AL FAAB Factor: Waiver Pickups of the Week

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.

This year, we're incorporating 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 role on an A-E scale. Rafael Devers would have been an "A" grade player last year -- that mark will be reserved for similar high-impact prospects stepping into 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.

Starting Pitcher

Doug Fister, Rangers: The pickings are slim this week if you need pitching reinforcements, but Fister returned from the DL on Wednesday and didn't look completely awful against the A's. The veteran groundball machine is an even riskier play than usual given the patchwork infield defense the Rangers are trotting out behind him, but he mostly keeps the ball in the yard and his strikeouts continue to curiously trend upwards – after posting a career-high 8.3 K/9 last year with Boston as a 33-year-old, Fister's fanned 16 in 18.1 innings this season. 12-team Mixed: No; 15-team Mixed: No; 12-team AL: $3

Felix Hernandez, Mariners: A rough outing in San Francisco on April 4 is still saddling him with an ugly 4.96 ERA, but King Felix has actually been pretty good to begin the season, collecting quality starts in two of his last three trips to the mound and posting a 26:12 K:BB in 32.2 innings. His fastball is averaging below 90 mph for the first time in his career, but an older and wiser Hernandez is making it work, and while he's never going to repeat 2014 again, he can still provide useful innings to fantasy GMs. Two home starts this week against the A's and Angels gives him extra appeal if he's available. 12-team Mixed: $3; 15-team Mixed: $7; 12-team AL: Owned

Relief Pitcher

Matt Andriese, Rays: It's Andriese's turn to head up the Rays' bullpen hydra Sunday, and while his 5.40 ERA looks bad, it's mostly the product of bad luck as the swing man has a sharp 15:2 K:BB through 13.1 innings. He's not going to give you Devenski-like numbers, but he can be solid staff filler. 12-team Mixed: No; 15-team Mixed: No; 12-team AL: $2

Tyler Olson, Cleveland: Olson's value was limited as Cleveland's LOOGY, but with Andrew Miller on the shelf for a couple of weeks, he's taken on a larger role in the bullpen and not missed a beat. His 12:0 K:BB in eight innings is sharp, and he could be a useful short-term add in holds leagues until Miller returns. 12-team Mixed: No; 15-team Mixed: No; 12-team AL: $1

James Pazos, Mariners: Pazos is the kind of pitcher who isn't worth carrying on your roster the entire year, as he'll go through bad patches, but when he's locked in he's solid staff filler who can help support your ratios. Well, he's locked in right now – after allowing runs in each of his first two appearances, he's fired off six straight scoreless ones with an 8:0 K:BB. The M's typically don't use him like a LOOGY, which allows him to compile a few more innings, but Scott Servais still doesn't seem to trust him in high-leverage spots so don't expect too many holds, much less saves or wins. 12-team Mixed: No; 15-team Mixed: No; 12-team AL: $1

Addison Reed, Twins: The Twins should have known what they were getting into when the brought Fernando Rodney aboard, but that doesn't change the fact that he's blown half his save opportunities and carries a bloated 5.87 ERA and 2.09 WHIP. That makes now the time to jump on Reed if he's available, before Paul Molitor officially makes a switch in the ninth inning. Reed's numbers aren't dominant (2.57 ERA, 13:4 K:BB in 14 innings) but they're still worlds better than Rodney's, the Hawkeye of closers, and while Minnesota has stumbled out of the gate they're still in a division with Detroit, Kansas City and the White Sox. There will be wins to protect down the road, and Reed is looking more and more like the guy to protect them. 12-team Mixed: $4; 15-team Mixed: $9; 12-team AL: Owned

Hector Santiago, White Sox: Santiago has been providing solid long-relief innings for the White Sox so far, posting a 3.38 ERA, 1.31 WHIP and 15:7 K:BB in 16 innings, and he'll get a spot start Sunday that could prove to be a longer-term gig if he does well and Miguel Gonzalez's shoulder issues prove to be serious. "Longer term" is relative, though, as Carlos Rodon is a month or so away from returning and the club could always elect to start Michael Kopech's service clock, but for now Santiago could be useful. 12-team Mixed: No; 15-team Mixed: No; 12-team AL: $2

Chasen Shreve, Yankees: He's had a strong start to the campaign as the only non-Chapman lefty in the Yankees bullpen, and Shreve now has a 0.79 ERA, 0.97 WHIP and 16:4 K:BB in 11.1 innings. The ERA is deceiving – he's coughed up five unearned runs – but the K:BB can't be faked, and given how explosive the team's offense has been, he could start vulturing some wins to go along with those strikeouts. 12-team Mixed: No; 15-team Mixed: No; 12-team AL: $1

Lou Trivino, Athletics: Called up April 17, all Trivino has done since then is deliver 5.2 shutout innings over four appearances with a 9:1 K:BB. The 26-year-old hadn't put up particularly impressive minor-league numbers prior to this year but the A's didn't convert him to a relief role full-time until 2016, so he took a bit of time to adjust. He's adjusted just fine now, though, averaging 97.2 mph with his fastball that he combined with a low-90s cutter. His lack of a truly lethal offspeed pitch might limit him to setup duties in the long run, but pitchers have closed with worse arsenals. At the very least he should work his way into more high-leverage spots very quickly if he keeps blowing hitters away. 12-team Mixed: No; 15-team Mixed: No; 12-team AL: $2

Catcher

Wilson Ramos, Rays: In shallower formats and one-catcher leagues, Ramos likely got cut loose after his poor start. If so, whoops. The 30-year-old has homered in three straight games and collected nine of his 13 RBI in the last week, and his .292/.346/.528 slash line is right in line with his breakout 2016 performance. Ramos did get pulled from Saturday's game early due to some leg soreness, and the Rays will likely be careful with his workload in the short term as a result, but there's absolutely no reason for him not to be on a fantasy roster right now. 12-team Mixed: $18; 15-team Mixed: $33; 12-team AL: Owned

