoo.
*APR = Average Platform Ranking - the average platform ranking between ESPN, CBS, Yahoo, and Fantrax (standard point settings)
The 14-Day Leaderboard, Presented by Hansel
These players are so hot right now. Here are the players on the wire who are running inside the top 100 of APR over the past two weeks:
Overall Leaderboards
First Base Waiver Wire Pickups
Best Choices
Vinnie Pasquantino, KC, 1B (Yahoo: 27%, ESPN: 11%) -
Next Choices
Albert Pujols, STL, 1B (Yahoo: 37%, ESPN: 19%) -
Carlos Santana, SEA, 1B (Yahoo: 14%, ESPN: 46%) -
Desperate Choices
Dan Vogelbach, NYM, 1B (Yahoo: 6%, ESPN: 5%) -
On the IL
- Eric Hosmer, BOS (back inflammation - no timetable for return)
Second Base Waiver Wire Pickups
Best Choices
Oswaldo Cabrera, NYY, 2B/OF (Yahoo: 8%, ESPN: 3%) -
Christopher Morel, CHC, 2B/3B/SS/OF (Yahoo: 22%, ESPN: 12%) -
Nick Gordon, MIN, 2B/SS/OF (Yahoo: 32%, ESPN: 10%) -
Next Choices
Tony Kemp, OAK, 2B/OF (Yahoo: 21%, ESPN: 14%) -
Rodolfo Castro, PIT, 2B/3B/SS (Yahoo: 26%, ESPN: 27%) -
Brendan Donovan, STL, 1B/2B/3B/SS/OF (Yahoo: 32%, ESPN: 25%) -
Desperate Choices
Kyle Farmer, CIN, 2B/3B/SS (Yahoo: 29%, ESPN: 27%) -
CJ Abrams, WSH, 2B/SS (Yahoo: 12%, ESPN: 5%) -
Ha-Seong Kim, SD, 2B/3B/SS (Yahoo: 18%, ESPN: 13%) -
On the IL
- Matt Carpenter, NYY (broken foot - no timetable for return)
- Santiago Espinal, TOR (strained oblique - no timetable for return)
- Ramon Urias, BAL (sprained knee - no timetable for return)
- Edmundo Sosa, TEX (strained hip - no timetable for return)
Third Base Waiver Wire Pickups
Best Choices
Triston Casas, BOS, 1B/3B (Yahoo: 12%, ESPN: 6%)
Gio Urshela, NYY, 3B/SS (Yahoo: 38%, ESPN: 24%)
Next Choices
Josh Jung, TEX, 3B (Yahoo: 18%, ESPN: 7%) -
J.D. Davis, SF, 1B/3B (Yahoo: 3%, ESPN: 2%) -
Desperate Choices
Yoan Moncada, CHW, 3B (Yahoo: 43%, ESPN: 46%) -
On the IL
- none
Shortstop Waiver Wire Pickups
Best Choices
Christopher Morel, CHC, 2B/3B/SS/OF (Yahoo: 22%, ESPN: 12%)
Nick Gordon, MIN, 2B/SS/OF (Yahoo: 32%, ESPN: 10%)
Next Choices
Rodolfo Castro, PIT, 2B/3B/SS (Yahoo: 26%, ESPN: 27%)
Brendan Donovan, STL, 1B/2B/3B/SS/OF (Yahoo: 32%, ESPN: 25%)
Desperate Choices
Kyle Farmer, CIN, 2B/3B/SS (Yahoo: 29%, ESPN: 27%)
Ha-Seong Kim, SD, 2B/3B/SS (Yahoo: 18%, ESPN: 13%)
On the IL
- None
Catcher Waiver Wire Pickups
It's (still) dumpster season. I hope you don't need a catcher from the waiver wire.
Best Choices
Danny Jansen, TOR, C (Yahoo: 24%, ESPN: 11%)
Next Choices
Cal Raleigh, SEA, C (Yahoo: 29%, ESPN: 12%)
Francisco Alvarez, NYM, C (Yahoo: 13%, ESPN: 4%)
Desperate Choices*
*All catcher adds are desperate adds. Now and forever. But also:
Martin Maldonaldo, HOU, C (Yahoo: 3%, ESPN: 2%)
On the IL
- Aramis Garcia, CIN (finger discomfort - on rehab assignment)
Outfielder Waiver Wire Pickups
Best Choices
Oscar Gonzalez, CLE, OF (Yahoo: 44%, ESPN: 31%)
Jarred Kelenic, SEA, OF (Yahoo: 21%, ESPN: 30%)
Bryan De La Cruz, MIA, OF (Yahoo: 12%, ESPN: 42%)
Next Choices
Seth Brown, OAK, 1B/OF (Yahoo: 30%, ESPN: 18%)
Myles Straw, CLE, OF (Yahoo: 23%, ESPN: 27%)
AJ Pollock, CHW, OF (Yahoo: 29%, ESPN: 25%)
Riley Greene, DET, OF (Yahoo: 28%, ESPN: 14%)
Desperate Choices
Akil Baddoo, DET, OF (Yahoo: 7%, ESPN: 9%)
Lane Thomas, WSH, OF (Yahoo: 19%, ESPN: 10%)
Raimel Tapia, TOR, OF (Yahoo: 10%, ESPN: 4%)
On the IL
- Ramon Laureano, OAK (strained hamstring - no timetable for returns)
- Edward Olivares, KC (strained quad - on rehab assignment)
- Trevor Larnach, MIN (core muscle surgery - on rehab assignment)
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