When I locked in my bids Sunday night in the weekly TGFBI FAAB run, I had filled my waterfall with Oakland Athletic players – six to be exact. Perhaps, the Texas sun had baked my brain after hitting a bucket of balls in triple-digit heat with my sons. After all, why would anyone in his right mind want to add someone from a losing team?
Before you consider me as too harsh, consider that the Athletics have the worst record in the majors – 25 wins and 70 loses. That’s a winning percentage of .263, or a losing percentage of .737. This team also owners the loser’s trifecta of the lowest OPS (.656), lowest slugging percentage (.355) and lowest batting average (.222) in the league.
The question I was asking myself , however, was one every fantasy manager should ask – is there a fantasy contributor on this team? I made a small wager that the answer is yes. Small is a key word because I only had $93 of my $1,000 my FAAB left heading into this week. The acquisition of pricey rookie pitchers can drain your FAAB quickly.
If you want to go cheap on FAAB bids, there’s no better place to go than Oakland. Seven of the starting nine for the Athletics on Sunday were available on my waiver wire. Consider that TGFBI leagues are composed of 15 teams, so these are deep leagues. It’s a safe bet that all of the players mentioned below are available in your 10- and 12-team leagues.
The only two Oakland players in that starting lineup not available on waivers this week in my TGFBI league were Seth Brown and Shea Langeliers. I drafted Langeliers last March to be my second catcher, and Brown was picked up on waivers. That left Tony Kemp, Zack Gelof, J.J. Bleday, Tyler Soderstrom, Jordan Diaz, Aledmys Diaz and Nick Allen.
A player that wasn’t in the starting lineup on Sunday for Oakland was actually the one at the top of my waterfalls – Brent Rooker. Rooker is batting .244, with 33 runs, 16 home runs, 44 RBI and two stolen bases across 309 plate appearances. His OPS is a respectable .816, and he’s slashing .281/.351/.625 with three homers in his last 10 games. I got him for a $3 bid.
In my humble opinion, Rooker is the cream of this spoiled crop. When I say this, I’m certainly not basing it on his track record. The 28-year-old got his first cup of coffee with Minnesota three years ago in the midst of the pandemic-shortened season. He batted .316/.381/.579 in a very small sample size – just 21 plate appearances. He got a longer look in 2021.
The full season exposed plenty of warts in Rooker’s game, including an inability to make contact. In 213 plate appearances, he hit .201/.291/.397. He was even worse in 16 games played last season with the San Diego Padres and Kansas City Royals. Rooker was so bad that he couldn’t even keep his job with the Royals.
Rooker has plenty of pop in his bat, evidenced by his 16 home runs. But like many of today’s sluggers, he fails to put the bat on the ball. The 28-year-old struggles with pitch recognition, often chasing high fastballs and power breaking balls out of the zone. His strikeout rate has been creeping up, toping 35% this year.
But desperate times call for desperate measures, with my home runs on the decline in TGFBI. Rooker is on pace to hit 30 home runs this season, and I will take a chance with him in my starting lineup. He was scheduled to bat third in Oakland’s lineup on Sunday but was a late scratch with an undisclosed illness not believed to be serious.
But what about the other five players in my waterfall? The list included Gelof, Soderstrom, Bleday, Kemp and Jordan Diaz. Interestingly, only Gelof garnered enough attention in my league be to added. The winning bid was $11 – almost quadruple my winning bid on Rooker. Gelof and Soderstrom were the two rookies called up fter the All-Star break.
ZACK GELOF – 2B
Soderstrom was a more highly-regarded prospect than Gelof, but the later had flashed power and speed at the Triple-A level before his callup. He’s hit safely in all three games with the Athletics, while scoring scored three runs, stealing two bases and driving in two runs. He has struck out only two times. If you need a middle infielder, he’s worth considering.
TYLER SODERSTROM – 1B
I was surprised that no one picked up Soderstrom in my league since this guy has a higher ceiling than Gelof because of his power. He had 20 home runs in just 69 games this season, and I was debating between him and Rooker to top off my waterfall. He’s 3-for-10 in his first three games, but he hasn’t put up any counting stats yet. I’m sure that will change.
I’m not going to sing the praises of Bleday, Kemp and Diaz because there’s really not much to praise. Jordan Diaz has the highest batting average (.240) and some upside. He hit his sixth home run Sunday in 100 at bats. Bleday has some power and speed. Kemp has stolen ten bases but has hit only three home runs and is barely above the Mendoza Line.
The point I’m trying to make is that if you’re desperate for hitters that could improve your fantasy fortunes, they are out there – even in the deepest of leagues. Look at teams like the A’s, Royals, Rockies and Nationals. Keep an eye on players who are getting regular time on the field and try to time the acquisiton with a hitting hot streak for streaming.
Thomas L. Seltzer, AKA Doubting Thomas, writes about baseball and football for CreativeSports. Be sure to follow Thomas on Twitter @ThomasLSeltzer1.
