I’ve been trying to figure out if I should use a percentage-owned threshold to determine which players I cover in this column, but have come to realize that it’s probably best not to use a hard and fast rule for this. There are just too many different sizes and shapes huddled together under the “deep league” umbrella, and a few differences in rules and roster restrictions can make a huge difference in how deep the player pool goes. I have a 12-team one AL-only league where we have huge rosters, we’re only allowed to add minor leagues at a supplemental draft once a year, and we can never add a player on the DL. The waiver pool is miniscule, consisting mostly of players who are 0-1% owned or less in CBS leagues. I have a couple NL-only leagues, meanwhile, where there are often a handful of 20 – 40% CBS owned players.
One of the reasons I’m mentioning this is because I’ve gotten in the habit of using percentage owned as my go-to way to sort players when perusing the waiver wire, trade possibilities, etc., and I want to make sure I’m not using it as an unnecessary (or even harmful) crutch, especially in my shallower leagues. I feel like in the past, I’ve actually gone to pick up a player in a mixed league and changed my decision at the last minute because it seemed so wrong to be adding a guy who was 8% or 17% or 25% owned in a league where every lineup is packed with 80%-plus owned players. (I guess the deep, ‘only’ league equivalent of this is picking up a 0% owned player… nothing like the boost of confidence it gives you to see that you have a couple guys in your lineup that, according to the internet, basically don’t exist in fantasy baseball).
While ownership percentages can be a good way to sort players, I think paying too much attention to them can be a big mistake, including when it comes to evaluating trade value. If you think a player can help your team or have a gut feeling about a guy, don’t let others’ perceived value of him keep you from pulling the trigger. Now if you can squeeze more out of the other owner by mentioning that you’re taking on lesser-owned players, go for it. And you can feel free to use it to your advantage the other way as well – if you’re trying to move, say, Julio Teheran, who hasn’t looked like he belongs on a fantasy team of any size all season, feel free to mention that he is owned in an absolutely inexplicable 91% of CBS leagues (but don’t include the part about it being inexplicable). With that being said, on to some deep-league names…
Martin Maldonado. I get sleepy just thinking about 2nd catchers for 2-catcher AL-only leagues. Sooooo boring. Turns out though, that based on the way he’s been playing, Maldonado should be owned in every one-catcher AL-only league as well: according to standard 5×5 leagues stats, he’s the seventh best catcher in the AL so far this year. Some of his current value comes from his .270 batting average, which may regress, plus he won’t have the boost of being in the same major league lineup as Mike Trout for a while. But, he’s on pace for 10 homers, 43 runs, and 40 RBI. Still boring as hell, perhaps, but it’s also completely roster-able in a deep league.
Joe Smith. If you’re into 8th inning set-up guys who also happen to be pitching really, really well, take note that Smith now fits this description. He had little trouble kicking Jason Grilli out of his set-up role for the Blue Jays (with a giant assist from Jason Grilli), and Smith is now the man in the 8th. His ERA is at 2.93, his WHIP is 1.08 and his 7 walks vs. 42 strikeouts make me feel a little giggly and fluttery.
Robbie Grossman. Kennys Vargas is now a Rochester Red Wing, not a Minnesota Twin, cementing Grossman’s place in the Twins lineup for the time being. Grossman may not be exciting, but he’s got a spot in a major league lineup, batting cleanup no less, and he’s been hitting well — he now has 6 home runs, 27 runs, and 19 RBI on the year.
Eric Young. He’s played in every game since Trout went down, and already has an eighth-inning go-ahead homer and two steals. There’s a reason he’s been on five MLB teams since 2013, and spent big chunks of that time in the minors even though he’s now 32 (!), but this is the first time in a while he’s had regular at bats. Sometimes crazy things happen when guys get what might be a final chance at a big-league gig. Last week I naively thought that my 2012 imaginary boyfriend Ben Revere might step up, but all he’s done is keep his average exactly at a nice tidy .220 since Trout got hurt, without stealing a bag, while EY Jr. is the one who looks like he might have a little fire in his belly.
Jake Junis. Junis was meh at best in his first spot this year against the Twins, but his AAA numbers this year are exceptional (2.34 ERA/0.97 WHIP, 57 Ks/8 BBs in 42 innings). He caught my eye about a week ago when Fangraphs mentioned him as one of the most-improved pitching prospects based on their “KATOH+” projections. He had a tough test getting the Astros Tuesday, and not surprisingly looked completely overmatched, giving up seven earned in 3 2/3. But keep in mind that if he gets another start, he’s in line to face the Padres on Sunday, which should theoretically be a much fairer fight.
Eric Sogard. Okay I guess I’m cheating a little, because I just mentioned Sogard last week or the week before. I talked about him as someone who wasn’t really worth a pick up, however, and now I’m thinking it’s time to reevaluate. I think we all knew Jonathan Villar would regress this year, but things have reached the critical point for him and in the two NL-only leagues I own him in (both keeper leagues where I had him cheap, wouldn’t have bought him at his 2017 price for the record!), I’m pretty terrified. Sogard keeps getting more playing time, and I don’t have to look up a single number or stat to know that anyone who is leading off for the Brewers on even a semi-regular basis has some potential fantasy value. (Note: Sogard already has two more hits and two more RBI since I wrote this… make that very terrified re. Villar. Gulp.)
Paul DeJong. All I really know about this guy is that his name is not Jhonny Peralta, which may be enough to keep him on the Cardinals roster once Kolten Wong returns from the DL. DeJong has done a nice job as a Wong replacement (there’s a spectacular and highly offensive headline for this article in there somewhere), hitting .290 with a homer and four RBI in nine games (Greg Garcia, who one might have presumed would be picking up some starts himself, has only 3 pinch hit appearances, without a hit, in the last week or so). DeJong came into the season qualifying at 3B in most leagues, but has only played 2B this year. He seems to have moved up in the pecking order in St. Louis, and could get more playing time if Wong continues to deal with injuries or, you know, starts sucking again.
Tim Adleman. I was on the fence about mentioning him, but he does have two quality starts in a row, and while I was considering him, he went and pitched seven innings of one-run ball against the Cardinals (many who saw that game may not have noticed this, since they were too busy wondering if the fact that Scooter Gennett hit four home runs was somehow a sign of the apocalypse). He’s already had a few truly ugly outings this year and there may be more ahead, but you already know that you should proceed with caution when it comes to young Reds pitchers without a particularly impressive pedigree. When you look at how badly a lot of starters that are supposed to actually be good at pitching are faring this year, it makes you just a little less scared to take a flier on a guy like Adleman.
Jake McGee. See Joe Smith, above. While Mike Dunn and Adam Ottavino have been felled by both injuries and ineffectiveness, McGee has quietly established himself as a dominant force in the Rockies bullpen ahead of the (even more dominant) Greg Holland. McGee’s 2017 numbers are pretty sick: 23 innings, 1.59 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, 30 Ks, 5 BBs. I’m sure the Rockies are wondering where this guy was when they signed him to a big contract to (unsuccessfully) close for them last year, but I suppose they’re happy he showed up eventually.
Trevor Williams. If you’re desperate for a starter, Williams may be worth a look. There is nothing particularly impressive about either his past or current stats and he’s not a strikeout guy, but he’s had two really nice starts in a row (one ER in 6 IP against the D-Backs, one ER in 7 IP against the Mets). Jameson Taillon is, rather spectacularly, due to re-join the Pirates’ rotation within the week, and either Williams, Chad Kuhl, or Tyler Glasnow will be bumped — right now, Williams doesn’t necessarily look like the odd man out.
