Fantasy Baseball 2018 All Waiver Wire Offense Team

The fantasy baseball waiver wire presents opportunities to improve your offense. Which hitters should you consider adding?

Every fantasy baseball draft is executed using player projections based on each owner’s analysis of the available information. If you’ve done your homework, the core of a winning team is in place. Still, once the season commences, no behavior is better rewarded than the pursuit of improvement through waiver wire acquisitions.

This requires staying current on the season’s growing sample size of player stats both for your roster and in the pool of available players, then making decisions accordingly. These transactions can be so effective, it seems possible to assemble a competitive fantasy offense exclusively from waiver wire transactions.

Although a genuine shot at your league’s title may not be likely, the following All Waiver-Wire Offense could present you with opportunities for player upgrades or contributing bench players.

To be eligible for this team, players must be owned in 30 percent or fewer of Yahoo and ESPN leagues, and particular importance has been given to players with high upside. The positions are C, 1B, 2B, SS, 3B, OF, OF, OF and a utility slot.

Infield

The catcher position was thin before your draft, so it’s a tall order to find one available now who is worthy of a roster spot. You could do far worse, however, than the Texas backstop Robinson Chirinos. He doesn’t offer upside but he is coming off of a productive 2017 as he recorded a career-best .866 OPS, fueled primarily by his highest home run total of 17.

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Chirinos is not a strong candidate for 400 ABs, though he’s logged 73 ABs through 29 games this year. His batting average comes in at an unsightly .178, but his 5 long balls in the early going boost his OPS to .726.

Batting at the bottom of the order, you can’t expect great counting stats from Chirinos either. However, as there is a dearth of productive catchers, Chirinos makes the cut being owned in just 12 percent of Yahoo leagues and 6 percent of ESPN leagues.

Twins first baseman Logan Morrison is still owned in just 16 percent of Yahoo and ESPN leagues. He was a late breakout star amidst last year’s long ball revolution, hitting 38 home runs at age 29. He’s likely due for some regression and has started out terribly sporting a .151 mostly out of the seventh spot in the Twins lineup.

Consider it extended Spring Training though, as Morrison’s triple slash over the last week is .286/.375/.476 with a home run. If he demonstrates that last year wasn’t a fluke, he’ll likely end up batting fifth increasing his RBI chances and league ownership rate.

With 2B/3B eligibility and an ownership rate under 15 percent, Yolmer Sanchez could be an interesting player in the 2B slot. The 25-year-old had 12 home runs and eight stolen bases in 141 games with the White Sox last year. Although his stats aren’t amazing and he’s not a top prospect, he’s still young and has been placed in the second spot in front of Jose Abreu.

Though the lineup promotion is primarily due to Avisail Garcia‘s injury, Sanchez could make the move stick as Garcia has started off poorly with a .565 OPS. If he continues to bat second after Garcia’s return, his counting stats would likely be lifted and could be useful in some fantasy leagues.

With ownership approaching 30 percent, shortstop Eduardo Escobar can offer some legitimate production in some lineups. In 2017, he sent 21 pitches out of the park and chipped in five stolen bases in 457 ABs. He has been hitting out of the cleanup spot for the Twins most recently and will continue to get ample RBI chances for the foreseeable future. He may not stay at cleanup; but with SS/3B/2B eligibility, if he produces anything close to his current .900+ OPS he will be a useful player on most rosters.

At 3B, and with 1B eligibility as well, Ryon Healy gives owners a chance to sneak in 25 home runs at the start of May. He’s eligible at two fairly deep positions, but he offers flexibility and some upside. Ultimately, Healy’s total 2018 production may warrant an ownership rate which exceeds his current 12 percent. Hitting in a mediocre Oakland lineup, the 26-year-old hit 25 home runs and 78 RBI in 2017.

He has natural power and is part of a superior Mariners lineup this season. Though he is currently hitting in the nine hole, he has hit three bombs in his last two games since returning from an ankle injury. He’ll likely have better counting stat opportunities in the weeks ahead.

Outfield

Aaron Altherr‘s 15 percent ownership should see a spike in all formats if he continues to heat up in the middle of the Phillies lineup. Last year, the outfielder had 19 home runs, five stolen bags, and an OPS of .856 for Philadelphia in 372 ABs.

After a frustrating start to the 2018 campaign, he has responded with an OPS near 1.000 in the last two weeks, contributing to his season total of 17 RBI. If your outfield is in need of some power, you should target the 27-year-old Altherr now and hold to see what he does in the next month.

Jesse Winker, the 24-year-old outfielder for the Reds, is owned in 5-7 percent of leagues. He mostly hits leadoff and has an OBP of .415, among league leaders. He is in a relatively weak lineup and only has 8 runs to show for it. In 2017, he put up 7 home runs, 21 runs, and an OPS over .900 in 121 ABs, so his counting stats should start looking better especially as Joey Votto continues to swing a potent bat.

If you’re in need of runs, Jesse Winker is plenty available in over 90 percent of leagues and that may not be true in a month or so.

Cubs outfielder Albert Almora Jr. has quietly usurped the leadoff spot from a struggling Ian Happ. All he’s done in 72 ABs is score 16 times with a .292 average and respectable .346 OBP. Last year he showed he has some occasional pop as well, with eight homers in 299 ABs and slugging .445.

His skills and performance profile more appropriately for leadoff duties than Happ’s, so you can bet he’ll continue to get knocked in by multiple Chicago sluggers. With ownership hovering around 10 percent, you can likely pick him up now especially for a boost in runs scored.

To round out the offense, Jedd Gyorko is worthy of a look. With availability at 1B, 2B, and 3B in Yahoo leagues (just 3B in ESPN leagues), Gyorko can offer above-average power from the utility position. He hit 20 home runs, stole six bases, and had an OPS over .800 in 426 ABs last year. The 29-year-old doesn’t offer much upside as his numbers have been pretty consistent his last two years in St. Louis.

He also doesn’t play every day, but he has demonstrated his useful power in the few ABs since returning from the DL in mid-April. If he keeps hitting the ball hard, his value could benefit from increased ABs.

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While a winning offense generally isn’t centered around waiver wire acquisitions, a few timely pickups can make a very good offense great. It’s early enough in the season that productive hitters, who won’t be available deeper into the season, can be readily had in most leagues. While they may not be 5-category fantasy monsters, these players deserve some consideration.

Honorable mentions include Astros 1B Yuli Gurriel, Tampa Bay 1B C.J. Cron, Twins OF Max Kepler, and Kansas City OF Jorge Soler.

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