Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire: Top replacements for injured William Contreras, and more

I was mostly willing to write off William Contreras‘ slow start to the season. He’s been a major disappointment as the top catcher off the board, but it’s not like his .311 wOBA has been a disaster – he had a 35-game stretch between May and June of last season where he had a .247 wOBA, after, and he went on to hit .268/.381/.502 from July 1 on to cement himself as the top catcher in baseball.

I was pretty confident he’d get back to that level up until about three days ago. Then the Brewers acknowledged that Contreras has been playing through a left finger injury, an injury that turns out to have been a fractured left middle finger – an injury he’s apparently planning to continue to play through. All of a sudden, that makes it a lot harder to just assume he’s going to be fine moving forward.

And it does create a situation where, if you have Contreras on your roster even in a one-catcher league, you should probably be looking for a compliment to him. I’m not burying Contreras in my rankings – on the contrary, when I did my update Thursday for the Trade Values Chart, I kept him as my top option at the position. However, while he’s been an outlier in the overall rankings since the spring, he’s now moved back to the pack – I can no longer treat him like he’s far and away the best option at the position based on this position.

So, whether you’re in a 10-team, one-catcher league, or a deeper, two-catcher league, I do think it’s time to find some insurance for Contreras. Hopefully, he gets past this injury and starts to hit like himself before long, but whether he muddles through it at this same level or ultimately needs to go on the IL and let it heal, having an alternative to turn to is vital at this point. 

The good news is, at least in shallow leagues, there are actually a decent number of options to choose from who might be available. None of them are as good as Contreras at his best, but there are multiple catchers in the low-end No. 1 catcher range of the rankings with plenty of upside, including two who might actually have top-five upside at the position. So, before you do anything, go check your league waiver wire to make sure none of these six are available – and I would prioritize them in exactly this order: Ivan Herrera, Cardinals (68%); Agustin Ramirez, Marlins (62%); Hunter Goodman, Rockies (75%); Austin Wells, Yankees (75%); Tyler Stephenson, Reds (57%); Francisco Alvarez, Mets (52%). 

For those of you in deeper leagues, the options aren’t nearly as good, but there are some interesting options out there. Here are a few who are available in at least half of CBS Fantasy leagues to consider: 

Edgar Quero, White Sox (18%) – I’m kind of surprised at how little interest there has been in Quero so far. He’s a top-50 prospect on most lists who has played regularly and played well since his promotion – he is hitting .293/.397/.345 with just a 16.2% strikeout rate in his first 19 MLB games. The zero in the HR category is tough, and the lineup context with the White Sox is going to hold him back. But Quero looks like a legitimately good hitter for a catcher, and the lack of power just doesn’t matter that much at a position where upside is awfully hard to find. 

Gabriel Moreno, Diamondbacks (40%) – Moreno has been terrible so far this season, hitting .244/.327/.311 through his first 31 games with just one homer, 25 combined runs, and RBI. And I do wonder if his struggles continue whether we might see Adrian Del Castillo before long. But Moreno plays every day and has a swing geared to generating batting average – he has struck out just 17.8% of the time so far despite the slump – and he just hit his first homer of the season Thursday, so hopefully that’s something for him to build on. He’s not a star, but he’s usually a very solid starting option. 

Connor Wong, Red Sox (17%) – Wong has struggled while dealing with a fractured finger of his own this season, but he’s also coming off a season where he hit .280/.333/.425 and had surprising five-category contributions. The Red Sox have shown a willingness to play him in other spots when he isn’t catching, and he could factor into the team’s first base plans if he gets hot. 

Here’s what else you need to know from Thursday’s action:

Friday’s top waiver-wire targets

Cade Horton, SP, Cubs (32%) – I think the likeliest outcome for Horton, who is joining the Cubs rotation this week to help replace Shota Imanaga, is that he’s another Ben Brown. That’s not necessarily a knock – Brown is a talented pitcher who has flashed some real upside. But his limited arsenal has held him back from being a must-roster pitcher. Horton has a curveball and changeup to go along with his fastball and slider, but he has thrown his two lesser pitches just 11% of the time this season, so the fastball and slider will really have to carry the load. He’s a talented pitcher who has pitched with a velocity bump this season after overcoming a bunch of injuries in recent years, and I’m very intrigued to see what he looks like when he makes his MLB debut against the Mets this weekend. 

Ty France, 1B, Twins () – France is back to his old swing and is looking like his old self after a pretty disastrous season in 2024 when he tried to remake his swing. That clearly didn’t work, but France is back to his old swing and finding plenty of success with the Twins so far, hitting .277/.346/.401 through 38 games. You’d like more power from a first baseman, but that’s never been France’s game – he’s a contact-first guy who hits for enough power to make his batting average truly useful. It’s not a difference-making skill set, but in categories leagues, batting average specialists are more valuable than they get credit for. 

Yu Darvish, SP, Padres (59%) – Darvish is working his way back from preseason elbow troubles, and he cleared a big hurdle Thursday, as he faced live hitters for the first time since the spring. Darvish has had a lot of trouble staying healthy as he has entered his late 30s, but he was still a very useful Fantasy option when healthy last season, sporting a 3.31 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, and nearly a strikeout per inning in 81.2 innings of work. It’s asking a lot for him to do that again at 38 coming off an elbow injury, but he’s worth rostering just in case.