Fantasy Baseball Top Waiver Wire Adds

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BUY LOW

Roman Anthony - OF Red Sox

Anthony's first full season has been a write-off through no fault of his talent. He was hitting an underwhelming .229 with one home run in 30 games before a partially torn tendon in his right ring finger landed him on the 60-day IL back in May, and the recovery has dragged on far longer than anyone anticipated. The good news: he's finally nearing the finish line. He's been hitting off Trajekt (a high-tech pitching machine that's typically the last step before facing live pitching), and is reportedly closing in on a rehab assignment, with an expected return around August 20.

This is exactly the kind of buy-low window that pays off in re-draft leagues with bench or IL spots to work with. Anthony was the game's consensus No. 1 overall prospect entering 2025, and he backed it up as soon as he got everyday at-bats. From June 27 through his season-ending oblique injury on September 2, was one of the best hitters on the planet — over that 56-game, 248-plate-appearance stretch he ranked 4th in MLB in both batting average (.329) and on-base percentage (.419), with a 158 wRC+ that placed 11th among all hitters. He paired that offense with a nearly-.400 OBP and a strong 14.8% walk rate across his full rookie season, and held his own defensively while bouncing between right field, left field, and DH. It was a Rookie of the Year-caliber two-plus months that only ended because of the injury, not because pitchers figured him out.

That's the version of Roman Anthony that makes this year's finger injury worth buying through. His manager said flatly that "Roman's healthy, he'd lead off if we had a game today" once healthy. If your league mate is ready to cut bait on a lost season, now's the time to offer a lesser piece and stash him for a real September/October run.

The pitch: Buy the name and the pedigree, not the ugly 2026 batting line. If he's healthy for the stretch run, he could be one of the highest-upside difference-makers available on any trade block.

Gunnar Henderson - SS Orioles

Henderson has been one of the biggest fantasy busts of the year relative to his draft slot — a top-15 pick who's hitting around .219 with 18 home runs, 47 RBI, 63 runs, and just eight stolen bases through 111 games. For a player many drafted as a potential 30/30 shortstop, that's a brutal return, and plenty of managers in your league are almost certainly sour on him by now.

But the underlying data tells a more encouraging story than the batting average does. Henderson's power output (18 homers) isn't actually far off his final full-health pace, and the collapse is largely an approach issue — a career-worst chase rate and a BABIP dozens of points below what his contact quality would suggest. He's a 24- or 25-year-old former 7+ WAR player who's shown before that he can make in-season adjustments, and Orioles coaches have repeatedly praised his preparation and work ethic. None of the red flags here point to a physical decline.

The pitch: This is close to peak sell-low sentiment. If you can get him for pennies on the dollar from a frustrated owner, the batting-average drag is the exact thing that should normalize as the sample stabilizes, and the power/speed foundation is still there for a strong finish.

SELL HIGH

Liam Hicks - C/1B Marlins

Hicks has been one of the best fantasy stories of the season, and that's exactly why now is the time to see what he's worth on the trade market. The Marlins catcher is hitting .311/.350/.544 on the year and has scorched the ball at .340 over his last 51 plate appearances, with cut-down strikeout rates and a real jump in exit velocity backing up the production. Dual eligibility at catcher and first base only adds to his appeal for the buyer.

The problem is sustainability. Hicks doesn't have a long track record of this kind of power output, and posting a slugging percentage this far above his career norms as a 26-year-old with a modest prospect pedigree is the type of performance that tends to cool. Catchers, in particular, are prone to fatigue-driven fades as the summer wears on, and Miami's lineup isn't going to keep manufacturing this many RBI opportunities if the team fades further out of contention.

The pitch: Shop him aggressively to a catcher-needy team while his numbers are shiny. You're far more likely to get full value now than you are in October if his BABIP-fueled surge normalizes.

Jung Hoo Lee - OF Giants

Lee is coming off a career-high ninth home run and is hitting an even .300 on the season, riding some of the best form of his MLB career. He's a tough strikeout (elite contact skills), and the profile as a high-average, low-swing-and-miss table-setter is real. That part isn't going anywhere.

But the current stretch of production, especially the power spike, is very likely a high-water mark rather than a new baseline. Lee's barrel rate and hard-hit numbers have never suggested real over-the-fence pop, and Oracle Park is one of the toughest parks in baseball for a lefty hitter to run into home runs — the last lefty to hit 30 there was Barry Bonds back in 2004. His track record also includes real back trouble that has cost him time this season, an ongoing durability question for the second half.

The pitch: If a league mate values him as a 15-homer bat right now, that's your moment to sell. He remains a fine batting-average piece to own, but selling into a career-best power month is smart process, not panic.

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