2017 Fantasy Baseball Waiver Advice: May 6

10-Team Leagues

Santiago Casilla, OAK RP (51% ownership), FAAB Bid - $14 – Now that Sean Doolittle is injured…again, Casilla is the team’s primary closer. Who knows when Doolittle will return, but don’t count on him reclaiming his part of the timeshare right away anyways. One glaring addition to Santiago’s repertoire over the last two seasons was his strikeout ability. He posted his highest two K/9 numbers in consecutive seasons but hasn’t gotten off to a fast start striking out just 7.4 batters per nine innings. He’s still a must-add because of the revolving door that is the closer position. We need stability in the ninth and he should provide that..somewhat. 

Marwin Gonzalez, HOU 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, OF (57% ownership), FAAB Bid - $16 – Good thing the Astros haven’t squared off with the Cubs or John Lackey would have been standing outside the visitors clubhouse doing PED tests himself. What Gonzalez is doing in the power department is something he has never done at any level of professional baseball. Just over the last 14 days Gonzalez leads all qualified players in slugging and OPS. Is it sustainable? No chance. That said, his position eligibility plus current production is impossible to pass up on, even though next week he might go 2-for-20

12-Team Leagues

Michael A. Taylor, WAS OF (6% ownership), FAAB Bid – $12 - With Adam Eaton out for the year, this is a no-brainer and the six-percent ownership next to his name is about to spike drastically. Taylor has been a very successful minor leaguer but hasn’t exactly figured it out in the bigs. He’s posted a .756 OPS in the minors while putting up a mediocre .647 mark in the MLB. All that being said, he’s getting the opportunity to play everyday like he did back in 2015 when he hit 14 home runs and also swiped 16 bags. Taylor has been especially good at home, posting a .462 OBP, which ranks him fourth amongst all part-time players.

Ariel Miranda, SEA SP (8% ownership), FAAB Bid - $9-11 – With the departure of Taijuan Walker and complete mystery of how Felix Hernandez would pitch, Seattle needed someone to step up. We’re now five starts into the season and Miranda has been impressive thus far. Miranda has been especially impressive against the meat of opposing teams orders. Against the heart of the order – classified as the 3-4-5 hitters – he’s allowed an OBP of just .224 in 2017, which is good for 12th in the game. In three of his last four starts he’s allowed two runs or fewer, so get him while he’s rollin’.

15-Team Leagues

Ben Gamel, SEA OF (1% ownership), FAAB Bid - $5 – With Mitch Haniger the only reliable outfielder the Mariners have -- and we use reliable lightly seeing how he’s a rookie and is now on the DL – and have been looking to fill the void with whomever seemingly has a pulse. Gamel got his chance when Haniger went down and hasn’t looked back. Since being called up, he’s slashed .333/.444/.567/1.011. Gamel has played all his games in RF since being called up, but has played 294 career games in LF and 263 in CF including all his time in MiLB. The M’s will continue to run him out as long as he keeps producing so add him before it’s too late.

Jose Berrios, MIN SP (8% ownership), FAAB Bid - $6 – Over five starts at Triple-A, the 22-year old top-prospect has been nothing short of lights out. Over 33 IP he’s struck out 35 batters, allowed just four earned runs and a 0.78 WHIP. Just two days ago the Twins weren’t even considering him for the rotation but with Kyle Gibson putting together bad performance after bad performance, the Twins have changed their tone as Berrios is being considered for the teams final rotation spot. He’s most suited for AL-only leagues as of today.

*ownership percentages courtesy of Yahoo

** FAAB bids based on $100 budget