2011 MLB Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Gems: National League

Denis Poroy/Getty Images

2011 MLB Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Gems: National League

Cameron Maybin, OF San Diego Padres ( 35 percent owned in Yahoo, 57.5 percent in ESPN)

Current Stat Line: .283 AVG / 49 R / 6 HR / 27 RBI / 22 SB

Maybin can really fill up a stat sheet. During his ten game hitting streak, he is hitting .422/11/1/6/10. Don’t expect a .280 average going forward because his contact rates are Uggla-like (72.5 percent) but he will be a good source of runs and steals going forward.

Projection (rest of season): .250 AVG / 34 R / 4 HR / 24 RBI / 10 SB

Dexter Fowler, OF Colorado Rockies ( 18 percent owned in Yahoo, 20.1 percent in ESPN)

Current Stat Line: .250 AVG / 43 R / 0 HR / 24 RBI / 5 SB

After Carlos Gonzalez was placed on the 15 day DL, Dexter Fowler got the call once again. He knows he will have to prove himself to stay in the lineup when CarGo returns. In the past six games Fowler has hit leadoff while batting .454/5/0/5/2. I would like to see him more active on the basepaths but deeper leagues should try him out while he’s hot.

Projection (rest of season): .265 AVG / 28 R / 2 HR / 19 RBI / 6 SB

Nate Schierholtz, OF San Francisco Giants ( 15 percent owned in Yahoo, 50.1 percent in ESPN)

Current Stat Line: .287 AVG / 33 R / 7 HR / 36 RBI / 7 SB

Schierholtz is quietly putting together a pretty solid season for the Giants. He owns an overall triple slash line of .287/.331/.444 and a .382 wOBA for the month of July. He mostly hits out of the five-spot in the order so he should at least be a decent source of RBIs. Beware if the Giants end up trading for a player like Carlos Beltran, because Schierholtz may find his way into a platoon situation.

Projection (rest of season): .280 AVG / 21 R / 5 HR / 29 RBI / 5 SB

Vance Worley, SP Philadelphia Phillies ( 50 percent owned in Yahoo, 78.6 percent in ESPN)

Current Stat Line: 6 W / 1 L / 48 K / 2.02 ERA / 1.19 WHIP

Worley has been a good surprise for the Phillies this year. He won’t put up huge strikeout numbers but he does a good job of drawing weak contact and getting groundball outs. Hitters will still have trouble with Worley because they are not familiar with him yet. You may want to consider benching him when he is set to start against a team he has faced before. In his second start against the Mets, he gave up 8 R/3 IP.

Projection (rest of season): 4 W / 3 L / 37 K / 3.85 ERA / 1.30 WHIP

Jason Isringhausen, RP New York Mets ( 29 percent owned in Yahoo, 46.4 percent in ESPN)

Current Stat Line: 2 W / 0 L / 28 K / 2.67  ERA / 1.13 WHIP / 2 SV

Isringhausen is the closer for the Mets and Bobby Parnell’s blowup against the Marlins last night (1 IP, 2 ER), only solidifies the closing gig. Izzy has plenty of experience in the closer’s role (295 career saves) so give him a shot.

Projection (rest of season): 2 W / 1 L / 19 K / 3.10 ERA / 1.20 WHIP / 10 SV

*All stats are current as of 7/25/11, 10:00 AM

Killin’ the Odds & the Regular Season

Welcome back to Killin’ the Odds & the Regular Season! In the “Today’s Games” section, you will see my picks to win for the day. I will post either the “Money Line” or the “Run Line”. The money line is always a “straight up” bet which means your team will never need to win or lose by a specific amount of runs. The money line odds represent what amount has to be wagered or what can be won. For example, if there is a minus sign (-) next to an amount, you have to wager that amount to win 100. If there is a plus sign (+) next to an amount, you will receive that amount for every 100 wagered. When you see a “Run Line”, that means a spread is involved. In Baseball, the spread is always 1.5 runs but you can find alternate run lines on some websites. When I post a run line of -1.5, that means our team must win by two runs. When you see a run line of +1.5, that means our team can lose by one run and still win the wager. Listen to our show from April 5th, 2011 for more explanation and tips.

