The air is starting to get a bit crisper (well, in the north at least). The real-life and fantasy trade deadlines have come and gone. September is almost upon us. The marathon of the 2023 MLB season has become a sprint to the finish, and right now is winning time for those of you lucky enough to still be in contention in your fantasy baseball leagues. With precious few weeks to shore up holes and make up ground in the standings, smart adds become even more important: Hit on an under-the-radar free agent, and fantasy hardware awaits; miss, and you’ll spend the winter wondering what if.
Luckily, our weekly waiver wire recommendations are here to help, with position-by-position looks are players you should consider snagging off the waiver wire. Next up: the outfield.
Fantasy baseball waiver wire: Week 24 outfield targets
Jasson Dominguez, OF, New York Yankees
Roster percentage: 8.5%
Well how’s that for a debut. Hype has followed Dominguez ever since he was drawing Mickey Mantle comparisons as a teenager, and then he went and took Justin Verlander yard on his very first swing in the Majors. Caveats apply, of course: Dominguez is still just 20, he’s sure to encounter a pretty steep learning curve as the Majors adjust to him — there remain questions about whether he’ll strike out too much to be a plus hitter at the MLB level, despite his strength and athleticism — and hanging these sorts of expectations on anyone not named Shohei Ohtani is setting yourself up for disappointment. Still, he’ll get every-day playing time from now until the end of the season, and he’s put up very good numbers at every level of the Minors despite being young for every league he’s been in. (He slashed .265/.377/.425 with 15 homers and 40 steals in 118 games across Double-A and Triple-A this year.) Power/speed combos like this don’t become available too often.
Michael Brantley, OF, Houston Astros
Roster percentage: 6.3%
After seemingly endless fits and starts as he tried to recover from offseason shoulder surgery, Brantley finally made his 2023 debut last week — and promptly went 2-for-4 with a run scored and two RBI. The 36-year-old remains simply a professional hitter, and while he’ll never give you much power — he hasn’t cracked double-digit homers since 2019 — he’ll be a boon to your average, while providing plenty in the way of counting stats hitting directly behind Yordan Alvarez and Kyle Tucker. If you need a guy who will hit .300 or close to it, Brantley’s as good a bet as anyone.
Harrison Bader, OF, Cincinnati Reds
Roster percentage: 24%
Bader only has seven home runs this season, but that number would be nearly double (13) if he’d played all his home games at Cincy’s Great American Ball Park. Such is the power of a great hitter’s park, and it makes Bader awfully attractive over the season’s final few weeks: He’s bound to get playing time on a Reds team trying to snag a Wild Card spot but lacking in righty-hitting outfielders, and for as up-and-down as he was with the Yankees this season, he’s a constant stolen-base threat who’s flashed big-time power throughout his career. If it ever fully clicks for Bader — and if he can ever just stay healthy — the sky is the limit, and Cincy represents his best chance.
Ceddanne Rafaela, OF, Boston Red Sox
Roster percentage: 2.2%
Rafaela was initially an afterthought in Boston’s org, but he’s just kept hitting his way up prospect rankings — and into the Majors. MLB Pipeline’s No. 78 overall prospect finally got the call to Fenway last week, where he brings an intriguing blend of power and speed to the table. A new swing helped Rafaela start driving the ball in the air with authority far more consistently last year — he slashed .299/.342/.539 over 116 games across High-A and Double-A as a 21-year-old, popping 20 homers despite having hit just 25 combined over his previous three pro seasons — and he’s held those offensive gains this year, hitting a blistering .312/.370/.618 with 14 homers and six steals in just 48 games after a midsummer promotion to Triple-A. The speed and athleticism have never been in question, and his defensive versatility — he’s legit in center and at short — should have him seeing the field often.
