Byron Buxton (OF, MIN) - Waiver Wire Analysis

BALLER MOVE: Add in All Leagues OWNED IN: 54% of Fleaflicker Leagues ANALYSIS: By the time you read this, Buxton may already be owned in the majority of leagues. His ownership level has jumped 16 percent in the hours since news broke of his promotion on Saturday. Buxton, of course, is considered perhaps the best prospect in […]

Week 11 Buy and Sell Starting Pitchers for Fantasy Baseball

Only Drew Hutchison saved us from the predicted clean sweep of doom for last week’s buys. On the sell side, Mike Bolsinger continued to defy the odds while Nathan Karns and Michael Wacha had rough goes, though Wacha did notch 10 strikeouts. Let’s see if we can’t do a little better this time around. Editor’s […]

Five Outfield Waiver Wire Pickups & Adds for Week 11

We’re getting closer and closer to the All-Star Game, which means the annual deluge of “fix the All-Star Game” columns and blog posts is underway. None of the players listed below will participate, but a couple of them have done so before and all can provide a boost to your fantasy team. As always, these […]

Alex Guerrero (OF/3B, LAD) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in All Leagues OWNED IN: 49% of Fleaflicker Leagues ANALYSIS: Guerrero likely won’t appear on this list again, as his ownership level has crept up to the cutoff point. With Juan Uribe now toiling in Atlanta and Scott Van Slyke on the shelf, Guerrero has the clearest path to playing time he’s […]

Rusney Castillo (OF, BOS) - Waiver Wire Analysis

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 46% owned in Fleaflicker Leagues ANALYSIS: Obviously, Castillo has been a disappointment so far. He opened the season in the minors, missed significant time with injuries, and has scuffled in his second taste of major league action. An OPS below .400 is abysmal, of course, but keep in mind […]

Andre Ethier (OF, LAD) - Waiver Wire Analysis

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 34% of Fleaflicker Leagues ANALYSIS: Like Guerrero, Ethier has benefited from injuries to his teammates and has taken full advantage of increased playing time. He’s cooled off a bit in recent days but still boasts a .295/.380/.517 line, with seven homers and 22 RBI. Last season notwithstanding, Ethier […]

Carlos Beltran (OF/DH, NYY) - Waiver Wire Analysis

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 27% of Fleaflicker Leagues ANALYSIS: At 38, Beltran’s best days are pretty clearly behind him. 2014 was the worst season of his career, and after a sluggish start, fantasy owners could be forgiven for writing him off. Beltran, however, showed signs of life with a .298/.316/.500 line […]

Adam Eaton (OF, CHW) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 10+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 34% of Fleaflicker Leagues ANALYSIS: Following the extension he signed as part of the Pale Hose’s offseason splurge, expectations were high for Eaton. Add to that the fact that he’s been a popular fantasy sleeper for a couple of years now, and his putrid start to the […]

Top Outfield Waiver Pickups & Adds for Week 10

As we enter the middle stretch of the season, it becomes both easier to identify and harder to add players on the wire who can help us. Many breakout candidates have likely been long since snapped up in your league, so you’ll need to dig a bit deeper to find talent. Filters and splits are […]

Week 10 Buy and Sell Pitchers for Fantasy Baseball

All three of last week’s sells pitched poorly in their first start after the list was published, while the buys spun gems. That probably means the exact opposite will happen this time around, so plan accordingly. Never forget that baseball is a fickle and cruel mistress. Editor’s Note: to read about waiver wire options for […]

Billy Burns (OF, OAK) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in Deeper / AL-Only Leagues Ownership: 19% of Fleaflicker Leagues ANALYSIS: After a late season collapse cost the A’s their third straight AL West title last season, they’ve been amongst the worst teams in baseball in 2015. Billy Burns has been one of the few bright spots in Oakland since being called up on […]

Ender Inciarte (OF, ARI) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in NL-Only Leagues Owned In: 41% of Fleaflicker Leagues ANALYSIS: With only one hit in eight tries during Sunday’s 17-inning marathon against the Brewers, Ender Inciarte’s line has dropped to .290/.318/.380. He’s also only six for 10 in steal attempts. However, he still has a grip on the leadoff gig in Arizona and […]

Week 9 Buy and Sell Pitchers for Fantasy Baseball

All three of last week's buys pitched on Saturday. Clayton Kershaw and Jose Quintana pitched well. Gio Gonzalez...not so much. But hey, if Meat Loaf says two out of three ain't bad, who are we to argue? Let's take a look at this week's SP buys and sells, dominated by the Central Division of each […]

Five Outfield Waiver Wire Pickups & Adds for Week 9

With the first two months of the 2015 season in the books, you should have a pretty solid idea of where your strengths and weaknesses lie on your fantasy rosters. Is one of those weak spots for you in the outfield? Perhaps you've been victimized by injuries to Yasiel Puig or Corey Dickerson. Maybe you […]

Nori Aoki (OF, SFG) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in Deep Mixed and NL-Only Leagues Ownership: 37% ANALYSIS: Nori Aoki's ownership has actually dropped since we discussed him in Week 6, despite a .861 OPS over that time. Overall, Aoki is hitting .297/.374/.381 with 10 steals from his perch atop the Giants' order. With the hitters behind him finally showing signs of life, […]

