Welcome to the Waiver Wire Picks, our daily fantasy baseball article highlighting the best players to add to your rosters. We’ll look at players who are likely to be available in most leagues, as well as some deep league waiver-wire options. We’ll also look at the most-added players in fantasy baseball across the major sites and tell you who to add and who to leave on the wire.
Top Priority Players to Add
Nolan Arenado (ARI) – 3B (Yahoo – 35%)
HR, RBI
If you’re in a 10-teamer, check your wire for Arenado. He’s been rock-solid all season (.777 OPS / 112 wRC+), gone yard in three of his last seven games, and returns to his old stamping grounds for a three-game set against the Rockies starting today. Unfortunately, the D’Backs will finish the season in a less-than-ideal spot against the Padres at San Diego (Mize, Buehler, King). Still, this is about the best we’ve seen Arenado look since 2022, and the three games at Coors are too good to pass up.
Leadoff man, Lars Nootbaar (2% on Yahoo), is another D’Back for deep leagues.
The Rockies
As always, feel free to ignore the Rockies. But they’re at home for three. Cole Carrigg (.796 OPS / 104 wRC+) and Connor Norby (.718 OPS / 96 wRC+) are the safest bets for at-bats. A former top prospect not that long ago, switch-hitting infielder Adael Amador (.875 OPS / 126 wRC+) has produced in limited action and is a little further down the list of options. They’ll face Soroka today, followed by Kelly and E-Rod before ending the season at Guaranteed Rate Field.
Heliot Ramos (NYY) – OF (Yahoo – 30%)
HR, RBI
Ramos fell to the wire in competitive leagues after being relegated to a short-side platoon. However, he has started three straight games since Judge returned to the IL. He hit third Sunday against Burnes and went yard for the second consecutive game. I’ll concede Ramos has not hit well against RHP this season (85 wRC+), but he has a premium role right now, hitting behind Rice and García, which should yield RBI opportunities. And according to PLV, his 112 Power indicates he has more power upside than his .714 OPS would otherwise indicate. The Yankees have seven games left on the schedule, including today’s doubleheader against the Rays, and they are all at homer-friendly Yankee Stadium.
Spencer Jones (NYY) – OF (Yahoo – 29%)
HR, RBI
Jones brings big home run upside (134 Power via PLV), but a little more risk too, with all the strikeouts. The Yankees will face Martinez, Rasmussen, Seymour, and Peralta, followed by a three-game set against the O’s, featuring Rogers, Young, and Baz. The starting pitching matchups might not be ideal, but you could do worse than homer-hunting at Yankee Stadium.
The A’s
They’ll finish the season with five games in Sacramento starting tonight against the Angels. Lawrence Butler (54%), Zack Gelof (49%), and Henry Bolte (43%) are the priority adds in shallow formats. They’ve all shown HR/SB upside. After that, it’s not great. Jeff McNeil seems the safest bet for at-bats, and he should have the platoon advantage for four of the five games (Kikuchi, Ureña, Lambert, Wesneski, Javier). Tommy White could also be an option (he’s started four of their last five), but only if you happen to be in a 15-teamer with free agent adds. Even then, it’s a razor-thin play.
The Astros
They’ll finish the season in Sacramento. If you need a catcher, check for Yainer Diaz (42%); he’s gone yard twice over his last four games. Otherwise, we’re left with darts like Daulton Varsho (18%) and Cam Smith (10%). Of the two, I’d give the edge to Smith, since he’s shown more Power (109 via PLV).
Walker Jenkins (MIN) – OF (Yahoo – 11%)
HR, R, SB
Minnesota’s top prospect hasn’t done much since debuting on August 28th (.681 OPS). But…he’s 9-for-his last 19 (excluding last night). If you buy into the idea that he’s getting more comfortable, you might want to give him a look. He has also led off two games in a row. The Twins finish off the year with two games at San Francisco (Molina, Perdomo) followed by three games at Minnesota against the Rangers (Montgomery, deGrom, Gore). Those last matchups are far from ideal, but Jenkins is on the board as a boom/bust fifth OFer. Before the promotion, he posted a 151 wRC+, hit 14 home runs, and stole 17 bags with Triple-A Rochester.
