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We're almost there. Spring Training is done, the World Baseball Classic is fully in the rear view mirror, and rosters are starting to take shape.

That's not good news for everybody, obviously. Top prospect Konnor Griffin won't be making his debut as a teenager, at least not on Opening Day, as the Pirates announced he will begin the season at Triple-A. Which isn't a huge surprise — no teenage hitter has made the majors since Juan Soto — but it's still disappointing. But Griffin should be able to force his way to the majors if he hits the ground running at Triple-A, and I'd still say he has a better-than-coinflip's chance of being up before May. Don't drop him!

If you took the flyer on Colt Emerson, you can probably drop him, though. He didn't beat out Cole Young for the second base job with the Mariners, and even J.P. Crawford's shoulder injury late in spring wasn't enough to force him onto the roster. 

You will want to stash Seiya Suzuki, of course — he won't be ready for Opening Day while recovering from a sprained PCL in his knee, but he shouldn't be out more than a few weeks. He might be on a similar timetable as Kyle Stowers, who re-aggravated a hamstring injury and will miss 3-4 weeks to open the season. And Trey Yesavage is joining them on the IL with a shoulder impingement, though he's also set to throw in a minor-league game this week and could be on a similar timetable. I suspect we'll see all three of those guys before the end of May. 

One guy who might be tough to justify stashing? Dylan Crews, who was surprisingly optioned to Triple-A over the weekend. And as shocking as that was, it's hard to argue with — he struck out 32% of the time while hitting .103 this spring, and it's not like he has any kind of track record of success at the major-league level to fall back on. It's too early to give up on the 24-year-old former top prospect, but he's not such a sure thing that you have to hang on to him when he's in the minors. At least in three-outfielder leagues, I would be pretty comfortable dropping Crews.

That's just a sample of the big news from the weekend around baseball. As the roster pictures around the league continue to come into focus, we'll cover the news you need to know about in the days leading up to Opening Day.

For now, it's time to hit the waiver wire for the first time. If you've already drafted, of course. If not, well, this newsletter can still help you out — just think of the following names as priority late-round targets for your drafts. Here's who I'm looking to add for the first week of the season now that we're finally here. 

Week 1 Waiver Targets

Catcher

Francisco Alvarez, Mets (59%)

Alvarez dealt with a hamate bone injury and started last season in a deep slump that ultimately ended with him being sent back to Triple-A. He tweaked his swing there, got hot, and came back to hit .276/.360/.561 in the second half of the season. He hit well again this spring and looks poised for a breakout in what will still be just his age-24 season. It wouldn't surprise me at all if he's a top-12 option even at the newly deep catcher position. 

Deep league option: Victor Caratini, Twins (4%) — Caratini has hit .263/.329/.406 over the past two seasons with 20 homers in 660 plate appearances. He's set to be one of the Twins' primary DH options and should get plenty of time. It's boring, but he should be a very solid No. 2 catcher. 

First Base

Andrew Vaughn, Brewers (51%) 

Nobody is really buying Andrew Vaughn's apparent breakout after joining the Brewers. I'm skeptical, too, but I'm also willing to give him another look if all it costs is one of my last picks or a few bucks in FAB. He's not going to be a hot commodity despite putting up an .869 OPS with the Brewers. He also had a very solid spring, hitting .372 with just eight strikeouts in 49 plate appearances, and might just be an underrated part of an underrated lineup. 

Deep league option: Rhys Hoskins, Guardians (8%) — It's been a while since Hoskins was an exciting Fantasy option, but he did hit 26 homers in 2024 and then had 12 in just 328 plate appearances in 2025. He made the Guardians roster and could be a 25-homer bat in the middle of the lineup. 

Second Base

Cole Young, Mariners (15%) 

Young fended off top prospect Colt Emerson and won the second base job with a .302/.373/.717 line this spring. He looked more than a bit overmatched in his first taste of the majors in 2025, but he's still just 22 and was a consensus top-75 prospect this time last year, so maybe he's made the adjustments he needed to survive. Even amid the struggles as a rookie, Young showed a pretty good approach at the plate, and there's better pop here than you might think — he had a 114.1 mph max exit velocity last season and could surprise with his pull-side power, especially. Emerson will get his chance at some point, but I'm pretty excited to see what Young's second act looks like, too. 

