We made it to the All-Star Break! As fantasy baseball managers, it’s a welcome break from manipulating rosters, streaming pitchers, setting daily lineups but as baseball fans, it’s tough to go handful of days without more than one (mostly meaningless) baseball game. For content creators though, it’s almost like a vacation. I’ll be putting my feet up and spending evenings on the couch watching something other than baseball – maybe catching up on some TV series that I’ve been putting off – or playing board games with my kids, and with my twins now at six years old, it’s becoming a little harder to win. But before we get to that, we’ve got one last chance this first half of the season to improve our squads through FAAB bids. Let’s run through a list of dudes that can help our teams in the second half.
As a reminder, this column is designed to help guide those in Free Agent Acquisition Budget (FAAB) leagues in making the best choices regarding who to target on the waiver wire. Specifically, we’re focusing on players who are between 20-25% rostered in most 12-team leagues and/or 25-50% rostered in 15-teamers. Every league is different, so we won’t be labeling player bids with any sort of recommended dollar amount but instead will use a four-tier investment rating system, ranging from a minimal spend to a potential difference-maker (or LEAGUE-WINNER, if you will).
Let’s dig in!
Investment Rating System
Enjoy the All-Star Break! Games resume on Friday with all 30 teams playing a three-game set over the weekend. The only notable stadium in play this weekend will be Coors Field where the Colorado Rockies will host the Minnesota Twins.
Batters
Outfielders
Ramón Laureano ($$$$): Laureano is somehow still not 100% rostered in 15-team leagues. Fantasy managers need to pick him up and put him in their outfield immediately.
- PLAYER A: .270 batting average, .831 OPS, 10 home runs, four stolen bases, 32 RBI and 34 runs scored in 65 games played
- PLAYER B: .284 batting average, .840 OPS, 11 home runs, three stolen bases, 32 RBI, 38 runs scored in 79 games played
Player A is Ramón Laureano. Player B is Baltimore Orioles All-Star first baseman Ryan O’Hearn. I’m done being passive about picking up Laureano. Fantasy managers need to pick him up NOW.
Mickey Moniak ($$): Moniak has batted in the top third of the Rockies order for the past three appearances and Colorado will play at home against a mediocre Twins pitching staff for three games this weekend. He’s at least worth a stream and could end up being more valuable than that. Since June 1, Moniak is batting .343 with eight home runs, four stolen bases and 17 RBI in 23 games.
Isaac Collins ($$): Collins continues to fly under the radar in Milwaukee where he’s putting together a very solid debut season. Since June 1, Collins is batting .318 with four home runs and two stolen bases. He has taken over as the Brewers’ everyday left-fielder, moving Yelich to the designated hitter slot while batting in the middle third of the order. Available in 25-30% of 15-team leagues, Collins appears to be an extremely helpful bat than can contribute across all four categories, though he has stolen just two bases across his last 100 plate appearances.
Matt Wallner ($$): Wallner’s contact metrics are poor, but maybe they’ll improve in a three-game series at Coors Field where breaking pitches break less and the ball travels a little further. If I have an outfield spot where I need some production in this short week, I’m looking to Wallner as a power streamer for his trip to Colorado and hoping the thin air does him some good.
Infielders
Hyeseong Kim ($$$): Free Hyeseong! He’s batting .333 with nine stolen bases and 16 runs scored but he’s only gotten 109 plate appearances since his debut. The Dodgers continue to play Miguel Rojas and James Outman ahead of Kim and it’s one of the most frustrating things currently happening in the MLB. If at any point this season Kim starts to get regular at-bats, he immediately becomes a must-roster player in 15-team leagues. Managers can still get ahead of that if they scoop him now.
Ronny Mauricio ($): Since the return of Mark Vientos, Mauricio appears to be the strong-side platoon for the Mets at third base. The speed-power combination is appealing here, but managers may want to pick their spots. The contact metrics aren’t great while the home run to fly ball rate seems pretty unsustainable. He’s got exciting skills but it doesn’t always translate to fantasy production.
Andrew Vaughn ($): The Brewers lost Rhys Hoskins to the injured list and almost immediately called up Vaughn to take over as a right-handed slugging first baseman. Lo and behold, getting out of the White Sox organization has either motivated Vaughn or triggered some sort of instantaneous development where he can finally hit the ball. Batting 3-for-7 with a home run and five RBI since joining the Brewers, Vaughn looks like the guy that we hoped he would be earlier in his career. He’s in play as a streaming corner infielder as long as Hoskins is out.
