RADIO
Today's piece covers a set of players who either should not be available on waivers or will return back there soon. Most of the earlier editions of this recurring buy or sell article have included several universally owned players whose values have been manipulated enough by early-season performances. Unfortunately, as we get deeper into the year, the regression fairies come to ruin every savvy owner's fun.
If you need a win in H2H or a particular category filled in rotisserie, buy or sell what you must to get to where you need. The home stretch is dark and full of terrors. Injured and underperforming players can be let go if they are taking up a roster spot that could be filled by someone much more productive. Players mentioned in this piece, and coming editions as we wind the season down, are more "add/drop" candidates rather than "buy/sells" given that trade deadlines are either passed or passing. Evaluate wisely.
Anyway, these buys and sells are worth noting for this upcoming week. Best of luck.
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- Who should I start? Fantasy baseball player comparisons
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Undervalued Players - Week 22
Kyle Seager - 3B, SEA
52% owned
Kyle Seager is on fire. Over the past month, he has been a top-15 player on Yahoo's rater. His average is above .350 over this span and he is whacking home runs consistently. The Mariners' lineup is not exactly potent, but they have had the benefit of facing some poor teams of late resulting in a bump in overall offense. Seager probably won't keep this streak up, but he's well worth a pick-up give that he looks like the Kyle Seager of old.
Once he hits a slump though, you know the drill. Drop him and move onto the next hot bat. At the end of the day, with the playoffs on the line, you take what you can get and move forward with what's best for your team in the moment.
Brock Burke - SP, TEX
18% owned
Burke has been nails through his first two career starts in the MLB. With the Mariners coming up in his next matchup, it's not a bad idea to ride the wave and see if this mini-streak holds up. He was electric in Double-A this year and while he did struggle in Triple-A, he got a pass due to the extreme hitting environment there at the moment. His xFIP and SIERA are not too appealing but the FIP is good and he can go fairly deep into games, as he has pitched six full innings in both pro outings thus far.
Burke should be up for the rest of the year to build on starting a strong 2020 campaign. He's certainly worth grabbing in 12-team leagues and deeper. After the Mariners game, his projected schedule is @BAL, TB, then OAK, @OAK. Not a brutal stretch to start, but he should probably be dropped prior to those Oakland starts.
Overvalued Players - Week 22
Eduardo Rodriguez - SP, BOS
81% owned
This breaks my heart to write, but E-Rod might be a drop for now. His next three projected starts are @COL, vs MIN, and vs NYY. That is a brutal three-game stretch and he has not been reliable enough all year to justify starting here, especially with the playoffs on the line. The ideal scenario is that you drop him, an opponent picks him up/starts him and you benefit from him blowing up their ratios.
The schedule eases up a ton afterward, however, if your playoffs are in action, these coming starts are not worth the risk. Appreciate the job he's done for your team thus far, particularly dropping his season ERA below four, and move on. Plenty of starting pitchers are droppable in the playoffs if they can't help you that particular week.
Nick Senzel - 3B/OF, CIN
51% owned
Nick Senzel has been frustrating for the most part throughout the season, but his recent cold streak is enough justification to let go. Despite providing decent counting stats, Senzel's inconsistency is not worth rostering most of the time. If there's a more productive hitter on the waiver wire (like Kyle Seager) target them as a replacement and keep an eye on Senzel in case he gets hot again.
With his recent thumb injury, and the Reds out of contention, it would not shock me if they shut him down early. Senzel is still one of the prized assets in the organization and they are going to need him contributing more in the near future than right now.