Killin’ the Odds & the Regular Season

Welcome back to Killin’ the Odds & the Regular Season! In the “Today’s Games” section, you will see my picks to win for the day. I will post either the “Money Line” or the “Run Line”. The money line is always a “straight up” bet which means your team will never need to win or lose by a specific amount of runs. The money line odds represent what amount has to be wagered or what can be won. For example, if there is a minus sign (-) next to an amount, you have to wager that amount to win 100. If there is a plus sign (+) next to an amount, you will receive that amount for every 100 wagered. When you see a “Run Line”, that means a spread is involved. In Baseball, the spread is always 1.5 runs but you can find alternate run lines on some websites. When I post a run line of -1.5, that means our team must win by two runs. When you see a run line of +1.5, that means our team can lose by one run and still win the wager. Listen to our show from April 5th, 2011 for more explanation and tips.

Killin’ the Odds & the Regular Season

Welcome back to Killin’ the Odds & the Regular Season! In the “Today’s Games” section, you will see my picks to win for the day. I will post either the “Money Line” or the “Run Line”. The money line is always a “straight up” bet which means your team will never need to win or lose by a specific amount of runs. The money line odds represent what amount has to be wagered or what can be won. For example, if there is a minus sign (-) next to an amount, you have to wager that amount to win 100. If there is a plus sign (+) next to an amount, you will receive that amount for every 100 wagered. When you see a “Run Line”, that means a spread is involved. In Baseball, the spread is always 1.5 runs but you can find alternate run lines on some websites. When I post a run line of -1.5, that means our team must win by two runs. When you see a run line of +1.5, that means our team can lose by one run and still win the wager. Listen to our show from April 5th, 2011 for more explanation and tips.

Killin’ the Odds & the Regular Season

Welcome back to Killin’ the Odds & the Regular Season! In the “Today’s Games” section, you will see my picks to win for the day. I will post either the “Money Line” or the “Run Line”. The money line is always a “straight up” bet which means your team will never need to win or lose by a specific amount of runs. The money line odds represent what amount has to be wagered or what can be won. For example, if there is a minus sign (-) next to an amount, you have to wager that amount to win 100. If there is a plus sign (+) next to an amount, you will receive that amount for every 100 wagered. When you see a “Run Line”, that means a spread is involved. In Baseball, the spread is always 1.5 runs but you can find alternate run lines on some websites. When I post a run line of -1.5, that means our team must win by two runs. When you see a run line of +1.5, that means our team can lose by one run and still win the wager. Listen to our show from April 5th, 2011 for more explanation and tips.

Killin’ the Odds & the Regular Season

Welcome back to Killin’ the Odds & the Regular Season! In the “Today’s Games” section, you will see my picks to win for the day. I will post either the “Money Line” or the “Run Line”. The money line is always a “straight up” bet which means your team will never need to win or lose by a specific amount of runs. The money line odds represent what amount has to be wagered or what can be won. For example, if there is a minus sign (-) next to an amount, you have to wager that amount to win 100. If there is a plus sign (+) next to an amount, you will receive that amount for every 100 wagered. When you see a “Run Line”, that means a spread is involved. In Baseball, the spread is always 1.5 runs but you can find alternate run lines on some websites. When I post a run line of -1.5, that means our team must win by two runs. When you see a run line of +1.5, that means our team can lose by one run and still win the wager. Listen to our show from April 5th, 2011 for more explanation and tips.

Killin’ the Odds & the Regular Season

Welcome back to Killin’ the Odds & the Regular Season! In the “Today’s Games” section, you will see my picks to win for the day. I will post either the “Money Line” or the “Run Line”. The money line is always a “straight up” bet which means your team will never need to win or lose by a specific amount of runs. The money line odds represent what amount has to be wagered or what can be won. For example, if there is a minus sign (-) next to an amount, you have to wager that amount to win 100. If there is a plus sign (+) next to an amount, you will receive that amount for every 100 wagered. When you see a “Run Line”, that means a spread is involved. In Baseball, the spread is always 1.5 runs but you can find alternate run lines on some websites. When I post a run line of -1.5, that means our team must win by two runs. When you see a run line of +1.5, that means our team can lose by one run and still win the wager. Listen to our show from April 5th, 2011 for more explanation and tips.

