September 22, 2016

Michael Griffin analyzes the top waiver wire acquisitions at the catcher (C) position for week 25 of the 2016 fantasy baseball season.

Whew. Another fantasy baseball season is almost in the books. 2016 was definitely a weird one for catchers, since many of the big names either struggled to hit like they had in the past or started off red-hot and then fell off a cliff (Francisco Cervelli, I'm looking at YOU). All through this season, we saw people leave this waiver wire list - I'd like to bid farewell to Evan Gattis, he's over the 70% threshold on Fleaflicker, probably got a late surge thanks to those two homers he hit on Wednesday against Oakland - and some who bounced on and off it like a Ping-Pong ball.

This will be my last Waiver Wire column of the year since next week will be the last full week of baseball. Thank you to everyone who read this over the course of the season and I hope it helped at least some of you benefit at the catcher position.

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Week 25 Waiver Wire Catchers

Stephen Vogt (C, OAK) 63% owned - Vogt has cooled off a bit, but there was a stretch between Sept. 10 and Sept. 16 when he was as hot as any player in the game. Vogt collected nine hits in that span and even drove in five runs on Sept. 15. That day alone could have been huge for his owners if they were in the playoffs. Oakland is finishing the year against the Rangers, Angels, and Mariners. Vogt is going to be looking to go into the off-season on a good note. Take a chance on him.

Matt Wieters (C, BAL) 60% owned - Wieters is a free-agent-to-be and his agent is Scott Boras. Boras always looks to get the most money possible, but even he had to look at Wieters' stats and grumble, "Look, dude. Even I dropped you in my fantasy league." Wieters has not had the best year, but he certainly will want to finish on a good note to try to get some semblance of a good contract, either an extension in Baltimore or elsewhere. Boras will surely harp on that five-RBI day on Sept. 10. Baltimore finishes their final week with games against Arizona, Toronto, and The Yankees. Wieters is a pro and he's worth a shot in the last week. No, Boras is not sitting here holding a gun at my head as I type this, why do you ask?

Yasmani Grandal (C, LAD) 51% owned - Grandal hasn't been able to keep up with Evan Gattis for the lead in homers among catchers - though that could change if he gets hot during the last week. He missed a couple of games with right-elbow-soreness, but he's back now. The Dodgers' backstop's going to be facing pitchers from the Rockies (in Los Angeles, sadly, otherwise I'd be banking on a Coors homerfest), Padres, and Giants. Gattis might be looking up to see Grandal ahead of him by the time the season's over. Definitely worth a pick-up.

Welington Castillo (C, ARI) 56% owned - Castillo is still a fairly good RBI bet these days. His stays in a valley are usually very short, four games or so. The Diamondbacks are going to be ending their season by going up against the Orioles, Nationals, and Padres. If Washington has already sewn up their divisions (words that are very hard for this Mets fan to type), perhaps Castillo might see some lesser pitching, which would greatly benefit his owners, especially as a No. 2 catcher.

Brian McCann (C, NYY) 68% owned - "Whaaaaaaaaaat! Why are you putting a guy with a relatively higher ownership percentage in the second-catcher bracket? Has this long season turned your brain to MUSH?" Actually, I'm putting McCann in here because some guy named Gary Sanchez has been setting the league on fire since he was called up. If you don't have him now, though, he has four hits on Wednesday already (I'm updating this as the game goes on. It feels like Mel Brooks playing Moses in "History of the World: Part One": McCann has three hits... three hits.. *CRACK* FOUR... FOUR HITS). The Yankees have one more game against the Rays, then they face Toronto, Boston, and Baltimore. If you don't think McCann won't be itching to at least help play spoiler against these division rivals, then you're mistaken. He could have a very big week.

Willson Contreras (C, CHC) 43% owned - When it comes to the final week of your season, you want to end on a good note. Contreras can help. So far he's compiled a modest three-game hit streak. The Cubs are one of the few loose teams, having already wrapped up a postseason berth. Though one thing they would love to do is hurt their division rivals chances to make the playoffs. Guess who they are facing? The Cardinals. Then they play the Pirates and Reds. Two of those teams have been tremendous disappointments, but Contreras and his teammates would love to stick it to St. Louis. He could be a good play as a No. 2 catcher.

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