Jose Alvarado (RP, TB) - Week 25 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues

OWNED IN: 27% of leagues

ANALYSIS: Tampa Bay Rays relief pitcher Jose Alvarado should be owned in more leagues based on his 2.14 ERA alone, but, here we are, with him free in more than 70% of leagues. Yes, he has walked 4.12 batters per nine on the season, but that ratio is down to just 3.48 per nine in the second half. Oh yeah, he is also the primary closer for the surging Rays.

While his 11.32 strikeouts per nine are enticing and he has only walked four batters since the beginning of August, the phrase "primary closer" is unsettling at best. The Rays have survived on smoke and mirrors out of the bullpen since they traded Chris Archer, moved to openers, and reinvented the game of baseball, but Alvarado is still technically the closer. He has saved five games since the All-Star break, but has also held 10 games.

Here is the long and short on Alvarado (who has a 1.31 ERA in 20 2/3 second half innings): he is a must-add in save plus hold formats and a great addition in deeper formats that only count saves. If you are ok with him not getting saves in shallow leagues, his ratios make him a good guy to roll the dice on anyway.