June 12, 2017

Pierre Camus recommends first basemen (1B) and third basemen (3B) who are valuable waiver wire targets or adds for Week 11 of the 2017 fantasy baseball season.

This isn't the place where you'll find me advocating Scooter Gennett as a "hot add" because of one miraculous game. Instead, I'm going to recommend reasonable options to help you at the corner positions. Finding the right player to fill your roster at first base or third base can make all the difference in deeper leagues. Likewise, streaming the right players each week can be extremely helpful in both rotisserie and head-to-head leagues.

The corner infield positions traditionally offer power with the potential for high averages, so you may want to target players that can offer an advantage in those categories to bolster your team. In this piece, I'll identify waiver wire targets for first base and third base in week 11 who should be able to contribute in multiple categories, either as replacements or bench depth. These players are owned in 50% or less of Yahoo! leagues.

We'll also look at the names mentioned in last week’s post, noting which players have graduated off of the waiver wire (ownership higher than 50%), which are still recommended pickups, and which we are dropping off the list entirely.

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Week 11 Corner Infield (CI) Waiver Wire Targets

Tyler Moore (1B, MIA) 1% owned

After recommending Justin Bour on more than one occasion, it only makes sense I advise you to target his replacement now that Bour is on the DL. Moore has never been a regular starter, nor has he logged more than 200 plate appearances in a Major League season. He is a .231 career hitter with a 72.5% contact rate, which explains the limited playing time. What's appealing about him? Power, of course. Moore has 28 HR in 657 career at-bats, or roughly a full season's worth. He's doing his best Bour impersonation this week with three homers and nine RBI and a .328 average in his last 28 at-bats. There will always be RBI opportunities hitting behind the outfield trio of Ozuna, Yelich, and Stanton, so Moore could be a valuable streamer as long as Bour is shelved.

Nicholas Castellanos (3B, DET) 35% owned

After a miserable May (.175/.252/.252 slash line with one HR in 103 AB) that saw him fall off the fantasy map, Castellanos is enjoying June a great deal more (.367/.457/.767 with three HR in 30 AB). Castellanos is one of those players that hasn't quite put it all together over a full season yet, but the potential always looms. Even if he doesn't keep it up, this might be a good time to take advantage while he's on a hot streak. He's hitting nearly 100 points better at home this season, so you could stream him accordingly if you don't fully trust the recent production.

Howie Kendrick (1B/2B/3B/OF, PHI) 14% owned

Kendrick could fit in any part of our waiver article series considering he qualifies at pretty much every position. Since two of them are corner spots, we'll discuss him here, just as we did at the beginning of the season. Kendrick took a month and a half break on the disabled list for an abdominal strain but now he's back to being a steady contributor. Now that Cesar Hernandez is injured and facing several weeks on the DL himself, Kendrick will be manning second base for the time being. The average has always been there for Kendrick, but he has surprised with two stolen bases in addition to a homer this past week. Don't expect the steals to stick - he's never stolen more than 14 bags in a season, even back when he was an everyday player for the Angels. He will help your averages and provide modest help in most other categories as well. The fact he's been plugged into the No. 3 spot in the lineup is an even better sign for his fantasy potential.

Cory Spangenberg (2B/3B/OF, SD) 0% owned

Another multi-positional guy, but this time far deeper in the waiver pool. Spangenberg was supposed to be the starting second baseman for the Padres last season, but a quad strain kept him sidelined the majority of it, limiting him to 48 at-bats. He's been a utility guy this season, but with Ryan Schimpf sent packing to Triple-A, it looks like Spangenberg will inherit the bulk of the time at third base. He's doing his best Schimpf impersonation so far, swatting two solo homers on Sunday. Since news of Schimpf's demotion, Spangenberg is 7-for-12 while starting each game in the Kansas City series. You'd have to be either fairly desperate or in an extremely deep mixed league to add him over the other options above, but you never know when you'll catch lightning in a bottle. Fun fact: did you know Spangenberg was the 10th overall pick in the 2011 draft and has been in the Padres organization the whole time? At the very least, that tells you something about the organizations' opinion of him, since they've traded nearly everyone else from that era away.

Hold For Now

Danny Valencia (1B/3B, SEA) 16% owned - He's definitely slowing down, batting just .182 over the past week, but Valencia's job is safe for the foreseeable future. What you see is pretty much what you'll get from him - his averages are in line with his career numbers almost across the board. He is best used in deeper leagues for those who want consistent production.

Paul DeJong (2B/3B, STL) 1% owned - 13 strikeouts in 41 at-bats isn't good. Neither is the fact he hasn't taken a single walk yet, leading to a .244 OBP. Patience might be the key for this rookie, however. We've seen many a young player take a couple of weeks to adapt to the Show before getting their feet underneath them. If you already used a waiver add on him, give it a few more days before cutting bait.

Wilmer Flores (1B/2B/3B, NYM) 6% owned - Flores is still hot, posting a 1.012 OPS in the last seven days. Most of that production came in a doubleheader on Saturday in which he went 6-for-9 with three runs. If you're OK going without power at the corner infield spot, Flores could help you in average and runs.

Cut Bait

Joe Mauer (1B, MIN) 6% owned - The only reason to stream Mauer was for average and that's gone away lately with a .208 average in the past week. Move on folks, nothing to see here.

More Waiver Wire Pickups and Adds

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