Deep league option: Edouard Julien, Rockies (1%) — Julien combines patience with legit pop, but he's never figured out how to optimize either skill — he's often overly passive and hits too many of his hard-hit balls to the power alleys, where they find gloves more than seats. But he's going to play half his games in Coors Field, so let's see if that can overcome the limitations in his game. 

Third Base

Jordan Lawlar, Diamondbacks (49%)

Lawlar's excellent spring (.293/.420/.610) looks even more impressive when you consider he was playing in the outfield for basically the first time ever — he logged a few reps in the winter but otherwise is completely green. Whether Lawlar plays in center or a corner, it looks like he's going to get his first real chance to play every day in the majors, and while his struggles with breaking balls have many questioning whether he'll ever hit enough in the majors, I remain enamored with his skill set. He has 18 homers and 24 steals in just 91 career games at Triple-A, remember. 

Deep league option: Kyle Karros, Rockies (8%) — Our second Rockie sleeper, and not our last. That's what happens when you are a rebuilding team in the best offensive ballpark in baseball, I guess. Karros looked overwhelmed as a rookie, but he's a career .304/.393/.459 hitter in the minors with a little bit of speed and pop, so let's see if he can turn that into something useful with the help of Coors Field. 

Shortstop

Ezequiel Tovar, Rockies (53%) 

I told you there'd be another Rockies player here. And this one isn't the last either! Tovar is much more of a known entity than the rest of them, of course, and his big performances for Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic might have helped remind some folks of what Tovar is capable of when healthy. He missed time with hip and oblique injuries last season and just never looked quite right, but he's healthy now, and let's not forget what he did in 2024: .269 with 26 homers, six steals, and league-best 45 doubles. Even with his poor plate discipline, Tovar has top-12 upside at shortstop. At the very least, he's an excellent MI option when the Rockies are home. 

Deep league option: Nasim Nunez, Nationals (5%) — I think even in a best-case scenario for Nunez, you're probably looking at a Jose Caballero-esque ceiling. But hey, we always need steals, right? Nunez stole 45 bases in just 102 games between the majors and minors last season and should be an everyday player on the Nationals for his defense if nothing else. He could be a standout in steals. 

Outfield

Daylen Lile, Nationals (65%)

Lile is just underrated, I guess. His skill set should work well in either Roto or H2H points, and I'm a believer in the bat — his breakout in both Triple-A and the majors was backed up by a strong approach at the plate and enough bat speed and pop that he won't just get the bat knocked out of his hands. I think we could see a 20-20 ceiling from Lile, and he might hit .300 while doing it. 

Justin Crawford, Phillies (69%)

What we saw from Crawford this spring is pretty much what I'm expecting from him as a rookie — he hit .277/.320/.383 en route to locking up a starting job for the Phillies. That's not terribly exciting, and it won't come with much power — Crawford actually hits the ball pretty hard, but his slap-hitter approach limits his over-the-fence abilities. But he should hit for a strong batting average and could steal 30 bases, and that's more than enough to be worth rostering in all categories leagues, at least. 

Carson Benge, Mets (58%)

I'm sure the Mets would have liked to see more pop from Benge after he went homeless in 43 plate appearances this spring. But he looked excellent otherwise, showing his unusually mature approach at the plate while winning the right field job. He's very unproven above Double-A, but Benge showed excellent underlying skills at Triple-A despite some ugly surface-level numbers, and there's a Brandon Nimmo-esque skill set here if he hits the ground running. I'm a believer in the skill set. 

Cam Smith, Astros (31%)

One of last year's big spring risers, Smith seems to have become a forgotten man in Fantasy circles. He didn't do much to earn Fantasy players' trust as a rookie, of course, but I'm on board with Eno Sarris' bold prediction that Smith will break out in 2026. Smith was raw, but we saw some truly high-end skills last season, as he ranked in the 80th percentile or better in bat speed, swing speed, and max exit velocity while playing surprisingly solid outfield defense. He was predictably raw after basically skipping the minors, but the tools to be an impact player are obviously still there. It makes sense to bet on that working in the long run. 

