2026 Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire: Top Pickups and Adds for Week 1

IT'S HERE IT’S HERE! MA, GET THE MEATLOAF READY ITS HERE! Baseball is back. The 2026 season officially kicks off this coming Wednesday, March 25th, and that means the first round of fantasy baseball waivers runs TODAY, Sunday, March 22nd.

Don't be the only one in your league left behind! If you still haven’t drafted, you are in the two-minute drill. Secure your winning roster right now with the Fantasy Alarm Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide and our 2026 Fantasy Baseball Cheat Sheet (printable PDF for all league types) before your rivals beat you to the best sleepers.

For those who have already completed your draft and have moves to make, we’ve analyzed our latest seasonal projections and be sure to check out the 2026 Fantasy Baseball Closer Grid to run down a list of players that are likely available in your fantasy baseball leagues. We’re going to dive into multiple positions, multiple reasons as to why you should pick up some of these plays, and how rostered they are thanks to our friends at Yahoo! Fantasy. Oh, and if you want more waiver wire content, head over to the Fantasy Alarm YouTube channel where Howard Bender and I broke some waiver wire options down!

Top Waiver Wire Targets at a Glance

Top Infielders to Add on the Waiver Wire

Andrew Vaughn, Milwaukee Brewers (43% Rostered on Yahoo! Fantasy)

Andrew Vaughn is making sure everyone knows that his time with the Brewers was and is not a fluke. He slashed .308/.375/.869 and drove in 46 runs in just 64 games. He’s followed that up with a .372/.449/.581 slash line and is going to play every day for the Brewers at first base. Vaughn is still available in over 50% of Yahoo! Fantasy leagues.

Look at his batted ball profile last year! Great stuff from a guy that isn’t drafted in a lot of 10-team leagues and is widely available across the industry.

Coby Mayo, Baltimore Orioles (8% Rostered on Yahoo! Fantasy)

Sometimes injury presents an opportunity. We’ve seen injuries present opportunities to players and those players never give the job back again. I don’t think Jordan Westburg will permanently lose his job to Coby Mayo, but Mayo could play himself into every day at-bats if he lives up to the player he came through the minors as.

The 24-year old slugger has had a fantastic spring training and is poised for everyday at-bats while Westburg is out and he’s out for a while. Mayo has hit .412 in spring and has belted two bombs. The most important thing of all is the 8.1% K-rate he features. He struck out 28.6% of the time in 294 PA at the major league level last year and has typically been a high strikeout bat in general. If he simply makes more contact this year, Mayo has a chance to hit 30 homers if he plays anywhere close to 150 games. He’s a great power add.

JJ Wetherholt, St. Louis Cardinals (76% Rostered on Yahoo! Fantasy)

Although we’re still waiting on confirmation about JJ Wetherholt making the roster, it’s likely going to happen. Not only is he going to make the roster, he’s likely going to hit leadoff and play at 2B every day, so he’ll gain eligibility at a weak position sooner rather than later. Some sites like Yahoo! Fantasy already has him listed as a 2B, 3B, and SS. Wetherholt had a massive 2025 in the minors as he hit .306 with 17 homers and 23 stolen bases across 109 games (Double and Triple-A).

Thus far in spring training, he’s flashed his elite batters' eye posting a 19.5% BB and .390 OBP. Grab him now because it’ll be the last opportunity to do so.

Moises Ballesteros, Chicago Cubs (6% Rostered on Yahoo! Fantasy)

Moises Ballesteros starts his journey at becoming the greatest Moises in Cubs history. He’s going to have to do a lot to catch Alou, but he has made the team out of spring training and will open the year as the every day DH. On Yahoo, Ballesteros still has catcher eligibility which is extremely valuable because it’s his bat we covet. Ballesteros has hit .333 with two home runs and a .965 OPS in the spring and has an elite hit tool. He’s mashed at every level he’ve played at and is a multi-category contributor and is one of the elite upside catchers that is available in over 90% of Yahoo! Fantasy baseball leagues.

Best Outfielders to Target for Week 1

Carson Benge, New York Mets (16% Rostered on Yahoo! Fantasy)

Although the Mets haven’t announced it yet, Joel Sherman of the New York Post said Carson Benge has made the team. Benge comes into 2026 as a top-20 prospect on Baseball America, MLB, and Baseball Prospectus. Benge has had a massive spring, posting a .412/.487/.500 slash line while striking out just six times. He’s a talented guy that is good at just about everything on a baseball field.

Willi Castro, Colorado Rockies (19% Rostered on Yahoo! Fantasy)

You can slot Willi Castro in multiple positions this year and it’ll be incredibly interesting to see how his numbers inflate due to playing in Coors Field this season. Castro has had a tough couple of fantasy seasons considering his steals have gone way down, but the Rockies expect him to run more this year. We’re not too far removed from his 2023 season in which he notched 33 steals.

Although Castro played in the WBC this season, he’s had an incredibly strong spring as he’s hit .550 and has a .591 OBP and .616 wOBA. Castro should be a candidate to hit above his career averages in a lot of different areas because of the ballpark upgrade and the fact that he’s expected to steal more bases.

