Hidden Bounties: Waiver Wire Adds for Week 1

Chase DeLauter, Mick Abel, and Coby Mayo highlight the early waiver wire targets

By Justin May · March 25, 2026

{"template":"baseball-waiver-wire-picks","weekNumber":1,"weekDates":"Mar 25-29","intro":"Happy Opening Day! (kinda) - just one game, but at least there's real baseball tonight. Whether it's Opening Day for Yankees and Giants fans or Opening Day eve for others, it's a great day to talk waiver claims. It might be early for some to make waiver moves, but there's plenty of intriguing players out there - let's take a look at some winners and losers from final roster cuts. Reminder that these recommendations are mainly intended for redraft leagues ","adds":[{"playerName":"Chase DeLauter","team":"CLE","position":"OF","rosteredPct":"15%","blurb":"I've been a big fan of DeLauter even through the injuries. His hit tool gives him as good of a floor as any prospect. An 84% overall contact rate combined with a solid 110 mph maxEV help showcase the mix of skills. He's also never had a K rate above 16% in any minor league season, while consistently posting double digit walk rates. There's a rare blend of hit tool and power here, and he'll have a prime spot in the Guardians lineup. I've had some debates with Fredrick about DeLauter, who he ranked #63 in his Top 100 Prospects list, so this is a fun one. Health is definitely a concern, but I believe in the skillset enough to call him a must own. ","espnId":"4619649","matchups":"","headshotUrl":"https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/4619649.png"},{"playerName":"Mick Abel","team":"MIN","position":"SP","rosteredPct":"10%","blurb":"Abel was featured in my late round SP targets recently, and his stock has gone up quickly. He officially earned a rotation spot to start the season, and I'm a big fan of his stuff. His curveball is an MLB-quality secondary offering, and his command was sharp this spring. Command is going to make or break him in the bigs, but the ceiling is too high to leave him on the wire. ","espnId":"4718970","matchups":"","headshotUrl":"https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/4718970.png"},{"playerName":"Coby Mayo","team":"BAL","position":"1B, 3B","rosteredPct":"8%","blurb":"Mayo gets a chance to start at 3B while Jordan Westburg is sidelined, and there's currently no timetable for his return. Mayo showed improvement in the 2nd half of 2025 with 10 HRs and a .740 OPS in 58 games. The O's also have a loaded lineup to help with counting stats. He needs to be owned for at least as long as Westburg is out. ","espnId":"4683371","matchups":"","headshotUrl":"https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/4683371.png"},{"playerName":"Didier Fuentes","team":"ATL","position":"SP","rosteredPct":"7%","blurb":"Perhaps the buzziest name of the week, Didier Fuentes surprisingly earned a spot on the Braves' opening day roster. Reports are that he's going to pitch out of the bullpen to start the season, and then return to AAA to stay stretched out as a starter. They held true to those comments even after it was announced that Spencer Strider will start the year on IL. I'm not sure it will play out how they expect, though - we never really know what will happen once the season starts. Fuentes is the type of guy I would rather take a chance adding early and be wrong, vs. waiting too long and missing out. His fastball has the traits to dominate, and I have full confidence that his second stint in the majors will be much better than the first. K/BB is king for me when looking at minor league pitchers - and he put up a stellar 29.8% K rate to a 6.7% walk rate across three minor league levels in 2025. The Braves seem to love him too, considering they promoted him so quickly at just 20 years old, and are doing it again this year. These orgs tell us what they think of certain players, and if the Braves believe in Fuentes, we should too. ","espnId":"","matchups":""},{"playerName":"TJ Rumfield","team":"COL","position":"1B","rosteredPct":"1%","blurb":"Rumfield showed out this spring, with a .280/.362/.520 line with just one strikeout across 58 PAs. This comes after a solid AAA showing in 2025, slashing .285/.378/.447 with 16 HRs. The Yankees unfortunately had no room for him and traded him to Colorado. But their loss appears to be the Rockies' gain, as he's poised to begin the year as their starting 1B. The possibility of a platoon combined with the depth of the 1B position makes him more of a deep league add, but a hot start will see him picked up quickly even in shallower leagues. There's not a lot of flaws in his game, and he put up similar metrics to DeLauter who I