Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire: Deep Sleepers for Week 17

Look, about this whole “week” thing. I confess to feeling perpetually confused. In my Yahoo leagues it is Week 15. In TGFBI, it is Week 17. But when you do a cursory scan of the news, most fantasy sites refer to this as “Week 16.” But since yours truly is knee-deep in TGFBI and since I spend most of my time poring over numbers on Fangraphs, I think I will just roll with the number both of those sites are using. Which means this is “Week 17” of fantasy baseball, in case you were wondering.

Point is, I gotta have a title, okay? Now you know. Moving on, thankfully.

Our Fake Teams and Friends 15-teamer is my launching point for any study of deep league adds. Our waivers run on Saturdays, so waking up on Sunday feels like Christmas morning—especially since yours truly is out of FAAB at this juncture. I know, I’m an idiot. Anyway, we had a pretty quiet run coming out of the All-Star break. Maybe people were still emerging from vacations and whatnot. Anyway, it’s a two-horse race at the top of the standings, and our own Garrett Atkins is currently ruling the world. The man is in first place in FTF and is TOP FIVE in The Great Fantasy Baseball Invitational. Garrett is slaying 2019, and you should give him a follow at @13atkins13 on the ole Twitter machine.

Second place is currently nailed down by Mike Kurland of the Bases Loaded podcast, and you can find by the name of @Mike_Kurland on the Twittersphere. Our guy @zackroto is cozy in third place, making it two Fake Teamers inside the top three. Get it, gents!

Now for the adds for umm, “Week 17.”

$1 Austin Slater (SF - 1B, OF) to Ghoji

And that was it, as far as money being spent! We did add some guys for nothing, though. Yes, we allow $0 bids in FTF. Get jealous, TGFBI folks. Anyway, here are those guys:

Chad Green (NYY - P) to No Cigar
Aaron Bummer (CWS - P) to The Last of Us
Franklin Barreto (Oak - 2B) to The Last of Us
Daniel Hudson (Tor - P) to yours truly

Ghoji slid Austin Slater into his UTIL spot for this week, a logical move given that San Fran was on the road to Coors Field. Unfortunately, Slater was 0-for-4 on Monday and did not play on Tuesday. Today he would oppose Jon Gray, who is actually better at home. On Thursday, the Giants travel back home to face the Mets and Noah Syndergaard. On Friday they catch one Jacob deGrom. Looks like Slater might be a bust for this week, but I did not hate the call there, nabbing a cheap piece of Coors.

Chad Green is a guy you can look to for ratios and strikeouts, and that’s about it unless I am missing something. There is chatter about using him in tandem with Luis Severino in the future, with Green as the opener. But that scenario is far off. And whether it is opening a game or pitching late innings (that don’t include saves chances), Green is still giving you the same thing. He has an ugly 5.05 ERA and 1.46 WHIP currently, but he is sitting on three straight scoreless outings, so maybe this is a guy you consider if you need some help. Me, I am not interested unless it is a league that counts holds—but I assume Green would be long gone in such a format.

Aaron Bummer reads like a speculative saves add by The Last of Us. Smooth move, too, as the Sox have lost five in a row out of the break. There was chatter that the White Sox might stand pat and not sell off pieces, not being too far out of contention. Now at 42-49 and losers of five straight, it seems more likely that incumbent closer Alex Colome may hit the road soon. If so, Bummer may be the next man up.

Franklin Barreto hasn’t done much since his call-up, as he is hitting .152 with a pair of homers and one steal so far. That is five hits in 33 at-bats, in case you hate math like I do. Anyway, he does have exactly one hit in three straight games, making him 3-for-10 with a homer over that time. It is possible he can hold down the keystone for Oakland. It is also possible his name comes up in trade talks if the Athletics (who should be buying) can chase after a starting pitcher. Barreto is still highly regarded and is only 23 years old—I think a team would be willing to take a shot on him. We shall see. For now—and for zero dollars—he is a fine speculative add.

Daniel Hudson is mine! My guy nabbed a save right out of the break, on July 14th. He also allowed a run and two hits in that appearance, but saves beggars can’t be choosers. Also making this move look nicer is that Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo shared this gem a few hours ago:

To those of you who are as desperate as I am for saves, Hudson looks like a quality stash right now. Plus, he’s on my team, so we should all root for him...right?

Other deep league adds worth considering right now are...

Travis d’Arnaud (25% owned), he of the three-homer game a day ago. Against lefties, d’Arnaud is frequently batting leadoff for the Rays, who seem to have some deep magic when it comes to taking players from other teams and turning them into studs. As bereft of talent as the catcher position is, I don’t see how he can be ignored in any league 10 teams and up—he’s a nice add for those who just lost Willson Contreras.

Garrett Cooper (28% owned) is shades of Brian Anderson last year. Quietly crushing it, but hidden due to languishing in Miami Marlins obscurity. Over the last 30 calendar days, Cooper is the 11th-ranked first baseman in the fake game. On the season he is 34th, but he hasn’t played a full season, either. He makes a ton of sense as a corner infield bat or as an outfield play.

Felix Pena (10% owned) is fresh off of the combined no-hitter that the Angels managed in their first home game since the tragic death of Tyler Skaggs. Over the past two weeks, Pena has a pair of wins and 11 strikeouts over his 11 innings—with a sparkling 1.64 ERA and 0.55 WHIP to boot. He is most often deployed as the primary pitcher behind an opener, which means if he fares well then he may be a sneaky source for wins. Alongside a motivated Angels offense that has received a shot in the arm in the form of Shohei Ohtani, Andrelton Simmons, and Justin Upton, I really like Pena for the rest of the season.

Tyler O’Neill (11% owned) is last but not least. The toolsy outfielder may be cementing himself in the St. Louis lineup after a double-dong day on Monday. Strikeouts will be a concern, but the redbirds offense isn’t scary right now with Marcell Ozuna and Matt Carpenter on the shelf. Yadier Molina, too. This is a play that might last you for the rest of the year.

That’s about it for me—who are you guys adding for “Week 17?”