Killin’ the Odds & the Regular Season

Welcome back to Killin’ the Odds & the Regular Season! In the “Today’s Games” section, you will see my picks to win for the day. I will post either the “Money Line” or the “Run Line”. The money line is always a “straight up” bet which means your team will never need to win or lose by a specific amount of runs. The money line odds represent what amount has to be wagered or what can be won. For example, if there is a minus sign (-) next to an amount, you have to wager that amount to win 100. If there is a plus sign (+) next to an amount, you will receive that amount for every 100 wagered. When you see a “Run Line”, that means a spread is involved. In Baseball, the spread is always 1.5 runs but you can find alternate run lines on some websites. When I post a run line of -1.5, that means our team must win by two runs. When you see a run line of +1.5, that means our team can lose by one run and still win the wager. Listen to our show from April 5th, 2011 for more explanation and tips.

2011 Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Gems – National League

Everyone knows you need to make a few moves throughout the season and it’s not all about the draft. This post is designed to help you rule the waivers! So when your league-mates are in an 11 team race to see who will acquire the next Willie Bloomquist, you can take your pick and laugh all the way to a fantasy championship!

Logan Morrison, OF Florida Marlins (38% owned in Yahoo, 37% in ESPN)

Current Stat Line – .333 AVG/ 5 R/ 2 HR/ 5 RBI

Morrison was penciled in at the 3-spot in the order with Hanley Ramirez out. He is the team’s best hitter right now as 5 of his 10 hits have gone for extra bases and he’s rockin’ a snappy 8:6 BB:K ratio. We could easily see a line of .280 AVG / 70 R / 20 HR / 80 RBI by season’s end.

Ben Francisco, OF Philadelphia Phillies (42% owned in Yahoo, 54% in ESPN)

Current Stat Line – .333 AVG/ 7 R / 2 HR / 7 RBI / 1 SB 

Everyone seems to forget his time in Cleveland but he put up some useful numbers. He hit 15 HR in 447 AB in 2008. In the time split between CLE and PHI in 2009, he hit 15 HR and stole 14 bases in only 405 AB. I would like to see Ben Francisco batting 5th behind Ryan Howard. If he obtains at least 500 AB this season, we could see a line of .269 AVG / 70 R / 20 HR / 83 RBI / 10 SB. 

Danny Espinosa, 2B Washington Nationals (10% owned in Yahoo, 6% in ESPN)

Current Stat Line – .304 AVG / 5 R / 1 HR / 5 RBI

Last year with the Nationals, Espinosa hit six home runs in 103 at bats. He has also shown an interesting combination of power and speed in the minors. In his last 955 minor league at bats he hit 40 home runs and stole 54 bases. That’s pretty fancy even though I don’t expect the .304 AVG to stick. My projection: .260 AVG / 69 R / 19 HR / 72 RBI / 12 SB

 Chase Headley, 3B San Diego Padres (27% owned in Yahoo)

Current Stat Line – .280 AVG / 3 R / 1 HR / 7 RBI

Currently Headley’s BB:K ratio is 5:5 and he is hitting in an RBI friendly spot in the order. He has shown a bit more power in the minors so I suspect his low home run totals may be a product of Petco or maybe he is still adjusting to the majors. I still expect his home run total to increase and he also stole 17 bases in 2010. He could finish with a .270 AVG / 65 R /16 HR / 70 RBI / 14 SB.

Chris Narveson, SP Milwaukee Brewers (11% owned in Yahoo)

Current Stat Line – 1 W / 0 L / 0.0 ERA / 14 K / 1.00 WHIP

I’m not condoning you drop guys like Cole Hamels or Ryan Dempster for Chris Narveson but he could fit in nicely as an injury replacement. If he puts together a few more solid starts, he is someone you could also sell high on. Aside from the Reds, the NL Central has had some issues scoring runs as of late. With the Astros, Nationals and Pirates on the schedule for April, he should be a good option for a spot start or two. My Projection: 11 W / 11 L / 3.85 ERA / 165 K / 1.30 WHIP