Catchers/UT
Masataka Yoshida ($$): The 31-year old lefty has been eased back into the Red Sox lineup, but still has some gas left in the tank. He’s probably not going to provide too much power, but his hit tool in the middle of a relatively potent Boston lineup could provide accumulating stats if he is able to secure playing time. Keep an eye on his usage and if the Sox run him out there six games out of seven, he’s definitely worth a pickup, especially if he gains corner infield eligibility.
Victor Caratini ($$): Arguably one of the most slept-on players in baseball this season, Caratini has been downright good for the Astros who need his switch-hitting bat in their lineup that is dominated by righties. Granted, he’s slowed down his production since June 1 but he’s still getting more volume than most of the other catchers available on the wire. With starts at DH and 1B this month, Caratini could easily serve as a high-volume second catcher that occasionally pops off for big weeks in the average and RBI departments.
Pitchers
Starting Pitchers
Bailey Ober ($$$): Ober got torched before going on the injured list, allowing at least five earned runs in four-consecutive starts. Whomever the unlucky manager was that had him in your league has probably dumped him back on the waiver wire at this point. Based on most reports, Ober’s struggles came from his mechanics being off, which can potentially be attributed to his injury. Once he rehabs and gets healthy, there’s a decent likelihood that he could get back to being a very good starting pitcher again like we saw in April and early May. I’m willing to spend some FAAB to take a chance if I’ve got a bench spot where I can stash him for a little while.
Patrick Corbin ($$): Though he isn’t slated for a start in the short week when baseball returns from the All-Star Break, Corbin figures for a two-start week against the Athletics and Braves. He’s looked pretty good with the Rangers so far this season and perhaps some of his success has been his commitment to the cutter, increasing it’s usage to 33.0%, 28.6%, and 30.1% in each of his last three starts. It’s enough to keep right-handed hitters off of his sinker, while his slider has proven effective against lefties. He’s been a good option in deep leagues and is an acceptable streamer for this two-step in 12-teamers and even some 10-teamers.
Joe Boyle ($$): Mostly rostered in 15-teams, but possibly available in 12-teamers, Boyle could be a sneaky source of wins for fantasy managers. Tampa Bay Rays skipper Kevin Cash stated that Boyle will be used as a follower after Drew Rasmussen for at least another few turns in the rotation as the Rays look to manage Rasmussen’s workload a year removed from Tommy John surgery. Piggybacking a very good starter in Rasmussen could mean win opportunities for Boyle, who pitched five scoreless innings with seven strikeouts against the Twins last week.
Cameron Schlittler ($): Schlittler looked decent in his MLB debut, earning the win for a pitching-needy Yankees team. However, I don’t anticipate that the rookie will be able to hold a rotation spot as Luis Gil is on his way back and looks to be returning shortly after the All-Star Break. I wouldn’t be opposed to throwing a single-digit safety bid on him, but let your league mates waste their FAAB on Schlittler because he likely won’t be around long enough to matter.
Relief Pitchers
Kevin Ginkel ($$$): The Arizona Diamondbacks keep racking up injuries to their closers as now AJ Puk, Justin Martinez and most recently Shelby Miller are all on the IL. That leaves Ginkel as the default ninth-inning option in a bullpen that has struggled mightily as a whole this season. Ginkel earned his first save on July 7 against the Padres and has allowed just one earned run across his last six appearances. He’s likely the most reliable saves source on the waiver wire right now, but won’t be there for long.
Dennis Santana ($$): It’s that time of year again – when everyone in the baseball community starts to talk about how David Bednar will get traded to a contender. It’s been at least three-straight years that we’ve been talking about it. Maybe this is his year. If that happens, Santana is the heir apparent for the Pirates’ ninth-inning duties. With a sparkling 1.60 ERA and 0.79 WHIP, Santana may deserve the job already but likely won’t get another crack at it until Bednar is out of town.
Chris Martin ($): Though it appears that Robert Garcia is more likely to pitch in the ninth than Martin at this point, Martin has been the better reliever – at least the more consistent of the two – so far this season. Though it may not yield saves, there’s a good chance that picking up Martin proves helpful in ratios and even strikeouts. With a 2.35 ERA and 1.08 WHIP along with 32 strikeouts acrosss 30 innings so far this year, Martin is the best reliever in the Rangers’ bullpen whether he gets the ninth or not.
Seth Halvorsen ($): After getting saves in consecutive outings, Halvorsen was blown up for five runs without recording an out against the Red Sox on Wednesday in a non-save situation. Are you really this desperate for cheap saves?
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