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ANALYSIS: Carlos Santana lost a decent chunk of his fantasy value after the Indians moved him out from behind the plate. His power numbers were excellent for a catcher, but are merely decent for a first baseman. His inability to hit for average (career .244 hitter, with identical .231 marks in 2014 and 2015) doesn't help. But owners who participate in OBP leagues have gotten plenty of value from Santana in the past thanks to his consistently excellent plate discipline. He also provided unexpected juice on the bases last season, stealing 11 bags on 14 attempts. To this point, 2016 has been business as usual. Santana is walking almost as often as he gets a hit, and providing solid pop.
There's some room for improvement on his current .225 batting average, however. While his pull-heavy approach will always keep his BABIP on the low side, his .217 mark is a good 50 points below his career number. Santana is also popping up much less often and running lower chase and whiff rates in the early going. Even getting his average up into the .250 range would make him a worthy CI option in most leagues.
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