Maybe pitching prospect Trevor May comes up to start Saturday's game for the Twins, as Michael Hurcomb suggests in the latest Prospects Report. Maybe not. But either way, I don't think he's the sort of prospect you need to add before he even sets foot on the diamond, at least not in leagues where pitchers like James Paxton, Danny Salazar and Jimmy Nelson are still available.
Not that it's so easy to tell, mind you. As owners of Oscar Taveras, Jon Singleton and Andrew Heaney can attest, most midseason arrivals don't put up relevant numbers right away. But the ones who do, as George Springer and Gregory Polanco owners can attest, make the pursuit worthwhile.
But in standard-sized leagues where not every newcomer is instantly the best thing available on waivers, how do you decide who is? May has been good at Triple-A Rochester -- not Nelson good, but good enough to justify a second look. In 17 starts, he's improved his walk rate from poor to below average, compiling a 2.93 ERA and 1.18 WHIP. Who's to say he won't be just as good as someone like Salazar?
Indeed, who's to say? Certainly not me, which is why I don't worry so much about what I think in these situations and instead focus on what everyone else thinks.
Right now, May is only 6 percent owned. That's 3 percent less than the ever-combustible Hector Noesi. He wasn't rated nearly as high as prospects like Taveras, Springer and Polanco coming into the year, which gives him a chance to slip through the cracks. You can wait until he actually does something to pick him up.
Look how much Nelson has done, and he's still only 45 percent owned.