Justin Crawford, Philadelphia Phillies (18% Rostered on Yahoo! Fantasy)

If you left your draft lacking in the speed department, look no further. Justin Crawford is your guy. He stole 47 bags in 2023, 42 in ‘24, and 46 in ‘25. None of those seasons were more than 112 games, just to show you what the upside could be if he played a full season.

Crawford officially made the team and should play everyday, too.

Giancarlo Stanton, New York Yankees (37% Rostered on Yahoo! Fantasy)

Thanks to 20 games in the outfield last season, Giancarlo Stanton isn’t clogging up your UTIL spots any longer. Being able to roster him in the outfield is extremely valuable. In 77 games last year, Stanton belted 24 home runs, which is an unrepeatable pace, but it goes to show you how much value he can provide fantasy owners when he’s healthy.

Health is obviously the main concern here considering he’s played more than 115 games just once since 2019 as he played 139 games in ‘21. Stanton’s hitting in the heart of the league’s offense from a year ago and if he plays 100-plus games, there is 30 home run upside. He’s available in over 60% of Yahoo! Fantasy leagues.

Starting Pitchers to Claim from the Waiver Wire

Jose Soriano, Los Angeles Angels (26% Rostered on Yahoo! Fantasy)

Man what a little consistency can do for Jose Soriano this year. Just a little, that’s all we’re asking for. Soriano pitched to a 4.26 ERA last year across 169 innings, but had a 4.03 xERA, 3.54 xFIP, and 3.93 SIERA. He had the best groundball rate in the majors last year and had 152 strikeouts.

Control is his biggest problem and the walks have been high this spring but so are the strikeouts. His K-rate is 26.5% in spring training could be a glimpse at what’s coming this year. It’s hard to hit a 98 MPH sinker and hopefully he throws it for strikes this year.

Braxton Ashcraft, Pittsburgh Pirates (33% Rostered on Yahoo! Fantasy)

It’s been a dominant spring training for Braxton Ashcraft who will comfortably slot into the Pirates rotation this year. He’s building off a very solid 2025 campaign in which he became a starter in the middle of the year.

Once he made the shift, Ashcraft actually had more success as a starting pitcher than he did as a reliever. His strikeouts went way up, which is usually the opposite, and so did his FIP and xFIP.

He can be slotted in in both starting pitcher and relief pitcher slots, too, so there is additive value to that. He’s a multi-category contributor and should miss a bunch of bats. It’s worth noting that Ashcraft’s sinker usage is up this spring and that rated out as his best pitch last season while his fastball usage is down and that was one of two pitches rated out as a negative pitch.

Andrew Painter, Philadelphia Phillies (23% Rostered on Yahoo! Fantasy)

Thanks to a good spring training, Andrew Painter made the Phillies rotation and the top-30 prospect is available in 3/4 of Yahoo! Fantasy leagues. Painter hasn’t missed many bats during spring training, but he’s been a 23% K-rate pitcher or better in every minor league season since 2021, so that should tick up as the regular season kicks off. Painter has a very high ceiling thanks to a high-90s fastball and good secondary stuff, especially a 60-grade curveball.

Relief Pitchers and Closers for Saves

Seranthony Dominguez, Chicago White Sox (52% Rostered on Yahoo! Fantasy)

Shortly after signing with the Chicago White Sox, Seranthony Dominguez was named the team's closer. He does have some history in closing games as he’s twice had at least 11 saves in a season. Dominguez is owned in a little over half of Yahoo! Fantasy leagues and is a great source for saves sitting on your waiver wire right now.

Over the last two seasons, Dominguez’s strikeout rate has ticked way up posting marks of 26.7% and 30.3% after a miserable 21.4% clip in 2023. He did walk a career-high 5.17 batters per nine innings last year, so that is something he needs to fix and there should be positive regression there considering only once before has he posted BB/9 over four. And it was all the way back in 2019.

Paul Sewald, Arizona Diamondbacks (11% Rostered on Yahoo! Fantasy)

In the year 2026, all signs are pointing toward Paul Sewald entering the year as the Diamondbacks closer. At least he’ll start the year like that. That is per Sleeper Diamondbacks on Twitter. To Sewald’s credit, he’s had a decent spring and thus, has all but confirmed to have won the job.

Sewald has converted 86 saves throughout his career and despite entering his Age-36, he’s possibly the only reliable arm they can turn to. There are question marks littered in the DBacks bullpen. He’s available in nearly 90% of Yahoo! Fantasy leagues if you’re looking for some saves available on the waiver wire.

Kirby Yates, Los Angeles Angels (13% Rostered on Yahoo! Fantasy)

Break glass in case of emergency. That’s what we have here with Kirby Yates. He is the emergency closing option, but it seems as if he’ll start 2026 as the Angels closer. Yates had a terrible season in 2025, but there were some underlying numbers suggesting he was a little unlucky. His 5.23 ERA was attached to a 3.90 xFIP and 3.33 SIERA. He still missed bats at a 29.2% clip and is only one season removed from notching 33 saves with the Rangers. Yates is worth taking a shot on here if searching for saves.