mentioned above (81% contact rate, 110 mph maxEV). Even at age 26, he was generating some buzz in dynasty leagues this offseason, and it only intensified with his strong spring. Paul DePodesta has been cooking so far in his first offseason in Colorado, and hopefully Rumfield can be another Moneyball success story. ","espnId":"","matchups":""}],"drops":[{"playerName":"Luis Garcia Jr.","team":"WSH","position":"1B, 2B","rosteredPct":"64%","blurb":"Garcia Jr. looked like a breakout player in 2024, but had a down year in 2025. The raw numbers were fine (16 HRs and 14 SBs) but under the surface the power numbers are middling (50th percentile barrel rate and 55th percentile bat speed), and the approach isn't helping (25% flyball rate and 38% pull rate). Put it all together and it seems like the 2025 regression was real. The Nats seem inclined to give Nasim Nunez a full time look at 2B this year, pushing Garcia Jr. to first. His defense is poor so it's unlikely he forces his way into the starting 2B role again, so he's stuck in a platoon with Andres Chaparro at 1B. I just don't see a ceiling worth holding onto, and he's outside my top 20 2B. ","espnId":"40459","matchups":"","headshotUrl":"https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/40459.png"},{"playerName":"Dylan Crews","team":"WSH","position":"OF","rosteredPct":"59%","blurb":"A top prospect not long ago, Crews still has plenty of believers out there. I want to give some reason for optimism but after the Nationals optioned him to AAA, I can't do it. The tools are enticing, but the struggles have been apparent ever since his debut in 2024. The quality of contact just has not been there, and his metrics took a step back in 2025. An oblique strain in May can take some of the blame here, but after a rough spring this year, the Nats gave his roster spot to Joey Wiemer - who hasn't been able to succeed in the majors yet either. Obviously there's no telling how long he's in AAA. It could be two weeks, or it could be two months. It's not like this is an injured player with a rough timeline for a return, and there's no history of solid production to provide a reason to hold. I just have a tough time rostering a guy with a career .634 OPS hoping that he 1. Gets called up again quickly and 2. Produces much better numbers than what we've seen in two partial MLB seasons. ","espnId":"4719511","matchups":"","headshotUrl":"https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/4719511.png"},{"playerName":"Sean Manaea","team":"NYM","position":"SP","rosteredPct":"33%","blurb":"Manaea was an excellent free agent find in fantasy leagues back in 2024. He had an up and down career, but the Mets made some big changes to his arsenal and lowered his arm angle, resulting in a career year that saw him receive Cy Young votes. He suffered an oblique strain in early 2025, and just couldn't find his groove after returning, putting up an ugly 5.64 ERA in 60 innings. He was a potential bounceback candidate this year, but the Mets recently announced that he will start the season in the bullpen. They did mention that he will make starts after the first couple turns in the rotation, but the leash might be short. With the 5 man rotation already set, and a plethora of options in AAA available to the Mets, there's a good chance that Manaea remains the odd man out all season. ","espnId":"33244","matchups":"","headshotUrl":"https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/33244.png"},{"playerName":"Luis Gil","team":"NYY","position":"SP","rosteredPct":"14%","blurb":"The 2024 Rookie of the Year had plenty of hype going into last season. Unfortunately an lat injury derailed his 2025 campaign. Injuries aside, the root issue for Gil has always been walks. His walk rate has been in the double digits every year, and it's caused many people, including myself, to project him as a future reliever. The Yankees recently announced that they would start the season with a 4 man rotation, making Gil the odd man out. This doesn't mean he won't start games for them at all, but with Rodon returning most likely in May and Cole not far behind, if Gil is the odd man out now, I'm not sure we can bank on him starting more than a handful of games this year. Between the control issues and the questionable role, I just think there's a lot of other arms out there more worthy of a roster spot. Gil isn't rostered in many leagues, but even in deeper redraft leagues he has a long path to becoming a useful fantasy asset this year. ","espnId":"40626","matchups":"","headshotUrl":"https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/40626.png"}]}

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