Once the fantasy baseball draft is complete, there’s still plenty of work to do.
The waiver wire is a popular tool to make sure your team doesn’t suffer from that overhyped player being a drain on your overall roster. There will be some steals still available once the draft completes and players begin to get into a groove.
There’s always success stories, like the year Dee Gordon went undrafted in pretty much every fantasy baseball draft and proceeded to lead Major League Baseball in steals that season.
Where’s the next Gordon? If I knew then I’d likely draft that person in the first place.
However, here’s my best attempt at three players that will likely be on the waiver wire after the draft but shouldn’t be there for long.
Yasmany Tomas, Arizona, 3B/OF
Not many outside of Arizona know about Tomas. That’s why his average draft position, according to Fantasy Pros, is 26th among third basemen and 307th overall.
That means he’s not getting drafted in a standard league.
I don’t blame people. He’s in deep positions at third base and outfield (he appears to be getting the start in the outfield for the Diamondbacks) that features far more historically consistent options for fantasy baseball owners.
You’d be unwise to just forget about him altogether, though.
The Diamondbacks are going to be better this year and part of the reason is an offense that can compete with almost any team in the National League. That offensive output will help the second-year player as he adjusts to a bigger role in the lineup.
So far in the spring, he’s showing why he should be an everyday starter. In his last six games, he’s hitting .550, which is more in line to what he did in the first half of last season than the second half.
He struggled with a .208 batting average in the second half, diminishing a solid start where he batted .313 with 35 RBIs.
Don’t sleep on Tomas early in the season on the waiver wire. If he’s hot, pick him up.
Eugenio Suarez, Cincinnati, SS
Rated as the 22nd shortstop, with an ADP of 295, there’s good evidence that Suarez will wind up on the waiver wire.
That doesn’t show much confidence in Suarez, considering the shortstop position is void of much talent. However, finding a diamond in the rough can provide big benefits for your overall team.
Suarez is having a good spring so far, knocking in 10 runs with a .348 batting average in 17 games. He’s also scored nine runs to go along with an on-base percentage of .423.
Getting those numbers in the regular season have been a different story for Suarez. He hasn’t seen much action in his first two years, going for 182 games in two seasons with Detroit and Cincinnati.
He’s expected to get far more playing time this season, which should allow more opportunities.
Last season, with 121 more at-bats, he went for 11 more runs, 45 more hits, 10 more doubles, nine more homers and 25 more RBIs than he did the previous season.
If he can continue that upswing, he can provide decent depth to your roster.
Taylor Jungmann, Milwaukee, P
Drafting Jungmann would likely be a mistake. His ADP is 342 and his overall body of work doesn’t give fantasy baseball owners the peace of mind that he will turn into something worth starting consistently for your roster.
What Jungmann does have on his side his youth and the ability to strike out batters, a nice trait to have on a fantasy baseball team.
If anything, he will likely be picked up and dropped occasionally throughout the season as a two-start option. In his one year with the Brewers, he went 9-8 with a 3.77 ERA. He averaged 8.1 strikeouts per nine innings and his WHIP was OK at 1.282.
He’s not a top-of-the-line starter, but he could become a strikeout pitcher. The jury is still out, but that’s why he’s worth keeping an eye on in the early going.
If he’s mowing down lineups, snatch him up fast before another fantasy baseball owner makes the move.
