Zack Burdi (RP, CWS) - Week 5 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in Very Deep Leagues/Saves+Holds Leagues ROSTERED IN: 0% of leagues ANALYSIS: It hasn't always been the easiest path to the majors for the Burdi brothers of the University of Louisville, and Nick Burdi saw his season ended almost immediately after being named the interim closer for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Now, Zack Burdi has made […]

Casey Mize (SP, DET) - Week 5 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 24% of leagues ANALYSIS: No one expected the Detroit Tigers to be contending for a playoff spot one-third of the way through this season, and now the organization is in the precarious predicament of what to do with the upper echelon of its prospect pool. Now that Ivan […]

Brandon Nimmo (OF, NYM) - Week 5 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 15% of leagues ANALYSIS: Brandon Nimmo is always worth paying attention to for his talent and power/speed capabilities, and it might be easy to lose sight of his production this season while fellow Met Michael Conforto has the hot hand, but Nimmo is off to a hot start […]

Nick Solak (2B/3B/OF, TEX) - Week 5 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 25% of leagues ANALYSIS: This is a season when every AB matters and defensive versatility can help maximize those opportunities, and with availability in the outfield and the corner and middle infield, Nick Solak presents can easily be plugged in on any given day. The former Louisville Cardinal […]

Pablo Lopez (SP, MIA) - Week 5 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 23% of leagues ANALYSIS: Pablo Lopez is one of several young and promising starting pitchers for the Miami Marlins, and though his time in the big leagues thus far has been a bit shaky, he is off to an excellent start so far in 2020. In three starts, […]

Spencer Howard (SP, PHI) - Week 4 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 24% of leagues ANALYSIS: In a season with much more day-to-day urgency than any we have seen before, some teams are finding it to be the right time to give the major league call to some of the organization's top prospects. On Sunday, facing a doubleheader, the Phillies […]

Anthony DeSclafani (SP, CIN) - Week 4 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in All Leagues ROSTERED IN: 35% of leagues ANALYSIS: The Cincinnati Reds starting rotation has been off to a hot start in 2020, and in his two starts since returning from the IL, Anthony DeSclafani has contributed to that wave of momentum in a big way. In an encouraging volume of work (11.0 IP), […]

Amir Garrett (RP, CIN) - Week 4 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team Leagues/Saves + Holds Leagues ROSTERED IN: 4% of leagues ANALYSIS: The Cincinnati Reds have had plenty of things going for them to start the 2020 season, but bullpen performance has not been one of them, with Lucas Sims and Amir Garrett being the only two relievers with ERA below 5.06, which […]

Joey Wendle (2B/3B/SS, TB) - Week 4 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 5% of leagues ANALYSIS: Here's an interesting note: if you were going strictly by WAR, Joey Wendle would've beaten Shohei Ohtani, Miguel Andujar, and Gleyber Torres for the 2018 AL ROY with a 4.8. Aside from that, Wendle is attempting to recover in 2020 from a subpar showing […]

Jesus Aguilar (1B, MIA) - Week 4 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 7% of leagues ANALYSIS: Just by assuming that you have access to the internet or information at all, I can guess that you might have heard that it's already been a roller coaster season for the Miami Marlins, and even more surprising, they are playing very well when […]

Max Stassi (C, LAA) - Week 4 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in Two-Catcher Leagues OWNED IN: 12% of leagues ANALYSIS: Just 27 AB into the 2020 season, and Max Stassi already looks poised for a career campaign. The 29-year-old backstop has already swung his way to four home runs, a slash of .296/.355/.741, and the addition of six runs and ten RBI for the competent […]

James McCann (C, CWS) - Week 3 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in Two-Catcher Leagues OWNED IN: 14% of leagues ANALYSIS: Last season, in his first year with the Chicago White Sox, James McCann turned in by far the best campaign of his career, putting up 18 home runs, four stolen bases, and a slash of .273/.328/.460 in 439 AB on his way to his first […]

Danny Jansen (C, TOR) - Week 3 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 23% of leagues ANALYSIS: There is no shortage of young and talented catching prospects that have made their way to the MLB (or very soon will) in 2020; from Sean Murphy, Tyler Stephenson, Joey Bart, Francisco Mejia, Daulton Varsho, and Reese McGuire, just to name a few. However, […]

Marco Gonzales (SP, SEA) - Week 3 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 28% of leagues ANALYSIS: With K/9 figures of 7.8, 6.5, and 6.8 over the last three seasons, Marco Gonzales doesn't have a lot of sex appeal on the mound, but since the start of 2018 he has been the picture of durability and control for the Seattle Mariners […]

Nick Madrigal (2B/SS, CWS) - Week 3 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 13% of leagues ANALYSIS: By all accounts, 23-year-old Nick Madrigal is one of the top 50 prospects in baseball, and with only two seasons (628 AB) of minor-league play under his belt, the youth-stocked Chicago White Sox have already given Madrigal the major league call up. Putting the […]

