Tuesday September 11th, 2012

Peter Stein (Fantasy Baseball Analyst): Follow @peterwstein

It’s that time of the year where you are hopefully competing or preparing for the playoffs/stretch run of the fantasy season. That’s why you need to be ahead of the competition and go the extra distance to secure a title because It’s the little moves that will ultimately make a difference. Understanding that the trading season is past, I have identified players likely available on your waiver wire that can help your team, as well as other advice based on player match-ups:

Ervin Santana, with a 5.21 ERA and 8-11 win/loss record has largely been a disappointment for fantasy owners in 2012. However, he has been much more of a reliable pitcher down the stretch. He is most recently coming off a 6.2 IP, 2 ER, 10K, performance against the tough hitting Detroit Tigers. Next up for Santana, who is owned in just 38.5% of ESPN leagues, is the softer hitting Oakland Athletics on Tuesday. Santana produced a 3.58 ERA in August and has allowed just 4 ER in 13.2 September innings to go with a 15:3 K/B ratio.  We know he is shaky, but he appears to be a safe start, especially as he has held the Athletics to just 4 ER in 14.2 IP in 2012. Furthermore, Santana is much stronger pitching at home, evidenced by his .210 BAA, compared to .268 on the road. Santana’s following start is slated to be at Kansas City, which could be another decent option depending on Tuesday’s outing.

Anibal Sanchez was dropped in many leagues after three starts of five or more earned runs in his first four American League starts. As a result, he is owned in only 72% of ESPN leagues. If you are looking for starting pitching or trying to fill innings limit quotas, Sanchez has allowed just 5 ER in his past 26.2 IP. He has a great matchup at Cleveland on Thursday, a team that he blanked over six innings two starts ago. Grab him if he is available!

Shockingly, Salvador Perez is available in over 50% of ESPN leagues. The numbers for the young slugger really do all of the talking: .314/9/30 in just 58 games. That translates to .314/24/83 over a full season. Elite status – so go and pick him up!

Many Alejandro De Aza owners grew impatient by his most recent injury and as a result he is only owned in 56% of ESPN leagues. If you are fortunate enough to be in one of these leagues, he can certainly help your team if you are looking for steals or runs. He has recorded a hit in each of his five games since returning from the disabled list, included a home run to go along with two stolen bases. His 75 runs and 23 stolen bases to date demonstrate his value in these categories.

If De Aza is not available, how about Lorenzo Cain? Cain is owned in just 19% of ESPN leagues and provides similar value to De Aza along with decent pop. In his last four games he as accumulated 8 hits in 20 at bats, including two home runs and two stolen bases. The Royals are giving him a chance to play everyday and he can provide sneaky value as a third or fourth outfield option.

Josh Donaldson, with catcher eligibility in many leagues, can provide value if you are desperate at the catcher position.  He has earned the starting third base job for the Athletics, and has blasted five home runs in his last ten games. He is a decent flier if you are looking for power, but don’t expect him to help your batting average.

Are you desperate for saves? Addison Reed has allowed a run in six of his last seven appearances and could lose his job as the White Sox are in a win-now mode. While Brett Myers has had the most experience as a closer, there is a 10 million dollar clause in his contract that might make the White Sox apprehensive about handing him all of the save chances if they choose to remove Reed from the role. Myers has also struggled recently. Therefore,in addition to Myers, keep you on and take a flier on some combination of Jesse Crain and Matt Thornton. As a White Sox fan, I think it’s time to remove Reed and give chances to Thornton against lefties and a combination of Reed/Myers/Crain against right-handers.

I worry about the fantasy relevant players on the Baltimore Orioles, i.e. Adam Jones, Matt Wieters, and Mark Reynolds as they travel to the West Coast in the coming week. They all rely on the long ball, as they have been mashing at Camden Yards and Yankee Stadium as of late. However, from September 14-19, they will be playing in Oakland and Seattle, two very tough places to hit home runs. While it would be hard to sit Jones or Wieters in any league, just keep in mind that this might be a tough stretch of games for the Orioles sluggers. If you are in a thin league and have other options, it might be worth at least exploring depending on the pitching matchups.

(*** The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of mlbreports.com ***)

***Today’s feature was prepared by our Fantasy Baseball Analyst, Peter Stein.  We highly encourage you to leave your comments and feedback at the bottom of the page and share in the discussion with our readers.  You can also follow Peter on Twitter (@peterWstein)***

Please e-mail us at: mlbreports@gmail.com with any questions and feedback.  You can follow us on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.  To subscribe to our website and have the Daily Reports sent directly to your inbox, click here and follow the link at the top of our homepage. 

Follow @mlbreports