As the fantasy season starts to dwindle down it gets harder and harder to find gems off of the waiver wire. Sure, you will be able to grab the next hot thing from AAA when the rosters expand in a few weeks, but they are unproven talent. In order to get proven MLB talent off of waivers, or in a trade that doesn't give them their value back, you have to be very shrewd.
That brings us to the Toronto Blue Jays. I should say, the first place Toronto Blue Jays. The Jays have been on fire and have overtaken first place with a bullet. From a fantasy perspective that is great and all, but what's in it for us if we don't currently have any Jays on the roster?
Toronto is in a very unique situation this late in the season where they are soon expecting to get back not one, but two, potential league winners from the injured list soon. Both Anthony Santander and Shane Bieber are expected to join the surging ball club by the end of this month, and they can be had for pennies on the dollar right now.
Both Santander and Bieber have a world of experience behind them and some upside, but skeptics will be able to push that price tag down. Santander in particular will be surrounded by guesses and doubts. He came over from the Orioles after signing a big new contract and never got out of the gates well with his new club. Santander could have been hurt all along, but he looked lost at the plate. The back of his baseball card tells another story though. Santander hit 44 home runs last year, 28 the year before that and 33 the year prior. He has had 89 or more RBIs in each of the last three seasons and his OPS hovered around .800 each of the past two years. Santander is only 30 years old and now fully healthy. If you need some quick pop to get you into the playoffs he is a good buy low candidate.
Another buy low is a potential ace in Shane Bieber. The Jays thought Bieber was worth trading for at the deadline, despite him missing almost the entire season with an injury and coming to the end of his contract. Bieber will be given every opportunity with Toronto to secure the division title and he has the track record you should like. Bieber had his worst season in 5 years last year and his 3.80 ERA was still acceptable, along with his 1.23 WHIP. Before last year Bieber's career numbers suggested you could expect under a 3 ERA with an outstanding WHIP that usually fell into the range of just over 1.
Both Bieber and Santander are risks, but they have a track record that few have at this point in the season. It's worth rolling the dice if you can get them at a discount and see if being north of the border will be good for them late in the year.