Vaughn Grissom (LAA) – 1B, 2B, 3B (Yahoo – 2%)
He’s a desperation streamer if you want to try to take advantage of the Halos’ two games at Sacramento (today and tomorrow). Moisés Ballesteros (4%) is a dart for two-catcher leagues.
Jonah Cox (SF) – 2B, OF (Yahoo – 12%)
R, SB
The whiffs are concerning (38.2% K rate), but he’s playing every day, and speed kills (14 SBs on 18 attempts through 56 games).
Emmet Sheehan (LAD) – SP, RP (Yahoo – 51%)
The Dodgers pulled a fast one this Sunday, announcing they had recalled Sheehan a few hours before the game. He went on to toss five and a third terrific innings before, you know, being demoted again. I have no idea if he will make another appearance/start this weekend against the Giants, but it’s at least a possibility that you should be aware of.
Yahoo and ESPN Most Added Players
Let’s give Shane Baz some credit; he pitched into the seventh inning against the Jays, and that’s something. But it’s been a long season, and I’d rather not put my last fantasy doubloons on a guy with a 1.36 WHIP at Yankee Stadium. Nope, not doing it! You can’t make me! Fine, maybe in a points league. But that’s it!
Blade Tidwell started pretty well yesterday night, but grimaced after a pitch in the fourth and called for the trainer. That’s never a good sign. Hopefully he’s alright. But I think for fantasy purposes we can move on.
Hey, look, it’s Hao-Yu Lee again. The 23-year-old rookie hit second and knocked a pair of doubles in last night’s 9-2 win over the Nats. He’s done pretty well this season, hitting .262 with a 106 wRC+. Detroit will finish their season-ending homestand with two more games against the Nats (Kent, Cavalli), followed by three against the Pirates (Chandler, A. Kelly, Jones). Those matchups don’t move the needle, to me, at least, so I’d consider Lee a safe if somewhat unexciting add for deep formats. I know, I just wish he had a little more power or speed.
Part of the return for Skubal, River Ryan debuted for the Tigers and tossed three clean innings on 43 pitches. He will make another appearance this weekend, but he won’t help much with a similar workload. Still, he’s definitely someone to file away for next season.
Zebby Matthews allowed five runs to the Giants last night, but he at least gave you nine strikeouts. He will most likely finish the season at Minnesota against a Rangers team that’s still in the thick of the playoff race. Nick has it listed as a Questionable Start. That seems about right to me. We’ve seen good and bad Zebby all year. Which one will show up? Your guess is as good as mine.
Trey Yesavage returned from the IL (knee) and needed 40 pitches to complete two innings against the O’s. He should make another appearance this weekend at home against the Reds, but the juice isn’t worth the squeeze.
Jared Jones will face the Cards today. He could make another start this weekend against the Tigers, but with the Pirates playing out the string, it could very easily be a short cameo.
Coby Mayo is very sneakily tied with Gunnar Henderson for second on the O’s with 24 home runs. However, his career splits against right-handers (64 wRC+) would have me searching elsewhere. Still, he’s very much on this week’s home run menu.
Streaming Pitchers
Be sure to check Nick’s daily SP streamers article.
Today:
Cristian Javier (HOU) – SP (Yahoo – 19%) at SEA
Javier hasn’t pitched past the fifth often, but T-Mobile Park helps. He’s probably your best bet for strikeouts. Anthony Kay (11% on Yahoo) is another streaming option; he could pick up a win against a Royals team that’s playing out the string. Further down the list is Drew Anderson (12%); he could be a 15-team Hail Mary if you want to bank on the Nats’ second-half struggles.
Tomorrow:
Cesar Perdomo (SF) – SP (Yahoo – 2%) vs. MIN
Options are slim. Can you tell? As you might’ve surmised from his sub-5% roster percentage, Perdomo hasn’t jumped off the page. But he did a pretty decent job his last time out, holding the Dodgers to two runs across four and two-thirds innings at Dodger Stadium. Now he’s at home at Oracle Park against a less intimidating Twins lineup. Maybe this could work?
