We're headed down the final stretch for the 2017 fantasy baseball season, but it's never too late to improve your team via waiver wire adds. There are plenty of rookies who are hungry to make good impressions in the final weeks. Grabbing the right one might be all you need for that final playoff push.
The corner infield positions traditionally offer power with the potential for high averages, so you may want to target players that can offer an advantage in those categories to bolster your team. In this piece, I'll identify waiver wire targets for first base and third base in week 23 who should be able to contribute in multiple categories, either as replacements or bench depth. These players are owned in 50% or less of Yahoo! leagues.
We'll also look at the names mentioned in last week’s post, noting which players have graduated off of the waiver wire (ownership higher than 50%), which are still recommended pickups, and which we are dropping off the list entirely.
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Week 23 Corner Infield (CI) Waiver Wire Targets
C.J. Cron (1B, LAA) 15% owned - Skepticism aside, Cron is on a downright tear. He's driven in 11 runs in the last five games, with three homers to boot. Cron has proven to be capable of hot streaks such as this, but it won't last forever. He'll face the same Oakland team and starter Chris Smith on Monday, against whom he homered twice five days ago. Stream him for this week.
Greg Bird (1B, NYY) 29% owned - He's finally back from the dead (or the disabled list) and giving the Yanks what they hoped for back in March. While Bird won't live up to the expectations he set after his spring training surge, he has started producing in the power categories with two homers and nine RBI in the last 10 days. If Bird hits well enough, he should hold onto the first base job.
Matt Holliday (1B/OF, NYY) 38% owned - Another Yankee, this time on the opposite end of the age spectrum. Holliday finally came off the disabled list and promptly homered in his first game back. He did it again on Sunday with a solo shot. It's easy to forget that he was on pace for a 30-homer season with 15 jacks in the first half of the year until his injury.
Brian Anderson (3B, MIA) 0% owned - The latest prospect to get a September audition, Anderson has a great chance to establish himself as the everyday third baseman for the fish. Martin Prado isn't coming back, the Marlins are only marginally in the wild card race, and Anderson is their best young hitting prospect. Anderson represented the team in the All-Star Futures game in Miami. He's gotten three straight starts so far, picking up exactly one hit in each. It may be a matter of time before he starts doing his Giancarlo Stanton impression, but he's worth a shot in super-deep leagues.
Graduated
Trey Mancini (1B/OF, BAL) 58% owned - It's still way too low, but at least Mancini's finally over 50% ownership. He's batting .292 and could still reach the 30-HR mark with a strong September.
Hold For Now
Yolmer Sanchez (2B/3B, CHW) 1% owned - Sanchez is rocking a .478 average with a pair of steals over the past week, so keep him plugged in for now.
Matt Davidson (1B/3B, CHW) 6% owned - It hasn't been the best week for Davidson, as he's 0-for-10 in the last three games and is hitless in five of the last six games. That said, he could easily turn things around with a couple swings of the bat.
More Waiver Wire Pickups and Adds
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