September 24, 2017

Pierre Camus recommends first basemen (1B) and third basemen (3B) who are valuable waiver wire targets or adds for Week 26 of the 2017 fantasy baseball season.

This is it. One last chance to give your team a boost off the waiver wire to clinch that championship (or to at least finish just ahead of your co-worker in that office league so you don't have to hear about it the rest of the offseason).

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 26 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.

Week 26 Corner Infield (CI) Waiver Wire Targets

Justin Bour (1B, MIA) 46% owned - Maybe I should just direct you to this article from two weeks ago when I suggested Bour might be a nice add down the stretch if he gets his power stroke going. Ignore last week when I said he isn't worth holding onto. With three homers and nine RBI in the past week, you could get a near All-Star caliber first baseman off the wire if he's still around in your league.

Pablo Sandoval (3B, SF) 4% owned - Yes, he's still in the league and doing his best to make up for lost time, like the past three seasons of non-production. Panda has eight hits in the last four games, including two homers and four RBI. Facing the Dodgers and Diamondbacks might seem like a bad thing, but for teams that will have clinched playoff spots in the final days, the Giants might not get the stiffest competition as regular starters are rested or limited. If you have a hole to fill at CI, there aren't many options available with the track record of Sandoval.

Christian Villanueva (3B, SD) 0% owned - In the category of "what the hell, why not?" Villanueva is this week's Hail Mary play. Like last year, the Padres are holding open auditions for next year's roster, which worked out well for Manuel Margot and Hunter Renfroe to become starters straight out of spring training. Villanueva doesn't have the ceiling or the pedigree of those stud prospects, but he does have a crack at regular playing time and homered in two of his first three games after being called up. He's better off being used in daily leagues where you know he'll be in the lineup than a set and forget in weekly leagues.

Hold For Now

Dominic Smith (1B, NYM) 7% owned - This is a tough call, as Smith hasn't gone deep since the 14th or driven in a run over the past week. As a rookie, peaks and valleys are to be expected, so I might be inclined to just hold on here and see if he gets hot again.

Jeimer Candelario (3B, DET) 13% owned - Still going strong and looking like a promising part of the Tigers' rebuilding process for whoever is managing next year. Candelario is batting .440 with five RBI in the last seven days. There won't be a ton of power, but he's not someone you're starting at 3B anyway, just as a corner infielder in deeper leagues.

Cut Bait

Brandon Moss (1B/OF, KC) 10% owned - Show's over, you can go home now. Moss hasn't homered in a week and didn't start two of the last three games. His little power surge shouldn't be enough to earn him anything more than a spring training invite to an AL club next year.

More Waiver Wire Pickups and Adds

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