Wednesday’s Wide World of Waivers: Godzilla vs. Elvis

Welcome back to Wednesday’s Wide World of Waivers. I hope everyone had a safe and happy Fourth of July. Let’s check in on how our friend Chris did last week. The mixed league picks were nothing to write home about, but nothing too disastrous. The league-only picks were much better, with Gutierrez and Harris putting up some very nice weeks. So, kudos to Chris on a job well done. Like everyone else, I’m trying to stay ahead of the competition, so let us see if I can one up Chris one more time.

As always the cutoffs are 50% Yahoo ownership in mixed leagues and 20% Yahoo ownership in for NL/AL only leagues.

Standard Mixed Leagues

Hideki Matsui, OF, NYY

	Yahoo	ESPN	CBS
Owned %	38	59	60

	Runs	RBI	HR	SB	AVG
Week 12 Stats	3	10	3	0	.500

Interleague play seems to have done some good for Matsui. As the primary DH for the Yankees, Matsui got a lot of time off and the rest seems to have agreed with him. While he isn’t a top performer in any one category, Matsui should provide good fantasy stats in HR, RBI and BA. He’s on a pace for 54 Rs, 27 HRs, 81 RBIs, and a .270 BA. Matsui has a .293 career BA and his BABIP this year is .269 so I would expect his average to rise in the second half. Hitting seventh in the Yankees lineup has its pros and cons: Matsui gets the benefit of having tons of RBI opportunities, but his run scoring chances take a hit. As long as Matsui’s knees hold out, he’s a great asset to any fantasy roster.

Elvis Andrus, SS, Tex

	Yahoo	ESPN	CBS
Owned %	14	58	44

	Runs	RBI	HR	SB	AVG
Week 12 Stats	4	0	1	5	.33

Look who is running wild: Andrus has 16 SBs and only one CS. Not only that, he has increased his steals each month, with two in April, four in May, and nine in June. His runs scored are not bad, but Andrus doesn’t bring much else besides the SBs. The Rangers have one of the best offenses in MLB, so even batting ninth Andrus will have plenty of chances to pile up counting stats. Elvis is only 20 and was a big prospect, so he has plenty of room to improve as a hitter. Until then, enjoy the 30+ steals out of your SS.

NL-Only Leagues

Brian Moehler, SP, Hou

	Yahoo	ESPN	CBS
Owned %	1	1	6

	IP	W	K	ERA	WHIP
Week 12 Stats	6	1	8	1.50	1.33

The winner in three of his last four starts, Moehler has put together a quality string of starts. He doesn’t have the high upside of some of our other picks, but his recent success is hard to ignore. The one run allowed in six innings in each of his last two starts could be a sign of things to come. If Moehler can continue to keep the HRs allowed down, he is a solid start.

AL-Only Leagues

Brett Anderson, SP, Oak

	Yahoo	ESPN	CBS
Owned %	2	2	28

	IP	W	K	ERA	WHIP
Week 12 Stats	9	1	9	0.00	0.44

Throw a two-hit complete-game shutout with nine strikeouts against the Red Sox and you are going to open a few eyes. Anderson is one of Oakland’s young starters with worlds of potential. Like many young starters he is going to have his ups and downs, but Anderson has shown some very big highs. If this is the start of him putting it all together, you’ll be very happy picking him up now.

Please let us know what you think by posting in the discussion thread. Feedback is always appreciated. Chris will be back for next week’s Wednesday’s Wide World of Waivers with four new waiver pickups. Keep watching that waiver wire!

Tom Huffman is one of a growing number of fantasy experts who write for the Cafe. You can catch up with Tom in the Cafe's forums where he posts under the name of Pogotheostrich.

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