Waiver Wire Witching Hour: Deep League Divers
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It’s mid-May. The samples are no longer too small. The days of relying on draft day prestige are firmly in the rearview mirror. Whether you’re battling to stay out of the basement of your league or fighting to maintain a fragile lead atop the standings, complacency is your greatest enemy. The waiver wire is the easiest avenue to address your roster needs (so many managers in my league are fearful of getting fleeced so only a handful of trades happen each year). Whether it’s a fleeting hot streak or a sustainable change in skills or deployment, there’s really only one way to know for sure. You have to take the leap of faith and press that add button. Let’s see what players await us on the bottom of the ocean, in this special deep league edition of the Waiver Wire Witching Hour.
All ownership rates are from Yahoo as of Sunday evening
CHRISTIAN SCOTT (SP, NYM – 13% rostered)
The man with two first names (Ricky Bobby anyone?) is a 6’4” righty selected in the 5th round of the 2021 draft. Some of you may have even rostered him back when he debuted in 2024. In 47.1 IP he pitched to a 4.56 ERA with a K:BB ration of 39:12. He unfortunately injured his UCL and ended up missing the 2025 season while rehabbing from surgery. In 15.2 IP this year he has 20Ks (yay), but 9 walks (boo). He’s lined up for a 2-start week and with an ownership % in the teens, almost anyone can ring this interesting arm up. His xBA (.219) is in the top 25% of the league and it is almost identical to his actual BA against (.224). Not to mention this is a guy with some strikeout upside (K/9 of 11.6 in 56 AAA IP). He’s the kind of streamer who may perform well during the next week who just happens to stick on your roster all year. I’m adding him in 12-team leagues at the present time.
RIVER RYAN (SP, LAD – 9% rostered)
A river runs right through this next pitcher. Now is this partly wanting me to have fun with the seemingly endless amounts of word play for “The Current” recommendation? Absolutely. Don’t like it? Cry me a River Ryan. The River Monster has some similarities to the last player we just discussed in that he was also a 2021 draft pick (11th rounder). He also broke into the league in 2024 (20.1 IP, 18Ks, 1.33 ERA 1.18 WHIP) before he had to undergo Tommy John surgery. He missed the 2025 season rehabbing his pitching elbow and was just activated off the IL in AAA after missing a month with a hamstring injury. His fastball was electric as he touched triple digits 6 times. Not only that, of the 53 pitches he threw he generated 9 swinging strikes. Once you consider that Blake Snell just hit the IL and is having surgery to remove loose bodies in his elbow and Tyler Glasnow also on the IL (back) you can envision a path to playing time. Now I will somewhat temper expectations by mentioning that:
1. Roki Sasaki (33 % rostered) actually had his best major league start today (7 IP, 1 W, 7K, 1 ER, 0.57 WHIP) which means he’s not likely leaving the rotation in the foreseeable future. He could be worth a look where he may still be available.
2. The Dodgers just traded for Eric Lauer from the Blue Jays for a PTBNL/$$. Hopefully they don’t plug him into the rotation, but they certainly might
Given all this information, I would only consider paddling upstream to add the Dodger’s Blue River in 12+ team leagues with an NA slot. Otherwise, he’s more of a 15+team guy in light of all the facts.
COLT EMERSON (SS, SEA – 17 % rostered)
This is one of the times when the move doesn’t necessarily make sense or look great on paper for lack of a better term. One of the game’s top prospects was unexpectedly called up prior to Sunday Night Baseball. A Sedated Sleeper Picks miracle of sorts if you ask me. Don’t get me wrong, Colt 45 has been good in the minors – in 44 AAA games he has 9 dingers, 11 bags and an .864 OPS. But he hasn’t exactly set the world on fire down there either. Regardless, he’s an interesting add given his top prospect status at the start of the year (MLB – 6th overall, Keith Law – 4th overall). He offers an intriguing power/speed blend at short, but will likely add third base to his eligibility, further increasing his appeal. He’s worth a try in 12+-teamers based on the upside alone. In his first taste of big league action, he batted ninth, went 0-2 with a walk and a run scored.
MARK VIENTOS (1B/3B, NYM – 9 % rostered)
This last recommendation is just about acknowledging a good soldier who served me well in the past. I enjoyed Vientos’ breakout 2024 season – his first game was at the end of April and he went on to hit .266 with 22 doubles, 71 RBI, 27 round-trippers and an .837 OPS. Pretty tidy work when you consider he missed the first month of action. Last year – let’s not talk about it (233/.289/.413 with 17 home runs and 61 RBI) in another not quite full season of PAs (463). Either way, Swaggy V is seemingly up to his old tricks – he’s batted cleanup in his last 12 starts, where the Mets have gone 8-4. Individually, he’s had 5 runs, 2 HR, and 10 RBI over this time. So, you have to imagine that manager Carlos Mendoza isn’t likely to make any changes to the lineup when the Mets have a lot of catching up to do in the standings. Vientos is worth an add if you need corner infield help in deeper (14+ team) leagues at this time. But if he can keep this up and maintain that favourable position in the batting order, I would certainly give him a look in a 12-teamer if I had an empty roster spot.
Onto roster review time. As a reminder it’s a 12-team H2H 5x5 categories league.
The HERO of the week for the bats is either ELLY DE LA CRUZ (unsurprising) or ALEX BREGMAN (surprising). Hopefully Bregman can turn around a slow start, as the Cubbies have left hi in the 3 hole all year. The underlying metrics don’t look great, but who cares if he’s on your roster. The pitching heros are the usual suspects – CAM SCHLITTLER (Ace of Pinstripes and hopefully your fantasy staff) and CADE SMITH. The only weak link of the week was yet again Mo’ BALLER. I think it’s time we hit the waiver wire and get us a new catcher. You’ll have to check back next week to see what catcher I will have turned ice cold with the mere act of adding him to my fantasy roster. See you in the standings.