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Well, we’ve made it, folks. The final Waiver Wired of the 2021 MLB season. Thanks as always for following along, whether you’ve been here all season or just found us more recently. The baseball season is a grind, but after what we experienced during the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign, I’m not going to take having a full 162-game season for granted ever again. It has been a pleasure to write this column for the 12th straight season.
Hopefully you still have a chance to win your fantasy baseball league, but I still have something for you even if you aren’t in the money. In addition to some last-minute recommendations below, you’ll also find our “Waiver Wired Awards” highlighting some of the best pickups of the season. It’s always a fun exercise and I hope you check it out.
While the regular season is drawing to a close, the staff at NBC Sports EDGE isn’t going anywhere. You’ll find plenty of postseason coverage beginning next week, but we’re also starting our offseason coverage with our annual Team Roundup series, where we take a look back at each team while also providing an early look at next year. This offseason promises to be very interesting, with the current CBA expiring on December 1, but you can count on us to do our best to make sense of it all and get you ready for 2022 fantasy drafts. We’ll also keep it rolling on the Circling the Bases Podcast all offseason, so be sure to subscribe today.
You can find me on Twitter @djshort for any last-minute fantasy questions this weekend, but also postseason takeaways, Mets musings, dad jokes, GIFs, and random music recommendations.
MIXED LEAGUE PICKUPS
Power: Harrison Bader, Austin Hays, Jesus Sanchez, Jarred Kelenic, Keibert Ruiz, Jeimer Candelario, Gio Urshela, Miguel Sano, Mitch Garver, Kole Calhoun, Danny Jansen
Speed: Manuel Margot, Lane Thomas, Brett Phillips, Andres Gimenez, Leody Taveras, Steven Duggar, Lorenzo Cain, Alcides Escobar
Multi-position eligible guys: Joey Wendle, Enrique Hernandez, Daulton Varsho, Hunter Dozier, Luis Urias, Josh Harrison, Nick Gordon, Gavin Sheets, Colin Moran, Matt Duffy
Saves: Joe Barlow, Michael Fulmer, Paul Sewald, Drew Steckenrider, Camilo Doval, David Bednar, Chris Stratton, Tanner Rainey, Codi Heuer, Carlos Estevez
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WEEKEND WARRIORS
I can’t recall a final weekend with so much up in the air in regard to projected starting pitchers. In other words, don’t expect any of these pitchers to save your bacon. Be ready for some late changes. In leagues which allow for daily lineup changes, you should be able to navigate any changes pretty well. In some cases, it might be better to grab a high-strikeout reliever to maximize your roster rather than take a chance on a fringy starting pitcher. Just something to think about as the season draws to a close.
Friday
Jon Gray at Diamondbacks
Jose Suarez at Mariners
Gray’s last couple of starts have been a slog, but he’s struck out 25 batters in 18 2/3 innings this month and the matchup is a favorable one on the road. The strikeouts haven’t been there for Suarez in his last two outings, but he’s been effective for most of the year and is worth a shot for those who are digging deep. The big question is what this game will mean for the Mariners at the time. What a story they’ve been.
Saturday
Antonio Senzatela at Diamondbacks
Kris Bubic vs. Twins
Senzatela has just two wins in his last 16 starts despite posting a 3.87 ERA (3.03 FIP) in that time. He’s quietly had a very solid year. It has been a challenge for the Rockies to win on the road this season, but the matchup is appealing. Bubic holds a 1.88 ERA through four starts since moving back into the Royals’ rotation earlier this month.
Sunday
Tyler Anderson vs. Angels
Reiver Sanmartin vs. Pirates
Is Sunday going to be a must-win game for the Mariners? With the way the AL Wild Card race is going, most likely it will be. It will be interesting to see how long Scott Servais will stick with Anderson in this case, but he’s been good enough with the Mariners to roll him out there without hesitation. Yes, I’ll give him a mulligan for the start against the Angels last weekend. Sanmartin is quite the dice roll on the final day of the season. Be careful if the margins are thin in your league, but the 25-year-old was great in his MLB debut against the Pirates on Monday. It’s not ideal that he’s facing Pittsburgh again, even though they aren’t the most intimidating offense. Still, it’s an option.
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The 2021 Waiver Wired Awards
Like many award shows, we took last year off. It didn’t make much sense to hand out these awards in a two-month season, but boy am I happy to bring it back this year. There have been so many cool surprises this year which ultimately function as a reminder that drafting is only half the battle toward having a successful season.
What I love about fantasy baseball compared to some other sports is that it really does reward perseverance and tenacity. There’s luck involved with everything, but just showing up and paying attention goes a long way. Hopefully you were able to snag a couple of names from our award winners below.
Best Waiver Wire Catcher
This was a tough call, as the catcher set-up varies from league-to-league. Maybe you were able to snag Buster Posey or Isiah Kiner-Falefa off waivers in the first week of the season in more shallow leagues. In two catcher formats, players like Kyle Farmer, Eric Hasse, and Elias Diaz were unexpected gems. Daulton Varsho has come on strong in the second half. However, we’ll go with Mike Zunino here, who is second among all fantasy catchers with 32 homers. Yes, it has come with a .214 batting average, but carrying him on your roster has always been a balance.
Honorable Mentions: Omar Narvaez, Tyler Stephenson, Daulton Varsho (.301, 10 homers, 29 RBI, 30 runs scored, three steals over his last 52 games)
Best Waiver Wire First Baseman
Joey Votto decided to hit home runs this year. After amassing 38 homers in 341 games combined from 2018-2020, he’s socked 35 homers this year while putting up a .270/.379/.568 batting line with 96 RBI over 126 games. The 38-year-old went deep 15 times in the span of 22 games from July 20-August 13, which might prove to be the difference in some fantasy leagues. Votto was understandably off the radar in many leagues after the past two seasons in particular, but he might very well be back on a Hall of Fame track.
