AL FAAB Factor: Waiver Pickups of the Week

This is our weekly look at American League free agents. We have two goals for this article:

1. Identify likely free agents and discuss their strengths and weaknesses.

2. Estimate how much of your $100 starting free-agent budget you should bid on them.

We've incorporated grids into the FAAB articles, so users can easily see at a glance how certain players stack up against others and how much they should command in a variety of formats.

The grids, which are sortable by column (click on the header), include a very basic "player grade" column. This serves as a reflection of a player's skills and talent on an A-E scale. Luis Robert would have been an "A" grade player last year – that mark will be reserved for similarly high-impact prospects that could thrive in an everyday role.

As always, if there is a player that was not discussed in the article that you would like to know about, feel free to ask about the player in the comments.

AL FAAB | NL FAAB

Starting Pitcher

Kris Bubic, Royals: Danny Duffy's forearm issue opened the door for Bubic to make his first start of the year Tuesday, and the young lefty promptly one-hit the Brewers over six scoreless innings. Bubic had been dealing in long relief prior to that, and he has a 0.00 ERA over his last four appearances and 17.2 innings, although his 13:9 K:BB over that stretch is a little more worrisome. The 23-year-old was the 40th overall pick in 2018, so he has the pedigree to stick in the rotation if he shows he's ready, but keep in mind he has only 68.2 career innings above High-A, all of them in the majors over the last two seasons. There will almost certainly be speed bumps ahead. 12-team Mixed: $1; 15-team Mixed: $3; 12-team AL: $7

Randy Dobnak, Twins: Dobnak had a rough start to the season in long relief, so the Twins booted him to Triple-A to get straightened out and stretched out. After he posted a 2.71 ERA and 1.20 WHIP over three starts and 13.1 innings, the club decided the job was done – or, rather, they were desperate enough not to wait any longer – and plugged him back into the big-league rotation Friday. The result? Six scoreless innings and a win in Cleveland, as Dobnak floated in like Mary Poppins to save the day. (This reference brought to you by the fact that my fumble fingers keep spelling his first name as Randu, which makes me think of Yondu, which, well, you know). Despite his lack of strikeout stuff, the 26-year-old righty has been effective for the most part in the majors, and the Twins need something to go right for them. He'll get a long look. 12-team Mixed: No; 15-team Mixed: $2; 12-team AL: $5

Alek Manoah, Blue Jays: The collective groan on Twitter when Jays manager Charlie Montoyo stuck with Ross Stripling as Monday's starter was both hilarious and epic, but it really is only a matter of time before Manoah makes his debut. A 2019 first-round pick, he's likely been stashed already in most leagues where that's an option, but just in case you haven't really paid much attention to the buzz, the 23-year-old righty has a 0.50 ERA, 0.56 WHIP and 27:3 K:BB through 18 innings for Triple-A Buffalo in the first three starts of his career above short-season Low-A. That's uhh, pretty good. Meanwhile, the big-league rotation is MacGuyvering solutions for two spots behind Hyun Jin Ryu, Robbie Ray and Steven Matz. It's a situation much like the Angels' outfield, only in this case the prospect stuck in the minors isn't even giving the front office reason to doubt they're ready. With Toronto in the thick of the AL East race, they simply can't afford to be too patient with Manoah. 12-team Mixed: $3; 15-team Mixed: $7; 12-team AL: $15

Jake Odorizzi, Astros: Odorizzi's rough start to the season and subsequent forearm injury probably got him dumped in enough leagues to make listing him worthwhile. The veteran right-hander is wrapping up his rehab and is scheduled to throw 75-80 pitches Sunday for Triple-A Sugar Land, which puts him on track to rejoin the Astros' rotation this weekend. Between 2014 and 2019, Odorizzi posted a 3.88 ERA and 1.24 WHIP, and if he gets healthy and comfortable there's no reason to think he can't return to that level of production. 12-team Mixed: $2; 15-team Mixed: $5; 12-team AL: Rostered

Martin Perez, Red Sox: Over his last five starts, Perez has a 2.22 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and a 29:8 K:BB in 28.1 innings. Now, before you get too excited, only one of those five outings was against a team that has wRC+ against lefties of 100 or better (the Orioles are sixth in the league with a 112 mark), but he lines up to face Miami (19th at a 92 wRC+) this week before getting Houston (second at 126) in early June, so you might be able to squeeze one more good turn out of this hot streak. Just don't start believing he's going to keep this up all season. 12-team Mixed: $2; 15-team Mixed: $3; 12-team AL: Rostered

