Waiver Wired: Happy Trails
We have arrived. This is the final edition of Waiver Wired for the 2015 MLB season. It has been an honor to be your guide for yet another season. Hopefully this column has made at least a small difference for you along the way.
I'm not going anywhere, so be sure to follow me @djshort on Twitter during the offseason. It promises to be a wild Hot Stove, with lots of fantasy fallout. It won't be long before we start preparing the Rotoworld Draft Guide for 2016. Stay tuned for that.
If you have made it this far, you likely already have a strategy for the last few days. The usual detailed explanations of each pickup aren't really necessary at this point. So I have divided some players of note into different categories. They are all widely-available in most leagues. You'll also find a few streaming options for the weekend.
One more thing: Be sure to read Page Two for my annual Waiver Wired Awards.
MIXED LEAGUES
Power: Khris Davis, Justin Bour, Marcell Ozuna, C.J. Cron, Greg Bird, Chris Carter, David Freese, Michael Conforto, Maikel Franco, Jarrett Parker
Speed: Kevin Pillar, Ender Inciarte, Rajai Davis, Carl Crawford, Kevin Kiermaier, Mikie Mahtook, Aaron Altherr, Alejandro De Aza, Angel Pagan, Kelby Tomlinson, Jason Bourgeois, Jarrod Dyson, Eric Young, Jr.
Multi-position eligible players: Logan Forsythe, Martin Prado, Eduardo Escobar, Marcus Semien, Stephen Vogt, Brock Holt, Dustin Ackley, Eddie Rosario, Jedd Gyorko
Saves: Darren O'Day, Robbie Ross, Neftali Feliz, Trevor Gott, Joe Smith, Matt Thornton, Casey Janssen, Felipe Rivero
Suitable Streamers:
J.A. Happ SP, Pirates (Yahoo: 48 percent owned) vs. the Reds on Sunday
This is a no-brainer play. Happ has been nothing short of brilliant since joining the Pirates at the trade deadline, posting a 2.04 ERA and 62/10 K/BB ratio in 57 1/3 innings over 10 starts. Meanwhile, the Reds are flirting with the worst record in baseball. Make sure Happ is owned. I've been surprised to see him available in a couple of leagues over the past week or two.
Erasmo Ramirez SP/RP, Rays (Yahoo: 31 percent owned) vs. the Blue Jays on Friday
I realize this isn't the most ideal matchup on paper, as Ramirez is going up against the best offense in the majors. Still, he's been great dating back to the end of May and owns a 2.39 ERA at home this season. Who knows, maybe the Blue Jays will rest a regular or two. They already scratched David Price from the start. I'm willing to take a chance on this one if need be.
Chris Young SP/RP, Royals (Yahoo: 34 percent owned) at the Twins on Friday
Asked to make his first start in over two months, Young showed little signs of rust on Sunday by holding the Indians hitless over five innings. The veteran right-hander was a nice surprise as a rotation fill-in from May through July and owns a 3.15 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, and 78/41 K/BB ratio over 117 innings on the year. He should be started everywhere, even against a team who is scratching and clawing to stay alive.
Roenis Elias SP, Mariners (Yahoo: 4 percent owned) vs. the Mariners on Saturday
Elias has been pretty good since rejoining the Mariners rotation at the end of August, posting a 3.18 ERA over six starts. The southpaw has allowed two earned runs or fewer in each of his last four. The secondary numbers don't back him up completely, as he has walked 15 batters in just 27 2/3 innings this month, so there's some blow-up potential here, but those in deeper formats should be willing to give him a shot against the A's at home.
Chris Heston SP, Giants (Yahoo: 44 percent owned) vs. the Rockies on Friday
Heston appears to have hit a wall over the past two months, especially in regard to his control. As a result, he hasn't completed six innings in a start since way back on August 12. Still, he's been missing bats recently and has had better results at home than on the road this season. The Rockies' offense is bad away from Coors Field and the Giants' offense has a good chance to put up some runs against Kyle Kendrick. I like Heston's chances of a win here.
Lance McCullers SP, Astros (Yahoo: 46 percent owned) at the Diamondbacks on Sunday
This one isn't 100 percent official yet, but McCullers appears to be the most likely pitcher for the assignment as the Astros try to finish off a Wild Card spot. It could be a high-pressure outing against a tough offense, but he's too good to sit.
The 2015 Waiver Wired Awards
Below you'll find this year's edition of the Waiver Wired Awards. These are all players who were available in under 50 percent of Yahoo leagues at some point during the year and found themselves in my column. As usual, we have a pretty impressive group. The players I probably have the most regret about missing out on are Kendrys Morales (his early-season RBI barrage put him over 50 percent quickly), Marco Estrada (was skeptical after his home run issues last year), and Noah Syndergaard (timing of his call-up put him up over 50 percent before I had a chance to include him).
If you have read this before, you'll know that each award is named in honor of an obscure Mets player from my formative years. It doesn't make a lot of sense, but hey, I'm trying to have some fun here. With that out of the way, let's move on to the winners...
The Phil Lombardi Award (best waiver wire catcher)
Catcher is a weird one this year. In the first half, Yasmani Grandal was the runaway winner. After coming over from the Padres in the Matt Kemp deal, the 26-year-old hit .282 with 14 home runs and a .927 OPS over 69 games. The second half has obviously been a different story. He's hitting just .172 with a .516 OPS. This includes a recent 4-for-74 stretch. Fortunately, an interesting group of young players have stepped up during the second half, including Kyle Schwarber, Travis d'Arnaud, J.T. Realmuto, and Blake Swihart.
