The first — and the biggest — waiver period is upon us.
At 8 a.m. tomorrow, several teams will fill DL voids or maybe make changes after second thoughts on draft picks.
There are some decent players out there, and sitting on the waiver wire with the desirable players are names that make you do double-takes.
With most of us having been in this League for eight years, and all of us having cared about baseball for even longer, there are some names you scroll over, think about and say, “Nah, they’ve lost it.”
It’s the strangest thing about getting older while playing fantasy, seeing the names of stars that you’d never, ever see on a waiver wire five years ago.
And I can.
These are the players who are out there who when you see their names, you think about how quickly their careers have faded.
Starting at catcher, and stretching the rules right away since he now only has 1B eligibility, Joe Mauer. In 2013, he was an All-Star and Silver Slugger at catcher, batting .324.
At first base, I go with Chris Davis, his only All-Star season where he finished third in the MVP voting. He batted .286 with 53 homers and 138 RBIs. The other first baseman I’d grab and put at UTIL is Adrian Gonzalez, who hit 22 HRs and drove in 100 with a .296 average.
At second base, I go with Brandon Phillips. He didn’t have his best average in that season, only hitting .266, but he drove in a career-best 103 runs on 18 HRs.
Manning shortstop is Troy Tulowitzki. In 2013, he was an All-Star batting .312 with 25 HRs and 82 RBIs.
Third base goes to Martin Prado. He only hit .282 after several seasons of .300-plus, but his 82 RBIs with the Diamondbacks were a career-best.
The outfield spots go to Michael Brantley, Jacoby Ellsbury and Hunter Pence.
For Brantley, 2013 is the year before his huge breakout year, but he still batted .284 with 10 HRs and 73 RBIs.
Ellsbury had a great final season with the Red Sox to completely fool the Yankees into a mega deal in 2013. He batted .298 with 92 runs scored, 8 triples and an MLB-best 52 stolen bases.
The 2013 season was Pence’s first full year with the Giants, and he batted .283 with 91 runs, 27 homers, 99 RBIs and 22 stolen bases.
The starting pitching staff, let’s go with the typical five-man rotation, would be Jordan Zimmermann, James Shields, Homer Bailey, Anibal Sanchez and Ubaldo Jimenez.
Zimmermann headlines this staff because in 2013, he had an MLB-best 19 wins and two shutouts. In total, he was 19-9 with a 3.25 ERA. He struck out 161 in 213.1 innings.
Shields went 13-9 with a 3.15 ERA. He struck out 196 in an MLB-best 228.2 innings and 34 starts.
Bailey was somehow healthy for all of 2013, starting in 32 games with a 3.49 ERA and a career-best 199 strikeouts. His 11-12 record, however, wasn’t too desirable.
Sanchez went 14-8 in 2013 with an MLB-low 2.57 ERA. He struck out 202, but wishes it could have been 203. He fell just short of his second career no-hitter this year thanks to a ninth-inning single by none other than this team’s catcher, Joe Mauer.
Jimenez is on this staff because in 2013, he was the least Ubaldo of his career. Going 13-9 with a 3.30 ERA and 194 strikeouts wasn’t too shabby.
It’s why the Orioles signed him to a long contract a year later. Oops.
And lastly, at closer, of course, I have to pick Jim Johnson. He had a 2.67 ERA and an MLB-best 50 saves.
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