Trendy Waiver Wire Pick-Ups: 8/20/14

A quick look at some trendy pick-ups today:

Carl Crawford:

Currently owned in 46% of leagues and seeing increasing interest after having a pretty awesome day in yesterday's win over the Padres.

The question is whether or not he is worth all this additional interest. The one thing that has to be on the back of everyone's mind is the excess of Dodgers outfielders which does make fitting everyone in for playing time to be a challenge.

He has had a very strong August (.344 batting average) which has helped improve his overall numbers. Even with that, his BABIP this year (.300) is below his .326 career total. Even though his average is at .268 currently, I could see that getting into the .290 range. While he isn't going to provide much power (12 homers projected over a full season), he is still a viable option to help in the Runs & Stolen Bases category and is still capable of being a top-100 player and a likely upgrade to many teams.

Jedd Gyorko:

Currently owned in 49% of leagues and his stock is also the beneficiary of a very strong performance in last night's Dodgers-Padres game (though his team was on the losing end).

His early season struggles were highly related to un-naturally low BABIP, which is starting to course correct itself, his batting average for the year has even gotten above the Mendoza Line! He's also made some positive moves in my rankings as he's gone from 206th to 154th. He's never going to be a major asset at batting average (projected to be .253) but he is a good buy-low option because he's better than what his .203 batting average indicates and he has the scarce asset of power at the second base position (he's capable of hitting 25 homers over a full season). While his value is lower than Crawford's, he is capable of providing a boost in home run category for fantasy owners.

Matt Shoemaker:

Currently owned in 31% of leagues. Initially, I was a bit skeptical of his value as he has an 11-4 record despite the ERA- & FIP- numbers of fangraphs indicating that he's been an average pitcher.

While he does have some value for win inflation due to being on a strong Angels team, there is some substance. He's been better than what is 3.84 ERA indicates and I think he's closer to 3.5 in this area (42nd out of 112 pitchers), he's a good source of strikeouts (8.72 per 9 this year and ranked 18th in strikeouts for my rankings and he's shown the ability to limit walks. Going forward, he appears to be more set up for success than I was expecting before looking at the numbers.

Brandon McCarthy:

Currently owned in 42% of leagues and coming off three consecutive starts of giving up 2 earned runs or less and striking out at least seven hitters. This has helped him improve his spot in my rankings as he went from 53rd to 42nd.

Even with his recent strong play, his overall numbers are still obscuring how strong he is overall which still qualifies him as a strong under the radar pickup. His ERA for the year is still at 4.24, primarily inflated by high BABIP & HR/FB rates. The projection has his ERA closer to 3.37.

Oswaldo Arcia:

Currently owned in 7% of leagues. Despite homering  in his last three games, i'm not quite sold on his value as I have him ranked 211th among batters. While I do think he's capable of hitting 25-30 homers per season, i'm not convinced he'll be of help in the batting average category (his .230 average is close to the projection of .236), he rarely steals any bases and playing on a weak offensive team like the Twins in a pitcher-friendly ballpark of Target Field deflates his ceiling for RBIs. If you need extra home runs but are otherwise strong, he may be a decent option, otherwise I would look elsewhere.

Trendy Waiver Wire Pick Ups: 8/8/14

Dustin Ackley:

Currently owned in 26% of Yahoo! leagues but is seeing his fantasy value go up after homering for the second consecutive game.

Ackley came to the majors with high expectations and the question to ask is whether this is the time that he cashes in on them? While he has been an improved player and his recent surge has helped him move up my rankings (205th to 177th), the only thing that would make him worth consideration is the second base eligibility.

His BABIP is right in line with his career totals, so his .257 batting average is in line with what I think he'll do but i'm not sold on his power (able to break into double digits but not much beyond that) and only the occasional stolen base. He could be the key to the Mariners getting back to the playoffs for first time since 2001 but this is far from guarantee.

Javier Baez:

Currently owned in 57% of leagues. If your gonna get your first crack at major league pitching, it doesn't hurt to have that come against the Rockies at Coors Field. While people have been rushing to pick him up over the last few days, the only thing that appears to be able to slow this down is the diminishing amount of leagues that he is available in. The only question is how many home runs does he hit down the stretch and how many fantasy leagues does he help determine the outcome of ?

Brandon McCarthy:

Currently owned in 32% of leagues. The question that is raised with him is which performance from this year is closer to his ability. His struggles earlier this year in Arizona or the resurgence he has enjoyed since being traded to the Yankees?

The answer, as always is somewhere between those two extremes. His ERA does project out to 3.49 which isn't bad since he's been pitching in a couple hitter-friendly ballparks for his home games this year. Still, he's worth picking up to see how long his hot streak lasts and for any road starts where he actually gets to pitch in a pitcher friendly ballpark.

Currently, I have him ranked 48th (out of 107 starters). He's an option worth considering, but not necessarily a no-brainer.

Kolten Wong:

Currently owned in 37% of leagues. Even with recent strong play and the accompanying uptick in ownership, I still think he is under-rated and probably contribute a lot towards either preventing or making it very difficult for the Brewers to make the playoffs (boo).

Putting personal feelings aside, his value is very strong for someone that is available in 63% of leagues. I have him ranked as a top-100 player (85), and project him out to be a .280 hitter. Alongside that, I think he'd hit about 18 homers over a full season (not bad for second base) and might even provide 40 steals. He's definitely a substantial upgrade for any fantasy roster.

Chris Carter:

Currently owned in 57% of leagues. Chris Carter's performance is the equivalent of high stakes gambling in that he is just as likely to have a multi-homer game as he is to sabotage your batting average and strike out four times in a game.

Last night, he struck gold and hit a couple of home runs. This home run outburst from last night has helped his stock as he has moved from 100th to 71st in the batter rankings. Considering the Astros get their next series at home against a couple of sub-standard pitching staffs (Rangers, Twins), he is definitely worth picking up in both standard & daily formats.

All numbers/information referenced found on either fangraphs.com or Yahoo! Fantasy