Michael Wacha, Rays: Wacha is set to come off the IL for Sunday's start, so you'll get a chance to see what his workload is like before making a bid, unless you have an early deadline. Before getting hurt, the Rays were letting him get fairly stretched out, and the right-hander pitched at least five innings in four of his first six appearances, and he even delivered a quality start against the Yankees in mid-April. Since then though, Shane McClanahan and Luis Patino have joined the staff and Rich Hill has turned a corner, so Wacha might be stuck with a long-relief or bulk role in the long run. 12-team Mixed: No; 15-team Mixed: $2; 12-team AL: $5

Hyeon-Jong Yang, Rangers: After a decent few outings in long relief the Korean hurler moved into the Texas rotation, and with Kohei Arihara suddenly looking like he could be out for the year, Yang could be there for the long haul. The veteran averages less than 90 mph with his fastball and is firmly in the "crafty lefty" camp, but a 2:7 K:BB over 9.1 innings in his first two MLB starts simply isn't going to cut it. Given his low upside due to the lack of K's, he's just deep-league fodder. 12-team Mixed: No; 15-team Mixed: No; 12-team AL: $2

Bruce Zimmermann, Orioles: The lefty snuck into a win in long relief last Sunday behind Adam Plutko, then rejoined the rotation and got roughed up by the Nationals on Saturday. Nine homers allowed in 38.2 big-league innings this season sums up what you can expect if you're desperate enough for innings to pick Zimmermann up. 12-team Mixed: No; 15-team Mixed: No; 12-team AL: $1 

Other two-start options, Mon-Sun (12-team Mixed: $1; 15-team Mixed: $1; 12-team AL: $1)

Sam Hentges, Cleveland (at DET, vs. TOR)

Brad Keller, Royals (at TB, at MIN)

Dean Kremer, Orioles (at MIN, at CHW)

Tarik Skubal, Tigers (vs. CLE, vs. NYY)

Ross Stripling, Blue Jays (vs. TB, at CLE)

Relief Pitcher

Paul Fry, Orioles: O's manager Brandon Hyde earned a lot of brownie points by announcing in advance he was thinking about moving Cesar Valdez into a high-leverage role rather than using him almost exclusively in save situations. It was very considerate, and fantasy GMs with Valdez shares should think about sending him a nice card or gift basket or something for giving them warning. If the changeup specialist isn't closing though, who will? There aren't a lot of healthy options in the Baltimore bullpen (foreshadowing!), but Fry might get the nod by default. The southpaw has a solid 2.81 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 24:8 K:BB through 16 innings, which look like Josh Hader numbers compared to most of the rest of the team's scrubby relievers. At best though, it's hard to see Fry as anything more than a member of a committee for saves. 12-team Mixed: No; 15-team Mixed: No; 12-team AL: $3 

Hunter Harvey, Orioles: Huh. Does it really count as foreshadowing if it's the very next note once everything's alphabetized? Oh well. Harvey has become the Katherine Heigl of relievers, never really getting a chance at the closer job he seemed destined for ever since he was drafted, mainly due to his inability to stay healthy. He's beginning another rehab assignment at Triple-A Norfolk this weekend though, which makes the timing of Hyde's musing about Valdez's role very interesting. Could it finally be Harvey's time? It probably won't cost you much to find out. 12-team Mixed: No; 15-team Mixed: $1; 12-team AL: $4

Jean Carlos Mejia, Cleveland: The back end of Cleveland's rotation remains a mess. Logan Allen (no, the other one) didn't work out, Hentges is probably running out of chances, and Triston McKenzie's control issues cost him his spot in the majors as well. That makes Mejia's impressive big-league debut Friday, in which he struck out five over 2.1 scoreless innings of relief, stand out all the more. The lanky 24-year-old righty hadn't pitched above High-A until this year, but he posted a 2.00 ERA and 10:5 K:BB over nine innings at Triple-A before getting the call. He also led the entire organization in swinging strike rate in 2018 – even if that came in the low minors, it's still impressive given the big-league staff Cleveland trotted out that year. Mejia has the arsenal you'd expect (mid-90s fastball, good slider, work-in-progress changeup) and given the organization's track record developing pitchers, it can't be ruled out that he becomes the team's latest surprise stud over the next 16 months. 12-team Mixed: No; 15-team Mixed: No; 12-team AL: $3