Honorable Mentions: C.J. Cron, Jesus Aguilar, Brandon Belt, Frank Schwindel
Best Waiver Wire Second Baseman
Ty France has actually primarily played first base for the Mariners this season, but he’s eligible at three different positions in Yahoo leagues, so this is what we’re going with for the purposes of this column. The numbers aren’t overly flashy, but winning fantasy leagues isn’t always about flash. France now holds a .294/.367/.447 batting line with 20 homers, 86 RBI, and 92 runs scored through 172 games as a Mariner. Yet another happy customer in a recent trade with the Padres.
Honorable Mentions: Adam Frazier, Nicky Lopez, Jonathan Schoop, Jazz Chisholm Jr.
Best Waiver Wire Shortstop
The Giants have shocked everyone with their 104-win (and counting!) season and veteran shortstop Brandon Crawford has been a big part of that with his unexpected monster campaign. Ranking higher than other notable fantasy shortstops like Xander Bogaerts, Carlos Correa, Javier Baez, Tim Anderson, and Trevor Story, the 34-year-old has put up career-highs in batting average (.301), home runs (23), RBI (89), stolen bases (11), and runs scored (75). Changing his stance and altering his set-up have helped usher in this late-career surge and win some fantasy leagues in the process.
Honorable Mentions: Willy Adames, Wander Franco, Amed Rosario, Josh Rojas
Best Waiver Wire Third Baseman
I’m sort of cheating here, as Jonathan India has exclusively played second base this season, but he’s eligible at third base in Yahoo leagues. Mostly, this was an excuse to give him props. The 2018 No. 5 overall pick was a huge wild card coming into the season, but he might very well be the favorite for the NL Rookie of the Year Award at this point. And for good reason. The 24-year-old has slashed .270/.377/.461 with 21 home runs, 69 RBI, 12 steals, and 96 runs scored through 148 games. Oh, and he’s also been hit by a league-leading 22 pitches. India really took off after moving to the leadoff spot in early June, which is obviously a great place to be in fantasy leagues. That volume gives him a safe floor assuming he keeps that spot going into 2022.
By the way, if you managed to pick up Austin Riley off waivers in a shallow mixed league, good on you. He’s a stud in the making.
Honorable Mentions: Luis Urias, Jeimer Candelario, Evan Longoria, Miguel Sano, Josh Harrison
Best Waiver Wire Outfielders
Cedric Mullins, Tyler O’Neill, Ryan Mountcastle, Avisail Garcia, Robbie Grossman
If you took a chance on Mullins after his hot start that first week, you were the fortunate beneficiary of first-round level production. After giving up switch-hitting, the 26-year-old has exploded with a 30-30 season to go along with a .297/.366/.531 batting line with 89 runs scored and 59 RBI through 155 games. Straight-up crazy. We all knew O’Neill had the tools, but he’s put it all together this year with 32 homers and 14 steals while slashing .282/.349/.545 through 134 games. Mountcastle backed up his small sample success from last season with 32 homers and 86 RBI through 140 games this year. Garcia had a bad first year with the Brewers, but he’s bounced back with 29 homers and an .828 OPS through 132 games. While Grossman has hit just .238, he’s been an on-base machine (.357 OBP) while putting up useful counting stats with career-bests in home runs (23), RBI (65), stolen bases (18) and runs scored (87).
Honorable Mentions: Hunter Renfroe, Adam Duvall, Adolis Garcia, Myles Straw, Raimel Tapia
Best Waiver Wire Starting Pitchers
Robbie Ray, Carlos Rodon, Adam Wainwright, Logan Webb, Anthony DeSclafani
In case it wasn’t already obvious, if you didn’t end up with one of the projected fantasy aces at the start of the season, you still had a great chance of competing in and maybe even winning your league.
Ray (2.68 ERA with 244 strikeouts and 49 walks in 188 innings) has completely turned his career around and might be the AL Cy Young Award favorite. Rodon (2.37 ERA in 24 starts, no-hitter, first All-Star selection) has been a heck of a story in his own right, though hopefully his recent arm issue doesn’t resurface. Wainwright has been straight-up vintage (3.05 ERA in 32 starts) in his age-39 season, filling the void with ace Jack Flaherty missing a large chunk of the season. DeSclafani has been the latest free agent bargain for the Giants and Webb has looked like a completely different pitcher after changing his pitch mix.
Maybe you were able to grab Nathan Eovaldi off waivers in more shallow leagues, in which case you secured a serious gem. Trevor Rogers deserves serious props for his breakout rookie season. He missed all of August due to a family medical situation, otherwise he might be the Rookie of the Year Award favorite. Still, a tremendous year for him. That Marlins’ pitching staff is going to be scary moving forward.
Honorable Mentions: Alek Manoah, Framber Valdez, Luis Garcia, Dylan Cease, Shane McClanahan, Logan Gilbert, Kyle Gibson, Ranger Suarez
Best Waiver Wire Reliever
All the hype was about James Karinchak going into spring training, with many fantasy analysts expecting him to be a top-tier closer, but it didn’t work out that way. Emmanuel Clase got some early chances and ran away with the opportunity. While he shared save opportunities for most of the first half, Karinchak faded in a big way and was eventually demoted to Triple-A. Clase is the dude here. Armed with a 100 mph cutter, the 23-year-old has put up 24 saves with a 1.33 ERA and 72/16 K/BB ratio over 67 2/3 innings. Maybe a top-five closer next year?
Honorable Mentions: Andrew Kittredge, Jordan Romano, Paul Sewald, Lou Trivino, Ian Kennedy, Giovanny Gallegos