MLB

Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Adds: Week 20

John Stolnis  —  @johnstolnis Aug 15th, 2016
A trio of New York Yankees leads this week's list of waiver wire pickups.

The New York Yankees are rebuilding.

It's still a weird thing to write, but after acquiring so many prospects for their two relief pitchers, Aroldis Chapman and Andrew Miller, and the release of Alex Rodriguez, New York suddenly has a slew of young prospects and Major Leaguers to be interested about.

A handful of those guys are just now getting their feet wet at the MLB level, and could all be useful in fantasy here in the home stretch. They lead off this week's waiver wire adds for Week 20.

Aaron Judge - New York Yankees (OF)

ESPN Percentage Owned: 20.5%

Tyler Austin - New York Yankees (OF)

ESPN Percentage Owned: 6.4%

There is a reason I'm grouping Aaron Judge and Tyler Austin together, and that is because they made a little history over the weekend.

Both 24-year-old outfielders hit home runs, back-to-back, in their first Major League plate appearances. Judge then went yard again the following day.


Judge has great power. He hit 19 homers in AAA this year and batted .270/.366/.489 with a wRC+ of 148, meaning he was 48% above league average in terms of run production.

Despite his opening at-bat, Austin doesn't have quite as much power, but he will leave the yard on occasion. He had 13 dingers in AAA this season and batted .323/.415/.637 in 234 plate appearances with an insane wRC+ of 202.

I guess if you've gotta rebuild, that's not a bad way to start.

Gary Sanchez - New York Yankees (DH/C)

ESPN Percentage Owned: 10.4%

With the departure of Alex Rodriguez, Gary Sanchez takes over as the team's full-time designated hitter. He hit a home run in the same game as Judge and Austin on Saturday and in 41 plate appearances is hitting .275/.293/.500 with 2 homers and 3 doubles. In 313 AAA plate appearances, he batted .282/.339/.468 with 10 long balls, 50 RBI, and a wRC+ of 132.

He also qualifies as a catcher in some leagues and, with A-Rod's U-Haul fully packed and on the road, is going to be playing every day for the Yankees.

Adam Ottavino - Colorado Rockies (RP)

ESPN Percentage Owned: 24.1%

New closer alert!

That's right, the Rockies have installed a new closer, Adam Ottavino, to bring you all the magical saves that can help you in the playoffs. Ottavino, now 30, has been around for quite a while and is getting his first chance as his team's closer.

Having a pretty awesome slider doesn't hurt.


In 13 innings his year, he has struck out 10.38 batters per nine and walked 2.08 while giving up no earned runs as of yet. He has only just returned from Tommy John surgery but has snagged the closer's role from the grasp of Carlos Estevez.

And hey, the Rockies are winning games occasionally, so it's not a nothing closer's role.

Travis Jankowski - San Diego Padres (OF)

ESPN Percentage Owned: 29.1%

Travis Jankowski has become an effective little lead-off hitter for the San Diego Padres this season with a .369 on-base percentage and 25 stolen bases in 91 games played. He's only batting .254, and he doesn't haver much pop -- just one dinger so far -- but has scored 40 runs in 235 plate appearances.

And since the start of August, Jankowski is batting .372/.471/.442 in 51 plate appearances with 7 stolen bases and 13 runs scored.

If you need an on-base guy who steals bags and scores runs, Jankowski is a must-add.

Alex Reyes - St. Louis Cardinals (SP)

ESPN Percentage Owned: 16.0%

Luke Weaver - St. Louis Cardinals (SP)

ESPN Percentage Owned: 12.9%

First, let's talk about the top pitching prospect in baseball, Alex Reyes. Here's what he throws.


Reyes averaged 12.81 strikeouts per nine innings in 14 AAA starts this season but was wild, walking 4.41 batters per nine as well. That accounts for a rather high 4.96 ERA, but make no mistake, he is a terrific talent who has been brought up to help the Cardinals try and make the playoffs here in the second half.

Reyes made his MLB debut this weekend out of the bullpen and has four strikeouts in four innings of work with one walk.

As for Luke Weaver, the team's number-two pitching prospect, his stuff may not be quite as good as Reyes', but it's still pretty nice.


Weaver pitched most of this year in AA with a 1.40 ERA in 12 starts, striking out 10.40 batters per nine and walking 1.17. He's a control pitcher who can get the strikeout when he needs one.

In his first start for the Cardinals over the weekend, he only went four innings and gave up two runs on four hits with three strikeouts and three walks. Seven baserunners in four innings is not ideal, but it's the kid's first MLB start, so we'll certainly cut him some slack.