We’ve had a few weeks with some potentially interesting names floating around the deep league waiver wire, with players like Christopher Morel, Tyrone Taylor, and RITD-lede-from-a-couple-weeks-ago Edwin Rios even creeping into the medium depth re-draft league conversation. But after this flurry of FAAB activity, is there anything left for those of us who either missed out on our top targets — or just need more help, as we’re hit with the inevitable new waves of injured players? The answer is likely “not much” if your deep league options look like most of mine, but let’s take a look to try to find a few names that may be of interest to those of us in AL-only, NL-only, and other deep leagues.
AL
Franchy Cordero. With a handful of minor league call-ups finally happening, I thought it was kind of interesting that several of the players who were the most added in CBS leagues over the last week (but still are just 6% owned or less), are guys that feel like they’ve been around forever, or at least on the cusp of fantasy relevance forever. We’ll start with Cordero, who has now appeared in 16 games at first and 12 in the outfield for the Red Sox. He’s 27 now, and it’s doubtful he’ll ever deliver the long term speed+power fantasy stats that many thought he might be capable of. He does have a not-bad 16 runs and 12 RBI in 81 ABs this year, however. He continues to tease us though, as he is 0 for his last three games as I write this, after getting his average as high as .282 (.354 OBP) after a big series last weekend (granted, it was against the Orioles). Sigh, sometimes a tease is all we can get in deeper leagues.
Elvis Andrus. We go from a player who may once have been on the cusp of serious fantasy relevance, to one who was as fantasy relevant as it gets and then fell off a fantasy cliff. If you don’t pay any attention to the A’s it would be easy to not even realize that Andrus is playing regularly. Actually, even if you do check in with the A’s occasionally you may not have noticed that Andrus is playing regularly, because his overall stat line is rather modest (.247 AVG/.308 OBP over 158 at bats, 20 runs, 3 homers, 11 RBI, and 3 steals). The 20 runs stand out to me, as runs can be an overlooked category that one can actually have success making up ground in… not that it’s ever easy to make up ground, in any category, in leagues deep enough where the names on this list become relevant.
Ramon Urias. Urias may have been drafted in my AL-only league, but he’s been at the top of the free-agent list in a few of my ever-so-slightly shallower leagues for a while now. Given how long it’s taking so many major league players to start hitting this season I’m thinking I probably should have grabbed him in at least one of them. He qualifies at some combination of 2B/3B/SS in most leagues and his CBS ownership has recently doubled, from 3% to 6%. This is probably in large part due to the 2 homers he’s hit for the Orioles this week, bringing him up to 5 on the year… and also because many owners are realizing that even a meh player who is playing pretty much every day and may pop an occasional homer is probably better than at least one or two guys who are currently disappointing them in their active lineups.
Luis Rengifo. Yet another veteran AL player who is not exactly an exciting pickup, but may be better than nothing for those scouring for someone to replace the plethora of hurt or seriously underperforming major league middle infielders right now. Rengifo has been starting at second base more often for the Angels lately (and has also appeared in 4 games in the outfield), and if nothing else seems to have leapfrogged over Tyler Wade on their depth chart. His current .290 average/.353 OBP will likely come down, but one would think he’ll provide an occasional counting stat or two if he continues to see regular time in the Angels lineup. Speaking of the Angels lineup, and Rengifo’s role in it, I see that for Thursday’s game he will be batting right in the middle of it at 5th, with Jared Walsh down in the 7 spot. I suppose us Walsh owners should just be glad he’s getting the opportunity to face a lefty at all, but that’s another story.
NL
Nick Plummer. Like (spoiler alert for one blurb ahead) Tucupita Marcano, Plummer made an immediate impact upon his major league promotion, hitting two homers in his first two games. His outfield playing time for the Mets arose mostly from Brandon Nimmo needing time off with a bad wrist, though with Travis Jankowski sidelined indefinitely, there is room on the Mets roster for a back-up outfielder. It should be mentioned that Plummer also struck out three times in those first two games, and the swing and miss could definitely be an issue for him at the major league level. The Mets have been finding a way to include everyone on their roster in what’s become an incredibly impressive offense, so those power-hungry in very deep leagues may want to monitor Plummer accordingly.
Tucupita Marcano. The Pirates promoted Marcano from double A a week or so ago, and he’s seen at bats every day since. He made a big splash by hitting homers in back to back games, at Dodger Stadium no less, and looks like he may stick with the big club for a while, especially if Josh VanMeter’s hand injury turns out to be anything major. You may remember him from the quick MLB cup of coffee he got with his former team, the Padres, last year — or you may not, as unlike his current opportunity, he did nothing at all with it. He’s profiled more of an average/on-base/speed guy rather than a power hitter in the minors (.274/.358 OBP in 1272 career ABs with 12 homers and 54 steals). He’s still only 22 and has already played both outfield and second base for Pittsburgh (and also can play third), so we’ll see how he fits into the Pirates’ plans as 2022 continues.
Luis Garcia/Dee Strange-Gordon. I’m sure you already read it, but I’ll just sit back and enjoy my late morning second cup of coffee while I link you to what Grey had to say about Garcia on Thursday (and hope that we are talking about the same Luis Garcia… 88% sure we are). The bottom line is that he may be the Nationals regular shortstop due to an Alcides Escobar hamstring injury, and there’s a chance he won’t completely suck. If the 8% in CBS leagues-owned Garcia isn’t available in your league, perhaps the 1% owned Strange-Gordon is. DSG is hitting .293, has been seeing at bats at both SS and OF, and is still fast (3 steals so far). You may want to keep an eye on him, if for no other reason than to enjoy the fact that his name takes up so much room on the back of his jersey that the letters almost make a complete circle. Now I’m wondering why they didn’t just use smaller letters, but I suppose that’s not my problem.
