Waiver Wired: This Week's Top MLB Pickups

MIXED LEAGUES

(Yahoo: 22 percent owned, ESPN: 25.5 percent)

Alonso may never be a feared power bat, especially calling PETCO Park home, but he has really hit his stride over the past few months. The 25-year-old is batting .290/.357/.433 with six homers, 37 RBI and a .789 OPS in 65 games since the All-Star break. He hasn't batted lower than .280 in any of the past three months. If you are in a head-to-head league and need to stay afloat in batting average for the final few days of the season, Alonso is one of the safer widely-available names.

Waiver Wired Column 

MIXED LEAGUES

(Yahoo: 19 percent owned, ESPN: 18 percent)

Look who is finally coming around. Drew is red-hot right now, hitting .464 (13-for-28) over his last six games and .360 (18-for-50) over his last 11. While he batted just .193 in 40 games with the Diamondbacks after returning from ankle surgery, he has a .270 batting average to go along with four homers, five doubles, 14 RBI and a .733 OPS in 32 games since being traded to the A's. The 29-year-old has a lengthy track record of being a producing when healthy, so he makes for a fine addition if you need a shortstop or a MI (middle infielder).

Waiver Wired Column

MIXED LEAGUES

(Yahoo: 30 percent owned, ESPN: 43.4 percent)

Murphy doesn't get much national attention, but he has done enough this season to be owned in the great majority of fantasy leagues. Buoyed by his increased production against left-handed pitching, the 31-year-old outfielder has a career-best .308 batting average to go along with 14 homers, 58 RBI, 10 stolen bases and a career-best .866 OPS. Only 13 players (with at least 200 plate appearances) have bested his .325 batting average since the All-Star break. He has played nearly everyday over the past two months, so there shouldn't be any hesitation to trust him at this point.

Waiver Wired Column

MIXED LEAGUES

(Yahoo: 3 percent owned, ESPN: 4.5 percent)

When I first heard about Frank Francisco's elbow troubles last week, I assumed that Bobby Parnell would get the nod to replace him in the closer role. My bad on that. Rauch got the save on Saturday (though he was pretty shaky doing so) and appears to be the preferred option for Mets manager Terry Collins. Must be that "previous closer experience" thing. The 33-year-old right-hander has actually had a pretty nice season, compiling a 3.23 ERA, 0.95 WHIP and 39/10 K/BB ratio over 55 2/3 innings, so he's a fine pickup for anyone on the lookout for saves.

MIXED LEAGUES

(Yahoo: 9 percent owned, ESPN: 4.9 percent)

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Well, Smoak has fooled us multiple times and might be doing it again. The former top prospect is absolutely scorching at the plate right now, hitting .459 (17-for-37) with five home runs, three doubles, eight RBI and a 1.470 OPS over his last 10 games. This is the same guy who owns a .222/.304/.377 batting line in the big leagues and was demoted to the minors in July, so there is obvious reason for skepticism here, but go ahead and ride the hot hand for now. 

MIXED LEAGUES

(Yahoo: 9 percent owned, ESPN: 9.7 percent)

Straily was mighty impressive in his most recent start on Monday, holding the Rangers to just two runs (one earned) over 6 2/3 innings while walking a pair and tying a career-high with eight strikeouts. The 23-year-old right-hander has allowed nine home runs over his first 35 innings in the big leagues, so his fly ball tendencies could spell trouble in certain environments, but a start against the Mariners at the spacious O.co Coliseum is too favorable to pass up.

MIXED LEAGUES

(Yahoo: 3 percent owned, ESPN: 0.7 percent)

Odorizzi made his major league debut against the Indians last Sunday and gave up just two singles over five scoreless innings before being touched up for three runs on four hits in the sixth. Not too bad, all things considered. The 22-year-old right-hander had a 3.03 ERA and 135/50 K/BB ratio in 145 innings this season between Double-A Northwest Arkansas and Triple-A Omaha and is already looking like a favorite to win a rotation spot during spring training next year. Trusting Odorizzi will be a category decision for many, but another start against the Indians is pretty enticing.

MIXED LEAGUES

(Yahoo: 30 percent owned, ESPN: 24.6 percent)

Norris struck out seven over 7 1/3 scoreless innings Wednesday night against the Cardinals for his first win since May 21. If only he could face the Cardinals every time out, right? This has been a bitterly disappointing season for the 27-year-old right-hander, even though his swinging strike rate and secondary numbers are pretty much in line with what we saw last year. The main difference is he has allowed a few more homers while seeing his velocity dip slightly. He has a strong chance to finish his season on a high note next week against the Cubs and makes for a decent bounceback candidate next year.

MIXED LEAGUES

(Yahoo: 14 percent owned, ESPN: 11.7 percent)

Yes, I'm recommending both pitchers for the season finale next Wednesday. We're talking about two of the worst teams in the majors, so why the heck not? Wood has a 3.36 ERA and 59/16 K/BB ratio in 67 innings over his last 11 starts and has allowed three earned runs or less in 10 of them. And while the southpaw has the reputation of a fly ball pitcher, he hasn't allowed a home run since August 28. He's a solid streaming option against the light-hitting Astros next week and could even be worth a look against the Diamondbacks on Friday if you're feeling bold enough.

NL ONLY

(Yahoo: 0 percent owned, ESPN: 0.1 percent) 

I wasn't sure Ruf would get much playing time when he was called up from the minors earlier this month, but the Phillies are giving him a look in left field now that they are essentially out of the playoff race. The 26-year-old is a little old to be considered a prospect, but he led the minor leagues with 38 home runs this year while playing with Double-A Reading. I'm highly skeptical about his chances of sticking in the majors, but perhaps he runs into a couple over the final days of the regular season.