The later we get into the season, the more vital productive waiver wire finds become. Losing a player to injury can be even more difficult to replace, especially as fantasy league trade deadlines loom and the real life trade deadline has passed. Today I have two players who were affected by the trade deadline and find themselves in more productive roles than before, plus a Seattle outfielder whose production we can no longer ignore.

Victor Robles – OF – SEA – 18%, Yahoo

The Victor Robles that the Mariners have received is the Victor Robles the Nationals thought they were going to have over the past six seasons, especially after his 2019 campaign (his best season, by far). But, since 2019, everything has sort of fallen apart of Robles, resulting in the Nationals designating him for assignment and then the Mariners picking him up. They were struggling with injuries to multiple outfielders and there offense was sluggish, so they picked up Robles, hoping he could have even just a small positive impact. Instead, they’ve received a huge boost.

He will probably never hit 17 home runs in a season again, but Robles has always had the speed to steal 30 or more bases. He stole 28 in 617 plate appearances in 2019, but only 35 in 1,091 plate appearances from 2020 through 2023. After 33 dreadful plate appearances this season, the Nats pulled the plug. Three days later, the Mariners scooped him up and have been enjoying the dividends ever since. The key difference between Robles in Seattle and Robles in Washington, has been the quality of contact. He never had a barrel rate above 4.6% in any of his “full” seasons, but currently has a 13.9% barrel rate with the Mariners, to go along with a 37.5% hard-hit rate (which would be a career high as well). This has pushed his average exit velocity to 88.1 MPH which, combined with a 12.4 degree launch angle, has contributed to his 20.9% line-drive rate and career high 14.3% HR/FB rate. I don’t think that means he will approach 10 home runs on the season, but he could still hit another handful or so over the final 50 games of the season. He is walking right around his career average (6.4%) and, if he maintains it, striking out at a career low rate, at 13.8%. Though his BABIP is high at 0.388, with his elite speed and ability to hit line drives, I think there is a strong possibility he can still hit, say, 0.280 for the rest of the season. If the Mariners leave him in the leadoff spot for the rest of the season, I believe he can and will be a top 30 outfielder for the rest of the season. 30+ runs, a handful of home, 15 or so RBI and another 15 or more stolen bases, with a batting average north of 0.280? Yeah, that’s a top 30 outfielder to me.

League Size Recommendation: 12 team and deeper leagues

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