Catcher

Jose Godoy, Mariners: The 26-year-old made his big-league debut Friday after a hot start at Triple-A Tacoma and become the answer to a trivia question, as he's the 20,000th player to appear in an MLB game. Godoy hit well at Triple-A Memphis in 2019 as a Cardinals farmhand too, so it's possible he has a little more to offer at the plate than expected. As a lefty swinger, he also has a better chance to stick around as Tom Murphy's backup once the M's cut back down to two catchers. All that just barely gets him on the deep-league radar though, until he actually shows something in the majors. 12-team Mixed: No; 15-team Mixed: No; 12-team AL: $1

Eric Haase, Tigers: Haase has made the most of his opportunities since his promotion, hitting .333 (9-for-27) with a two-homer game under his belt, and as a result the Tigers have decided to see if he can be more than just a depth catcher. The 28-year-old has played two games in left field, and as long as he keeps hitting, he'll probably keep getting stretched defensively. For a player with catcher eligibility, the additional position flex is less important than the additional path to playing time. 12-team Mixed: No; 15-team Mixed: No; 12-team AL: $3

Jacob Nottingham, Mariners: Seattle's third catcher and temporary starting first baseman, Nottingham's fading prospect pedigree keeps earning him chances, and the M's scooped him up on waivers after the Brewers gave up on him yet again. The 26-year-old hasn't been an impact hitter since High-A though, and there's little reason to think the switch is suddenly going to flip. 12-team Mixed: No; 15-team Mixed: No; 12-team AL: $1

First Base

Miguel Cabrera, Tigers: While Albert Pujols has been drawing most of the headlines lately, it's another future Hall of Fame first baseman who's actually been productive. Over his last 12 games, Cabrera is slashing .340/.415/.468 with two homers (both in the same game) and 11 RBI. While I'm not optimistic about his chances of keeping it up, and another nagging injury could be just around the corner, nothing would make me happier than to see Miggy put together one more solid year before he rides off into the sunset. He's also nine homers shy of 500, 35 runs short of 1,500 and 112 hits away from 3,000, so the motivation is there for him to keep raking. Maybe he can reach all three milestones on the same blast. 12-team Mixed: $2; 15-team Mixed: $3; 12-team AL: Rostered 

Ji-Man Choi, Rays: Choi got written up last week as he came off the IL, but since then he's slashed .429/.520/.810 with two homers and eight RBI in six games. He won't keep that up, but he might not crash back to earth right away either, and Tampa will find a spot in the lineup for him most nights as long as he's hot. 12-team Mixed: $3; 15-team Mixed: $5; 12-team AL: $9

Danny Santana, Red Sox: So, which Santana is the real one? The out-of-nowhere 20/20 star of 2019, or the net negative on fantasy rosters of 2020 (and 2018, and 2017...)? Boston is really hoping it's the former, and to his credit the 30-year-old has homered in each of his first two games since his promotion. The Red Sox have used him in center field and at first base so far, and other positions are options as well (he played everywhere but catcher for the Rangers in 2019), so the potential for a wide position flex from an impact bat is very enticing. Just keep in mind Santana has no floor if things don't work out. 12-team Mixed: $7; 15-team Mixed: $13; 12-team AL: $25

Second Base

Nicky Lopez, Royals: Adalberto Mondesi's rehab assignment got moved to Triple-A earlier this week, so the clock is likely ticking on Lopez's stint as a starter for the Royals. The club could always move him back to second base and Whit Merrifield to the outfield though, and Lopez is doing his best to sway the coaching staff towards that scenario, hitting .308 over his last 12 games with three steals. If you need speed, he's worth a look, although his lack of power makes him tough to roster in shallow formats. 12-team Mixed: $1; 15-team Mixed: $3; 12-team AL: Rostered