Jesus Sucre, Rays: Sucre's having a nice start to the year of his own, slashing .360/.370/.400 in 28 plate apperances, and with Ramos probably headed for some rest his backup could provide some short-term value. 12-team Mixed: No; 15-team Mixed: No; 12-team AL: $1

First Base

Ronald Guzman, Rangers: The 23-year-old appears to be settling in as the Rangers' starting first baseman, although it remains to be seen whether that's still true once the rest of the infield gets healthy. Guzman's only hitting .244 in the majors, but six of his 10 hits have gone for extra bases and the extra playing time should afford him some decent run-producing opportunities, even if he doesn't hit a lot of homers. His ultimate fantasy ceiling remains low, but at-bats is at-bats12-team Mixed: $2; 15-team Mixed: $5; 12-team AL: $13

Third Base

Matt Duffy, Rays: Duffy came off the DL and went 5-for-11 in his first two games off his latest DL stint. It's been a rough go of things for the 27-year-old in Tampa, and while some reluctance on the part of fantasy GMs to invest in him too heavily is understandable, he does finally seem healthy – so yeah, I'm thinking he's back. Duffy did provide modest five-category production in his first full season in the bigs in 2015, and while the Rays will probably leave him at third base for now to get settled, he does have the skills to join the rest of their "infield positions are a relic of outmoded 19th-century thinking" roster in playing wherever Kevin Cash wants him to. 12-team Mixed: $5; 15-team Mixed: $11; 12-team AL: $25

Ryon Healy, Mariners: Healy's tenure in Seattle got off to a rough start, but his DL stint seems to have allowed him to hit the reset button – he's collected hits in three straight games since rejoining the lineup, including his first home run. His season and a half with the A's established that he can be a solid power source without hurting your batting average, though, and there's no reason to think he'll be much different with the M's. If he got dropped due to that bad first week, snap him up. 12-team Mixed: $8; 15-team Mixed: $19; 12-team AL: Owned

Shortstop

Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Rangers: IKF's been getting regular playing time in the Rangers' injury-ravaged infield and he's holding his own, hitting .342 over his last 10 games with his first big-league homer. His minor-league profile doesn't hint at much power, but I feel like I say that about every under-six-foot middle infielder who gets to the majors, and then bam. More worrying will be his ABs once the likes of Rougned Odor get healthy, but in the short term he looks like more of an asset with the bat than expected. 12-team Mixed: No; 15-team Mixed: No; 12-team AL: $3

Engelb Vielma, Orioles: He's back up to hang out on Baltimore's bench and not play, which is fine because if he did see any playing time he's be a complete non-entity at the plate. Vilema's .543 OPS in 10 games at Triple-A this year would actually be an improvement on his 2017 performance if he can maintain that heady pace. 12-team Mixed: No; 15-team Mixed: No; 12-team AL: $1

Outfield

Mark Canha, Athletics: Canha's been handed a starter's role and run... well, slugged with it, hitting .306 with four homers and 11 RBI over his last 13 games. He's had stretches like this in the past, only to wind up back down in Triple-A a month later, but maybe this time it'll stick. Or maybe he's just keeping a roster spot warm for Dustin Fowler. Either way, don't get too invested, but he's worth using for now while he's hot. 12-team Mixed: $1; 15-team Mixed: $4; 12-team AL: $9

Alex Gordon, Royals: The veteran came off the DL on Tuesday and has actually hit a little, going 8-for-23 in his last six games. Gordon still doesn't hit for power any more, though, and being the poor man's Nick Markakis won't exactly have fantasy GMs clamoring for your services. 12-team Mixed: No; 15-team Mixed: $2; 12-team AL: $5

Robbie Grossman, Twins: With Byron Buxton now out for longer than expected after breaing his big toe (ow) during his rehab from migraines, Grossman figures to be at least a semi-regular member of the Twins' outfield for the next month or so. A couple of three-hit games have boosted his batting average, but he's likely to be a player that doesn't produce enough to be of interest in shallow leagues. 12-team Mixed: No; 15-team Mixed: $1; 12-team AL: $4

Daniel Palka, White Sox: Palka's the latest Pale Hose outfielder to get a look, and while a four-hit game against the Royals will inflate his slash line nicely for a while, he also went 0-for-8 between his other two starts since being promoted. His minor-league profile is a typical "decent power, strikeouts and shaky batting average" tool kit you'll find littering Triple-A rosters everywhere, so don't expect too much. 12-team Mixed: No; 15-team Mixed: No; 12-team AL: $1

Jace Peterson, Orioles: He started the year with the Yankees but got claimed off waivers and has now started four straight games at second base for the Orioles, picking up only three hits but producing four RBI and two steals. He'll only have the job until Jonathan Schoop is healthy, but he could get you another stolen base or two before then. 12-team Mixed: No; 15-team Mixed: No; 12-team AL: $3

Joey Rickard, Orioles: Baltimore's decision to promote Rickard over Austin Hays makes more sense when you look at Hays' .222/.289/.370 slash line at Double-A, but that doesn't mean Rickard will see much action. He could swipe a base or two, but don't expect him to contribute with his bat. 12-team Mixed: No; 15-team Mixed: No; 12-team AL: $1

Ryan Rua, Rangers: Rua continues to bounce back and forth between Arlington and Triple-A Round Rock, but until he begins to see more playing time with the Rangers he can be fairly safely ignored. 12-team Mixed: No; 15-team Mixed: No; 12-team AL: $1