September 18, 2014

Free Agent Watch

Week 25

by Mike Gianella and Bret Sayre

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As you’ve seen many of us say this week at Baseball Prospectus, this will be the last Free Agent Watch of the season. We hope you’ve found it useful at best and legible at worst. We’re also going to be playing around with the format of this piece for next season, so if there’s anything that you think we should be providing in this space that we are currently not, drop us a note in the comments. It’s been real, der readers. This column will see you next in April.

12-TEAM MIXED

Avisail Garcia, OF, Chicago White Sox
With the resting habits of the second half of September, the bar drops slightly for offensive players (unless you plan on checking lineups every day to see who is in there). Garcia is going to be in there the rest of the way, as he continues to shake the injury rust off. And while he started off slowly, September has seen Garcia take a step forward. In his 13 games, he’s hitting .306/.375/.408 with a homer and three steals in 49 at bats. It’s not going to get him confused with an All Star, but then again, Garcia needs to level up if he wants to have that potential at all. However, with the potential to be a moderate five-category contributor, Garcia is a name to remember for not only the rest of this season, but hopefully for many more to come. —Bret Sayre

Comparable Player: Lorenzo Cain

Yusmeiro Petit, SP, San Francisco Giants
Since July 26 (yes, arbitrary endpoint alert), Petit has struck out 48 batters, walked one, and given up just three homers over a span of 38 1/3 innings. He’s not just a FIP superstar either, as his ERA of 2.58 and WHIP of 0.63 (!) have been downright excellent. Yet for some reason, Petit remains just 29 percent owned in Yahoo leagues and at a paltry 21 percent in ESPN formats. It certainly can’t be because of his upcoming schedule, which is making more and more fantasy owners salivate by the moment. Petit toes the rubber on Saturday at Petco Park against the Padres, and then throws again Thursday against the same San Diego team. The only hiccup is that he happens to be facing Andrew Cashner twice, which could reduce his win potential more than if he were facing, say, Odrisamer Despaigne or Eric Stults. Regardless, Petit needs to be owned and started in all leagues now, so if he’s on your waiver wire, politely finish reading the rest of this article and then swoop in like a hawk. —Bret Sayre

Comparable Player: Cliff Lee

DEEP MIXED

David Freese, 3B, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
After a lukewarm season, Freese has heated up in the last two weeks, swatting three home runs and driving in 10 in his late 46 plate appearances. There is a concern that the Angels might start going with some B lineups after they clinch the division, but as long as Freese is hitting you have to ride the hot hand. He has been swinging more frequently in the second half, and while this has resulted in a lower batting average, the power is acceptable for a deep league corner infielder. Grad Freese in 15-team mixed or deeper if he is out there. —Mike Gianella

Comparable Player: Kelly Johnson

Cory Rasmus, RHP, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Rasmus has quickly moved from a pitcher recommended for AL-only to someone who should at least be considered for deeper mixed leagues. He’s not going to get any wins due to some very strict pitch count limits, but should be good for a solid amount of strikeouts along with some decent peripherals. He is superior to most non-closer relievers, in other words, and if you’re in a league where you have hit your start limit, Rasmus makes more sense than nearly any non-closer out in the free agent pool, as he is still relief eligible in nearly every format. —Mike Gianella

Comparable Player: Jake Diekman

AL-ONLY

Luis Sardinas, 2B, Texas Rangers
I’m not sure where Sardinas fits in long-term for the Rangers, and suspect that the utility player label might stick, even though Sardinas is only 21 years old and there is a lot of room for development. What I know now is that he is playing every day down the stretch for the Rangers and has an opportunity to contribute something to your team every day. That is a significant reason to pick him up in an AL-only Roto league. It would be nice to see some of those minor league steals translate to the majors, but if they don’t just take the at bats and hope for the best. —Mike Gianella

Comparable Player: Leury Garcia

Drew Pomeranz, SP/RP, Oakland Athletics
It’s only a one-and-done for Pomeranz, as Jason Hammel is missing the weekend to attend the birth of his child. Fortunately, it’s an excellent matchup in Oakland against the Phillies, who struggle to hit left-handed pitchers. Pomeranz has now lingered in fantasy obscurity for nearly four months now, but will give owners one last chance to get in on the ground floor for what could be an exciting 2015 season. In his eight starts at Triple-A since returning from injury, he had a 3.69 ERA with 54 strikeouts and 17 walks in just 46 1/3 innings—and he’s followed that up by allowing only no earned runs in his 8 1/3 major- league innings since then (with 10 strikeouts against one walk). This may be the best streaming opportunity of the last 10 days of the season. —Bret Sayre

NL-ONLY

Travis Ishikawa, 1B, San Francisco Giants
It would seem improbable if not impossible that Ishikawa would fit into the mix for a team in playoff contention, but that is exactly how it has played out thus far this month. Ishikawa has played exclusively against right handers, but has done enough with his time to be worth owning as a third corner infielder in NL-only. In OBP leagues, Ishikawa has been particularly valuable, but even in BA leagues, Ishikawa is acceptable if you can own a corner infielder without a lot of sock in his bat. —Mike Gianella

Comparable Player: Casey McGehee

Eddie Butler, SP, Colorado Rockies
I’ve already recommended Robbie Erlin in this space, and if you’re reading this on Thursday morning, it’s probably too late to pick him up for his tasty start at home against the Phillies. However, we’ll move on to a top prospect who had his share of setbacks this season. Butler’s developmental path this year saw a decline in strikeouts across the board, but after putting up a 2.62 ERA at Double-A through the end of May, he got the call up to Colorado—and promptly injured his shoulder. His second tour in Tulsa hasn’t gone quite as smoothly as the first. Butler’s 5.26 ERA is elevated due to the seven homers he’s given up in those last seven starts of the season, and his strikeout numbers remained in the “crafty veteran” range. However, with the minor league playoffs finally over, Butler will get two more starts at the major league level before he calls it a season. And it just so happens that those two starts are at home against Arizona and on the road in Los Angeles. While neither is an extremely advantageous matchup, they may be the best matchups left on your waiver wire at this point. Butler is looking to prove something before the off-season, and a strong finish would give him a leg up in trying to secure a rotation spot for 2015. —Bret Sayre

Comparable Player: Trevor Cahill in Coors (his opponent on Saturday)

Mike Gianella is an author of Baseball Prospectus. Follow @MikeGianella
Click here to see Mike's other articles. You can contact Mike by clicking here
Bret Sayre is an author of Baseball Prospectus. Follow @BretSayreBP
Click here to see Bret's other articles. You can contact Bret by clicking here