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High Fives: Souza dancing on the Week 9 wire

As we head into Week 9 of the fantasy baseball season, Brandon Funston, Dalton Del Don and Andy Behrens offer their top-5 takes on those players bucking for employment in fantasy leagues. Each week, we'll take a trip around the diamond to uncover the best help that your FAAB dollars can buy. Let's get to it ...

Top 5 corner infield pickups among the under 50% owned crowd

1. Ryan Howard - Offers the most power you'll likely be able to find, and there's no questioning its legitimacy

1. Adam Lind - He has eight homers over 136 ABs with a .909 OPS against right-handed pitchers 

1. Mitch Moreland - Serious power, guaranteed at-bats and a friendly park.

2.  Adam Lind -  He's had his share of struggles in May, but the big picture still looks good (8 HR, .857 OPS)

2. Ryan Howard - He has nine home runs over 134 ABs against RHP

2. Ryan Howard - His power potential is well documented, but he's a severe drain on AVG

3. Alex Guerrero -  A bit more liberated now that Uribe is in ATL - has hit 3 HR in past 5 games

3. Justin Morneau - He has a history of concussion problems but worth stashing on your DL for now

3. David Freese - Still hitting in the heart of a very good batting order; six hits over his last four games

4. Chris Colabello -  Mashing both LHP and RHP - the wave started a while ago, but might not be too late to catch it

4. Alex Guerrero - With Juan Uribe traded, there's a chance he gets more regular playing time 

4. Adam Lind - Ability to crush right-handers; he'll finish the year with 25-plus HRs

5. Joe Mauer -  You know my thoughts on Mauer by now - for those in need of trusty, if only serviceable BA and RBI numbers

5. Maikel Franco - He's a solid prospect who should be owned in most leagues right now

5. Justin Bour - Homered in each of his last two games, seeing regular playing time.

 

Top 5 middle infield pickups among the under 50% owned crowd

1. Addison Russell -  After a choppy start to his MLB career, his vast talent has started to take hold in May (.839 OPS)

1. Jung Ho Kang - He looks like the real deal and should be owned in all leagues at this point 

1. Jung Ho Kang - Crushing the ball lately, he offers uncommon HR upside for his position(s)

2. Carlos Correa Still think there's a very good chance he punches his MLB ticket sometime in the next 2 weeks

2. Addison Russell - He's more advanced than I expected and should only improve from here on out

2. Addison Russell - I certainly did not expect him to be this reliable at the plate, this quickly

3. Brandon Phillips Even amidst an 0-for-15 slide, the veteran has still been a top 13 MI over the past 30 days

3. Brandon Phillips - He's been a top-200 player overall this year

3. Brett Lawrie - He and I are on a break in seasonal leagues, but I've been using Lawrie quite a bit in daily

4. Brett Lawrie -  Have long had a (mostly unwarranted) soft spot for Lawrie - has homered in 2 of past 3 games

4. Zack Cozart - For what it's worth, he's on pace to finish with 20 homers, 71 runs, 71 RBI and 10 steals

4. Andrelton Simmons - Really nice bounce-back year in progress; another cheap, reliable DFS play

5. Andrelton Simmons -  Riding 8-game hit streak - one of only four MIs with at least 30 Runs and 20 RBI

5. Chase Utley - I still believe in buying him low

5. Carlos Correa - Elite prospect, arriving soon. He'll do his hitting in a terrific home park

 

Top 5 outfield pickups among the under 50% owned crowd

1. Steven Souza - I guess his wrist is fine - HR in each of the first two games back after the injury

1. Steven Souza - He's on pace for 29 homers and 23 steals despite a .226 BA that should improve

1. Billy Burns - He's getting two hits per night, batting .333 with five steals last two weeks

2. Marlon Byrd - Power is always the toughest commodity to find on the wire - Bryd has it, and he flaunted it in May (8 HR)