Owen Miller, Cleveland: Part of the package Cleveland obtained from the Padres in the Mike Clevinger deal, Miller earned his promotion with a .406/.457/.609 slash line to begin the year at Triple-A Columbus, and with Franmil Reyes landing on IL, the team decided to give the 24-year-old a look. With Cesar Hernandez doing a solid job though, Miller doesn't have a clear path to playing time, so view him as a keeper stash for now – although even in that case, he might only profile as a utility player once higher-profile prospects like Tyler Freeman are on the scene. 12-team Mixed: No; 15-team Mixed: No; 12-team AL: $1 

Joe Panik, Blue Jays: With Cavan Biggio on the shelf, it could be Panik! At the Hot Corner for the Jays. The veteran infielder came off the IL on Saturday, and he could form the strong side of a platoon with Santiago Espinal in the short term. Panik hasn't had an OPS above .651 since 2017, though. 12-team Mixed: No; 15-team Mixed: No; 12-team AL: $1 

Third Base

Brock Holt, Rangers: Another veteran utility infielder who just came off the IL, Holt has a slightly better bat than Panik and a clearer path to regular at-bats, which is nice. A fairly empty batting average might be the best you can hope for here. 12-team Mixed: No; 15-team Mixed: No; 12-team AL: $3

Shortstop

Santiago Espinal, Blue Jays: The 26-year-old is a useful utility player, and if the Jays prioritize defense at third base in Biggio's absence, Espinal could wind up making most of the starts. He's got a smidge of speed, but it's hard to see him producing much else. 12-team Mixed: No; 15-team Mixed: No; 12-team AL: $1

Jack Mayfield, Mariners: Mayfield has started two of the last three games, and seen action in all three, as the M's cover for having Dylan Moore and Ty France on the IL. He's also gone 1-for-10 during that stretch, but he did show solid pop at Triple-A in the Houston system, so there's some faint upside here with regular playing time. 12-team Mixed: No; 15-team Mixed: No; 12-team AL: $1 

Taylor Walls, Rays: No, this isn't the Rays shortstop anyone expected to get called up when Willy Adames was traded, but there's some method to Tampa's madness here. Walls has an exceptional defensive reputation, and giving him the first look allows the Rays to decide whether Wander Franco will debut as a shortstop and move Walls into a utility role, or whether Walls will hit enough to be worth keeping his glove at short, in which case it's Joey Wendle and Brandon Lowe who might need to start looking over their shoulders. Walls lacing two doubles in his debut doesn't hurt either, but his main fantasy value will likely come on the basepaths if he does emerge with a regular role. 12-team Mixed: $5; 15-team Mixed: $9; 12-team AL: $17

Outfield

Luis Barrera, Athletics: Called up Tuesday, Barrera has seen little playing time for the A's so far, but his speed and hit tool make the 25-year-old a decent keeper stash in case he works his way into a consistent role down the road. 12-team Mixed: No; 15-team Mixed: No; 12-team AL: $1 

Phil Gosselin, Angels: I make fun of the Angels every week because they won't call up Jo Adell or Brandon Marsh no matter who gets hurt in their outfield, but the team might have the last laugh (?) because neither youngster is exactly forcing the issue at Triple-A Salt Lake – Adell has seven homers and two steals in 15 games but has struck out 26 times, while Marsh is hitting .194 through his first eight games. Meanwhile, Gosselin is actually contributing, slashing .292/.333/.458 since being added to the roster. The 32-year-old has a career .683 OPS though and offers little power or speed, so he's still little more than a stopgap, either for the Halos or for a fantasy squad. 12-team Mixed: No; 15-team Mixed: $1; 12-team AL: $4 

Juan Lagares, Angels: The veteran's defense in center field has earned him four straight starts in the wake of Mike Trout's injury. Lagares has even hit a little, going 4-for-12 with two doubles and a triple. Like Gosselin and Taylor Ward, he's just a temp, but Lagares' playing time might be the safest of the trio until the kids are ready for the spotlight. 12-team Mixed: No; 15-team Mixed: No; 12-team AL: $2

Stevie Wilkerson, Orioles: The O's Wheel of Fungible Guys at the Keystone added a new name in Wilkerson, but he's been no more impressive than anyone else who's gotten a look this year. The 29-year-old has started two of five games since his promotion and gone 2-for-9, and while he did have a brief run of utility last season, there's little on his resume to get excited about. 12-team Mixed: No; 15-team Mixed: No; 12-team AL: $1