I can't leave out Francisco Cervelli in this space. Taking over for Russell Martin as the Pirates' primary catcher, he has batted .299/.375/.406 with seven home runs and 43 RBI over 127 games this season. Not a lot of power, but still useful in mixed fantasy leagues. I'll give him the nod here since he has managed to stay healthy and productive all year, but catcher has been a mix-and-match affair unless you didn't have one of the top five or six options.
The Roberto Petagine Award (best waiver wire first baseman)
The Brewers have had all sorts of issues at first base in recent seasons, but they haven't had to worry about that with Adam Lind this year. He's batting .283/.367/.470 with 20 home runs and 87 RBI over 146 games. His power has dropped off a bit during the second half, but he still has a chance to finish with his most RBI in a season since his breakout campaign in 2009. It's been an ugly year for the Brewers, but he's been a big positive.
Lind is our winner, but Mitch Moreland is also deserving of a mention here. His power also dropped off in July and August, but he has amassed 23 home runs and a career-high 84 RBI this season. His monster June helped a lot of fantasy owners.
The Jason Hardtke Award (best waiver wire second baseman)
I'll go with Logan Forsythe here since he's been pretty consistent all year long. And remember, Forsythe wasn't even expected to be a regular at the start of spring training. The 28-year-old only got the opportunity after Nick Franklin came down with an oblique strain in March. It turned out to be a happy accident, as he has been the team's best hitter this season, batting .281/.359/.444 with 17 home runs and 68 RBI. He has also swiped nine bases.
Rougned Odor also deserves some love here. After being a preseason favorite of mine, he disappointed to the tune of a .144/.252/.233 batting line prior to being demoted in early May. He's batting .299 with 14 home runs and an .879 OPS in 87 games since his return in mid-June. Hopefully we get the full-fledged breakout next year.
The Al Pedrique Award (best waiver wire shortstop)
It wasn't too long ago that we were looking at shortstop as a position of weakness in fantasy leagues. Youngsters like Xander Bogaerts, Carlos Correa, and Francisco Lindor are quickly changing that. And while he has struggled a bit, there's reason to believe in Addison Russell's tools for the long-term.
Correa gets the nod here with me, not surprisingly. Despite not making his major league debut until June 8, he has amassed 21 home runs, 63 RBI, and 12 stolen bases while putting up a .277/.343/.504 batting line. Not bad for someone who just turned 21 years old last week. He's a stud. Look for him to be the first shortstop off the board for a long time to come.
The Junior Noboa Award (best waiver wire third baseman)
While he has only played about half of the season, I have to give this to Miguel Sano, who has put up some monster numbers in his rookie season with the Twins. Since being called up in early July, the 22-year-old has batted .275/.390/.551 with 18 home runs and 52 RBI over 76 games. His .941 OPS is eighth-highest in MLB among players with at least 300 plate appearances. That leads all rookies and even puts him above established sluggers like Nelson Cruz, Edwin Encarnacion, Jose Bautista, David Ortiz, Anthony Rizzo, and Chris Davis. Legit beast.
While not quite on Sano's level, two other players -- Jung Ho Kang and Maikel Franco -- were very useful during the first full season in the majors. And I can't leave out Justin Turner here. He has had some injuries during the second half, but a .290/.367/.483 batting line is nothing to sneeze at.
The Wayne Housie Award (best waiver wire outfielder)
My starting trio consists of Adam Eaton (.298/.375/.454 since his lousy April), Curtis Granderson (25 HR, 69 RBI, 97 runs scored, 11 steals, .816 OPS), and David Peralta (.310/.370/.521 batting line, 53 extra-base hits, and nine steals). Billy Burns (.294 average, 26 steals, 69 runs scored) came very close to making the cut for me while Kevin Pillar, Cameron Maybin, Randal Grichuk, Ender Inciarte, Gerardo Parra, Stephen Piscotty, Denard Span, and Michael Taylor all proved valuable at certain points of the season.
The Brett Hinchcliffe Award (best waiver wire starting pitcher)
Last year, we saw some elite contributions from starting pitchers off the waiver wire, led by the fab four of Garrett Richards, Jake Arrieta, Dallas Keuchel, and Jacob deGrom. For whatever reason, fantasy owners weren't as fortunate this season. I hope you drafted/traded well. Still, we got some decent contributions.
Carlos Martinez is at the top of the list with me. While a shoulder strain ended his season over the weekend, the 24-year-old posted a 3.01 ERA and 184/63 K/BB ratio over 179 2/3 innings. His injury isn't expected to need surgery, so hopefully he'll be 100 percent for 2016. He has some electric stuff. Noah Syndergaard and Marco Estrada (though they weren't mentioned in this column by name) helped a lot of fantasy owners this year while names like Erasmo Ramirez, Lance McCullers, Chris Heston, and Jaime Garcia also came in handy.
The Edwin Almonte Award (best waiver wire relief pitcher)
As these things usually go, our best waiver wire relief pitcher wasn't even a closer at the start of the season. Asked to step in for the Mets after Jenrry Mejia's elbow injury and PED suspension, Jeurys Familia has posted a 1.88 ERA and 84/19 K/BB ratio in 76 2/3 innings this season while going 42-for-47 in save chances. With two more saves, he'll break the franchise save record, which was set by Armando Benitez in 2001. He should be on the first 10 closers off the board next spring. Steve Tolleson, Miguel Castro, A.J. Ramos, and Ken Giles also proved to be fine pickups off the wire this year.
