Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire: Mark Leiter Jr, Hector Neris, Wilyer Abreu, Sean Bouchard

The best players in the world play on NFBC. The most popular high-stakes contest is the NFBC Main Event, which has a $1,750 buy-in with a $7,000 league prize and a $200,000 overall prize. Thankfully, for everyone, NFBC allows us to see what each team is doing with their FAAB pick-ups on Sunday night.

Each week, I look at the most popular FAAB pick-ups in the NFBC Main Event to see who the best players in the world are picking up and whether we should add them in our leagues.

Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups

Sean Bouchard (RF – COL)

Sean Bouchard was picked up in 54 leagues with a max big of $54 and a minimum bid of $3. It was surprising that he was left off the Opening Day roster so it was a matter of time before he got the call. Bouchard is more of an accumulator with decent all around tools, but nothing that stands out, so he needs full time playing time to make a difference. If he gets that, then he could be valuable in fantasy but the Rockies have a long history of ignoring youthful talent in favor of veterans that have worse upside.

Mark Leiter Jr. (RP – CHC) and Hector Neris (RP – CHC)

Mark Leiter Jr. was picked up in 53 leagues with a max bid of $115 and a minimum bid of $3. Neris was picked up in 45 leagues with a $185 max bid with a minimum bid of $17. With Adbert Alzolay struggling as the Cubs closer, people are taking gambles that one of these two will take over the job. If I had to bet on one, it would be Neris, who has the bigger contract and experience closing, but I also wouldn’t be surprised if it is a committee or if Alzolay keeps the job after all.

Wilyer Abreu (OF – BOS)

Wilyer Abreu was picked up in 49 leagues with a max bid of $350 and a minimum bid of $31. Abreu has been playing regularly with Tyler O’Neill dealing with a concussion, hitting .280/.390/.440 with one home run and four stolen bases. The problem is the underlying numbers aren’t great. He is striking out at a 29% clip and is making way below league-average zone contact. I worry these larger bids will regret it when he inevitably cools down.