2. Billy Burns - He's now looking at a starting job from here on out, which should result in 35+ steals

2. Preston Tucker - His ownership percentage is a joke (6%). Wake up, gamers.

3. Billy Burns - Sorry, Delino and Rajai, but Burns is now the best speed play on the wire

3. Marlon Byrd - After a slow start, Byrd has hit eight homers with a .933 OPS in May

3. Chris Colabello - Raking lately, and we know the power is mostly real

4. Adam Eaton - Been plagued by slow starts in his career, but things are trending the right way

4. Rajai Davis - He's tied in all of basebal with the sixth most steals 

4. Adam Eaton - Bat is starting to come around. Favorable lineup position with decent speed

5. Leonys Martin - He was a top 50 OF last year, and he's raised his average 30 points in past 11 games

5. Andre Ethier - He's batting .303/.406/.550 against southpaws and has been a top-175 player overall so far 

5. Steven Souza - Sure, I'll jump on board. Nice power/speed combo player, though I doubt the AVG will ever be decent

 

Top 5 pitcher pickups among the under 50% owned crowd

1. A.J. Ramos - He's closing, which should be all you need to know, nevermind that he's posting top 100 roto numbers

1. A.J. Ramos - He's close at 49% but still no idea why a closer isn't owned in all formats 

1. A.J. Ramos - Still sitting on the wire in roughly 50 percent of Yahoo leagues, despite excellent ratios and role

2. Clay Buchholz - Has an arsenal that doesn't belong on the wire -  more Ks than IP, and four straight Quality Starts

2. Clay Buchholz - He has a 62:16 K:BB ratio over 60.1 innings this season

2. Brad Ziegler - Another guy who's closing and posting terrific numbers, yet not owned heavily enough around these parts

3. Carlos Rodon - The BB total is ugly, but the talent is vast and he's posted a Quality Start in three of his past four turns

3. Eduardo Rodriguez - He's an interesting prospect with upside worth stashing right now 

3. Eduardo Rodriguez - He was a Closing Time favorite who spun a gem in debut. Gets Minnesota next

4. Jesse Chavez - Best roto numbers among SPs owned in under 50% of leagues - good pitching environment and coming off solid '14 campaign

4. Jesse Hahn - Low K rate but he's a good pitcher with a 1.16 WHIP 

4. Pat Neshek - As of this writing, his WHIP is 0.64, which is just silly. Striking out a batter/frame, too


5. Nathan Karns - In eight of his past nine outings, you'd have been happy with the returns

5. Brad Ziegler - This is bizarre considering he's a closer now

5. Carlos Rodon - Overpowering stuff, and the walks won't continue at recent rate

 

If the MLB were forced to contract, which five teams would you vote to eliminate

1. Tampa Bay - Just load the team up in that spaceship of a stadium and fly them off to the intergalatic league

1. Los Angeles Dodgers - Please put them out of their misery (says the Giants fan)

1. Tampa Bay - Just so we're clear, I do not support contraction. But this park is kind of a disaster

2. Miami - Sorry, Florida fans, but the attendance figures in your state are deplorable, and you at least have spring training

2. Tampa Bay - It's a shame the location of its stadium 

2. Miami - Billy the Marlin can stay, as can Stanton. They'll be reassigned

3. Arizona - Like Florida, spring training offers consolation that other teams don't have, plus it's too damn hot in the summer

3. Miami - New stadium (and Stanton!) has still resulted in poor attendance numbers 

3. Philadelphia - Again, I do not support contraction of ANY TEAM. But there have been some vile fan actions here

4. Toronto -  What, we are going to contract five teams from "America's Game" our "National Pastime" and leave in the only Canadian team? No can do.

4. LA Dodgers - This team really needs to go away

4. St. Louis Cardinals - After three straight division titles and a whole mess of World Series appearances, GIVE SOMEONE ELSE A CHANCE, you guys

5. Colorado - Sorry, Rockies fans, but it's all about the air up there

5. LA Dodgers - OK fine I might be a bit biased but don't all of their fans leave every game in like the fifth inning? 

5. San Francisco Giants - This team has done quite enough winning, too. Just go away for a couple seasons, maybe