Here we are, the final week of the season. Fantasy titles hang in the balance and will be won or lost in many leagues based on the decisions made on the waiver wire. No pressure, right? Fear not - we're here to help just as we (hopefully) did in the first nine weeks of this challenging and truncated 2020 campaign.
As always, our focus here is players who are rostered in under 50% of Yahoo leagues. Your mileage may vary as to their availability and utility. We'll run down options for various league depths in an effort to provide as many fantasy baseball managers as possible with viable pickup options. Despite best efforts and intentions, however, it really do be like that sometimes.
With that, here are your waiver wire targets for the middle infield in week 10.
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Shallow Leagues (26-50% Rostered)
Tommy La Stella (1B/2B/3B, OAK) — 45% rostered
La Stella could be rostered in more leagues than not by the time you read this, as he's been one of the most popular adds in the game over the past couple of days. The community has noticed that he's ranked in the top 60 overall players over the past two weeks, on the back of elite run production (13 scored, 9 batted in) and a .313 average. La Stella hits near the top of the lineup, hasn't seen the bench in weeks, and can be plugged in at three positions. That's the kind of player you want if you're trying to squeeze last drop of volume you can.
Rougned Odor (2B, TEX) — 28% rostered
Yes, Odor has largely been terrible in 2020, even by his usual standards. He was hitting .138 through September 10, with no stolen bases to boot, which is either illegal or should be. .172 is nothing to be proud of, but that's where he sits just a week and a half later. Most of the hits that have contributed to that spike have been home runs, which makes Odor interesting to fantasy managers. On Sunday, he homered for the second straight game and fifth time in his last eight. For as flawed (and therefore difficult to trust) a hitter as he is, we're still talking about a dude who hit 30 bombs in three of the four seasons prior to this one.
Deeper Leagues (10-25% Rostered)
Jon Berti (2B/3B/SS/OF, MIA) — 22% rostered
Berti's finger injury was particularly untimely, coming as it did right when he'd begun to heat up a bit after a slow start to the year. He's back now, though, and went 1-for-3 in his return on Sunday. We know he can swipe bags as he has eight on the year, three of which came in a single inning. He also had a four-steal night in last season's final week, so the potential is there for Berti to seriously boost you in that category.
Miguel Rojas (SS, MIA) — 12% rostered
As you can tell by the above figure, not many managers have seen fit to include Rojas on their rosters. But the man entered action on Sunday hitting .347/.431/.574 in 33 games, so it seems like a decent idea to plug him in. Two of his four home runs have come in the last week, and he's also chipped in three stolen bases. The relatively lengthy injured list stint that he sandwiched these contributions around is probably a contributor to the lack of hype. Take advantage.
Ty France (2B/3B, SEA) — 14% rostered
France got some love in this space after a deadline trade to the Mariners, in anticipation of his seeing everyday at-bats. They've come (in premium lineup spots) and he's made them count, entering Sunday's action with a .309/.377/.491 line, four homers, and 33 R+BI in 35 games.
Super Deep Leagues (< 10% Rostered)
Brandon Crawford (SS, SFG) — 3% rostered
Crawford's grand slam was part of a 14-run onslaught for the Giants on Sunday, and along with another hit in the game that put his OPS at a career-best .835. The veteran hasn't been a reliable fantasy asset since his 21-homer season in 2015, but he's hitting .313 over the past two weeks, and Sunday's salami was his second homer in four games.
So Long
Thanks for reading this season. Fantasy baseball is somehow both frivolous and essential. It can be tough to invest the necessary effort when the world is burning down around us (in the case of those of us living in the western half of the country, quite literally), but happy distractions can also keep us from losing our minds as this absolute cluster of a year barrels onward. Moments of Zen, however brief or inconsequential, must be found when we can.
When baseball will return, what that will look like, and how that will work are all very good questions to which not a solitary soul possesses any real answers. Certainty is part of the price you pay to live in interesting times.
Until we meet again: Be safe, be smart, do your best.
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