Yasmani Grandal (C, LAD) - Waiver Wire Pickup

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ANALYSIS: Sometimes in fantasy baseball, owners tend to know about a player long before they reach the Majors, which can stretch a career retrospective back further than the career itself. Yasmani Grandal is one of those players, at least for me. One of the key pieces in a Reds-Padres deal in 2011, Grandal is still only 26 years young, and is entering only his fourth season at the Major League level. While he has yet to match his .311 career batting average in the minor leagues, there is still a chance Grandal could improve that enough to propel himself to new career offensive highs in 2016...if he stays healthy.

As we saw in 2015 when he had an All-Star first half (.282 average, 14 home runs), Grandal can deliver for fantasy owners in a big way, a way his career minor league numbers back up. But when an injury happens, and they always seem to, he can just as easily take it away. Trying to play through a second-half shoulder injury last season was a big mistake for Grandal, as he hit .162 with two home runs, hurting a lot of fantasy owners in the process.

Currently rehabbing a right forearm injury suffered in Spring Training, Grandal is tentatively set to make his 2016 regular season debut this week when the Dodgers have their home opener. Assuming his shoulder was able to heal up over the off-season, and his .333 spring average seems to indicate that to be true, Grandal should have no problem putting up two great halves on his way to a career year. He may not double the first half of 2015, but a year where he hits somewhere around .280 with 20 home runs and 70 RBI isn't out of the realm of imagination.