Austin Riley (CI/OF, ATL) - Week 2 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 29% of leagues ANALYSIS: Austin Riley garnered considerable attention for the offensively astute Atlanta Braves in 2019 by hitting 18 home runs with a .471 slugging percentage over 274 AB, and that kind of attention doesn't come easily when you share the field with Ozzie Albies and Ronald […]

Kyle Lewis (OF, SEA) - Week 2 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in All Leagues OWNED IN: 34% of leagues ANALYSIS: Between Evan White, Shed Long, Justin Dunn, Justus Sheffield, J.P. Crawford, Tim Lopes, and Jake Fraley, it seems that the Seattle Mariners are navigating a sea of young talent all over the field, but 25-year-old Kyle Lewis has already set himself apart from the pack […]

Trevor Gott (RP, SF) - Week 2 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 2% of leagues ANALYSIS: Personally, as a fellow alum of the University of Kentucky and resident of Lexington, Kentucky, it would be hard for me not to harbor some excitement regarding Trevor Gott (just ask Jason Kipnis, James Paxton, Luke Maile, Taylor Rogers, and Evan White). However, it's […]

Nick Burdi (RP, PIT) - Week 2 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 3% of leagues ANALYSIS: Keone Kela is still out with an illness, Kyle Crick's shoulder just landed him on the IL, and just like that, the Pirates are immediately forced to dig deeper into their bullpen to fill up the high-leverage innings. That created a window of opportunity […]

Greg Holland (RP, KC) - Week 2 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 7% of leagues ANALYSIS: Greg Holland is 34 years old, and to be perfectly honest, I would've believed you if you told me that he was 42 when considering the career that he has had. Holland is a three-time All-Star with 207 career saves and two placements within […]

Kyle Wright (SP, ATL) - Week 2 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 3% of leagues ANALYSIS: The Atlanta Braves just optioned Mike Foltynewicz following a horrendous first start for the 2020 MLB season, and while Sean Newcomb put up a solid showing as a starter to kick off the year against the New York Mets, 2019 demonstrated just how much […]

James Karinchak (RP, CLE) - Week 1 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 7% of leagues ANALYSIS: It is truly a relief to once again be talking about players warranting a waiver wire selection, and in the spirit of the scale of this relief, let's kick off the 2020 MLB season by discussing one of the most promising young relievers in […]

Austin Hays (OF, BAL) - Week 1 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 9% of leagues ANALYSIS: 25-year-old Austin Hays is a former highly touted prospect, and given the downtrodden nature of the Baltimore Orioles roster, is ready to take the reigns in the outfield at Camden Yards for the abbreviated 2020 MLB season. Whether or not you would slate the […]

Mike Muscala (PF/C, OKC) - Week 14 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add In 14-Team Leagues OWNED IN: 4% of leagues ANALYSIS: From the surface, it would seem like you would be best advised to steer clear of Mike Muscala: he has largely shot poorly from long-distance this season, he is seeing his lowest volume of floor-time since 2015, and he appears to be securely […]

Luke Kornet (PF/C, CHI) - Week 14 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add In 12-Team Leagues OWNED IN: 8% of leagues ANALYSIS: Luke Kornet has made his living as a three-point shooting seven-footer for NBA teams with depleted or economical rosters so far in his career, and with the recent significant injuries to Wendell Carter and Daniel Gafford, Kornet will again be having his number […]

Josh Hart (SG/SF, NO) - Week 13 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add In 12-Team Leagues OWNED IN: 27% of leagues ANALYSIS: There are definitely a couple of strong reasons for why you might want to avoid Josh Hart, namely that his three-point shooting percentage has decreased steadily each month from 40% in October to 29.7% to kick off the new year and his usage […]

Dorian Finney-Smith (SF/PF, DAL) - Week 13 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add In 12-Team Leagues OWNED IN: 12% of leagues ANALYSIS: It has been a nice two-month stretch of leaps and bounds for Dorian Finney-Smith out of the Dallas Mavericks front court. From October through December, the former Florida Gator was in the unique position of seeing his playing time steadily increase, yet his […]

Jarrett Culver (PG/SG/SF, MIN) - Week 12 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add In 12-Team Leagues OWNED IN: 13% of leagues ANALYSIS: Playing time can be difficult to come by for a rookie, even for a high draft pick who was as impressive in college as Jarrett Culver was. However, with the Minnesota Timberwolves as banged up as to see Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins, and […]

2B and SS Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 26

Well folks, we're approaching the final week of the 2019 MLB regular season, which means many of you are fighting for your lives in fantasy baseball championships. I want to thank everyone for taking this ride together through the campaign, and I have also be honest, it's already been a weird time for September. I […]

2B and SS Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 25

In one unfortunate week (though suspiciously, not on Friday the 13th), the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs both lost their biggest star in the midst of the NL wildcard race, and are still fending off the Phillies and Mets on razor-thin margins. In losing Christian Yelich and Javier Baez, for their big league squads and […]