Danny Santana (SS, MIN) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in Deep Leagues

ANALYSIS: Throughout his time in the minor leagues Danny Santana went from organizational depth, destined to never reach the big leagues, to one of the better pure hitters in the Twins' farm system. He has just about no power, but he has proven in 147 at-bats so far that he can get on-base, boasting a .348 on-base percentage over that span. He has good speed, having stolen as many as 30 bases in one year in the minors, but has only swiped 6 of 8 attempts since his call-up. That should increase as he continues to get a feel for major league pitchers. His fielding is what is really keeping him around the major leagues, but his offensive game as a whole has been improving. Even if he is not driving the ball, his speed allows him to beat out tough ground balls in the infield, as shown by his .393 BABIP, which puts him third in the American League among players with at least 150 plate appearances behind only Josh Hamilton and Brock Holt. Most importantly, Santana is HOT right now, going 6-for-14 over his last 4 games with 4 runs, 1 HR and 2 RBIs. Santana may not be an exciting fantasy option in any league, but as long as he is hitting, he is without question a reliable option in deep leagues, and he should be owned in all AL-Only leagues at this point. He also may not be a long-term solution, but for the time being, there is nothing that should keep him on the waiver wire in very deep leagues.