Deep league option: Jake McCarthy, Rockies (9%) — Okay, this is the last Rockie. I promise. And look, we've all been bitten by the "marginal player gets hyped because of Coors Field" thing before, I'm sure — I sure have! But it works out often enough — Hello, Hunter Goodman! How's it going, Brenton Doyle (for one season at least) — that I'm not giving up on the theory. McCarthy makes plenty of contact and is a terrific athlete, two skills that should serve him well in the BABIP-inflating paradise a mile above sea level. Does something like a .285 average and 25 steals sound outlandish to you? It shouldn't; it's just what McCarthy did in 2024!

Starting Pitcher

Andrew Painter, Phillies (69%)

I have my doubts about Painter, whose fastball doesn't seem to have gotten back to his pre-injury form. Of course, that pre-injury form had Painter set to debut as a 19-year-old after emerging as arguably the best pitching prospect in baseball, so he doesn't need to get all the way back there to be Fantasy relevant. Okay, so maybe Painter doesn't have as easy a path to ace upside as he once did. He's still young and talented, with a deep arsenal and backed by a good supporting cast. This is a profile worth betting on if the stakes are low enough.

Parker Messick, Guardians (45%)

Messick doesn't have overwhelming stuff, but he's just a good pitcher. He's got about average velocity for a lefty, but he gets the most out of it by keeping the ball up in the zone and pairing it with a change-up he meticulously commands to the bottom of the zone. He held his own as a rookie after dominating Triple-A, and I think he could have a similar impact as the one Matthew Boyd had last season. 

Mick Abel, Twins (42%)

Now Abel's got the stuff. It's just a question of if he has the command and consistency to take advantage of it. At his best, Abel can look utterly unhittable, and he was at his best more often than not this spring, striking out 23, walking three, and giving up just four runs in 18 innings of work. His track record gives you good reason to be skeptical, but it's possible everything is just starting to click for the former first-rounder. If he's available in any of my leagues, I want to keep him around just in case. 

Jacob Lopez, Athletics (51%)

The word I've always defaulted to for Lopez is "weird." And it's not an insult. He's a lefty who throws 90 mph, but he does so with unique movement profiles on every pitch in his deep arsenal, which is how he managed a 28.3% strikeout rate in the majors last season. His flyball-heavy approach will lead to some homers, especially in the summer months in Sacramento, but it could also lead to an unusually low BABIP. Combine that with the strikeout upside we've seen, and he could best last season's 4.08 ERA. 

Deep league option: Didier Fuentes, Braves (18%) — Fuentes is heading for the bullpen, and the plan is apparently to send him back to Triple-A after a few weeks to stretch him back out. But we know what they say about plans, don't we? He just put up 17 strikeouts to zero walks in nine spring innings, and the Braves have a rotation full of question marks (injury-related and otherwise). Don't be surprised if that plan pivots to "yeah, Fuentes is in the rotation now" if he dominates in a long-relief role for a few weeks. 

Another Deep league option: Randy Vasquez, Padres (5%) — Vasquez isn't nearly as exciting as Fuentes might be, but he's not wholly without merit. Maybe. He was pretty lucky to end up with a sub-4.00 ERA last season, but he did have a multi-tick bump in velocity this spring that might push him into more interesting territory. The schedule might line up for starts against the Giants, Pirates, Rockies (away from Coors Field), and Angels to open the season, which could make Vasquez a viable streamer if nothing else. 

Relief Pitcher

Ryan Walker, Giants (71%)

I was a skeptic when Walker was being drafted as a top-12 closer this time a year ago, but I've been in on him this spring. There's very little competition for the closer role in San Francisco, and I think there was at least a little bit of bad luck involved in his 4.11 ERA in 2025. We're talking about a guy with a career 2.98 mark (311 career xERA, too) on a competitive team without much job security concern. He might actually end up being a top-12 closer this season, given how iffy the position gets after the first half-done or so options. 

Deep league option: Matt Strahm, Royals (8%) — Okay, so if everyone thinks it's inevitable that Carlos Estévez loses his job, we should be betting on the other guys in the bullpen. Most default to Lucas Erceg as the alternative to target, but I think Strahm is just the better pitcher, so I'll take a flier on him in my deeper leagues on the chance Estevez's spring struggles weren't just a blip.