Five Outfield Waiver Wire Pickups & Adds for Week 8

Going by the calendar, summer officially begins on June 21. Unofficially, Memorial Day weekend feels like the true start of the season. In most of the country, the weather’s nice enough to fire up the grill, have family and friends over, and gorge on meat and beer like a true ‘Murrican. And the baseball season’s […]

Week 8 Buy and Sell Pitchers for Fantasy Baseball

Last week’s Buy/Sell column was published the morning of the 16th. That didn’t give you time to trade Mike Leake before he got destroyed by the Giants that afternoon (while wearing that Reds/2015/05/16/giants-vs-reds-may-16/27471573/">horrendous jersey, no less), but hopefully you were persuaded to bench him. Meanwhile, Michael Wacha and Julio Teheran tossed gems. I encourage you […]

Steven Souza (OF, TB) - Waiver Wire Analysis

BALLER MOVE: Add in 10+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 51% of Fleaflicker Leagues ANALYSIS: Souza was blocked in Washington, so the Nationals flipped him to the Rays over the winter. With this new lease on life and playing time came a fair amount of sleeper buzz. So far, Souza’s been basically as advertised, a three true […]

Logan Morrison (1B/OF, SEA) - Waiver Wire Analysis

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ team leagues OWNED IN: 9% of Fleaflicker Leagues ANALYSIS: Morrison has had a tough time sticking in the lineup in his career, mostly due to injuries and defense that can charitably be referred to as a traveshamockery. In his lone season with at least 500 plate appearances, however, he hit 23 […]

Delino DeShields Jr. (2B/OF, TEX) - Waiver Wire Analysis

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 10% of Fleaflicker Leagues ANALYSIS: DeShields isn’t going to maintain an average around .300 or a .400+ OBP for much longer. That said, he’s filling up the box score on a nightly basis for the Rangers, who quite frankly deserve a positive fluke with how the last […]

Five Outfield Waiver Wire Pickups & Adds for Week 7

You’ve almost certainly seen or heard countless sportswriters and broadcasters use the term “quarter pole” to denote when the first 25 percent of the regular season has been played. If you’re like me and have zero interest in horse racing, you’ve probably never thought anything of it. I recently learned, however, that the quarter pole […]

Marlon Byrd (OF, CIN) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in Deep Leagues Ownership: 49% ANALYSIS: He’s far from a spring chicken or a trendy fantasy player, but Marlon Byrd’s strange late-career renaissance refuses to end. Since the start of the 2013 season, Byrd’s 57 home runs are 20th in all of baseball. A putrid April has yielded to a torrid May, as […]

Week 7 Buy and Sell Pitchers for Fantasy Baseball

Corey Kluber led off last week’s buys. If you took that advice to heart and were able to strike a deal, you’re sitting pretty after his dazzling 18-strikeout performance against the Cardinals. That’s assuming you didn’t bench him against one of the best teams in baseball, as many Kluber owners did. Obviously you can’t predict […]

Rajai Davis (OF, DET) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in Deep, AL-Only Leagues Owned In: 45% of Leagues ANALYSIS: We know what Rajai Davis is at this point. He’ll give you a decent batting average, plenty of steals and not much else. He also doesn’t have a full-time starting gig and hasn’t topped 500 plate appearances since 2010 – the only […]

Kelly Johnson (OF/1B/3B, ATL) - Waiver Wire Analysis

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 18% of Fleaflicker Leagues ANALYSIS: Johnson was a revelation way back in 2010, hitting 26 homers, stealing 13 bases and posting an .865 OPS as a second baseman. He hasn’t been fantasy relevant since, but he’s tearing the cover off the ball right now. Over the last two weeks, […]

Five Outfield Waiver Wire Pickups & Adds for Week 6

We’re rapidly approaching the point where unexpected successes or struggles can’t merely be hand-waved as small sample flukes, though some still qualify as such. While 80 percent of the season remains, there is such a thing as being too patient. Around this time last year, I was able to trade Allen Craig and Tony Cingrani […]

Week 6 Buy and Sell Pitchers for Fantasy Baseball

We’re about a fifth of the way through the season, which means OH GOD PANIC TRADE EVERYONE. Kidding! Don’t do that. I’ve preached patience throughout our time together over the last month, and nothing’s changed in that regard. But as we’ve talked about before, there is a difference between being patient and being passive. A […]

Five Outfield Waiver Wire Pickups & Adds for Week 5

In recent days, both Ben Zobrist and Yasiel Puig have hit the shelf with injuries. Hunter Pence and Christian Yelich remain out of lineups, though not our hearts. Name brands like Andrew McCutchen and Carlos Gonzalez are scuffling. Point is, you might need a little help in the outfield. You’ve come to the right place. […]

Trending Up/Down: Fantasy Baseball April Stock Watch

We've talked already about the value of balancing patience and proactivity in the early going. That said, as April draws to a close, it behooves us to reassess the fantasy outlook for some players. The following half-dozen hitters have given fantasy owners reason to question their initial valuations.   Three Trending Up Mike Moustakas, 3B, Kansas […]

Five Outfield Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 4

Hard to believe we're coming up on the end of April, right? Hopefully your teams have come flying out of the gate. If not, though, there's no need to fret. As we discussed last week, there's a happy medium between making hasty moves and taking swift, decisive action. Be patient without being passive. Need help […]