The playoff are nearing completion. In the AL, Cleveland’s bullpen did its job in Game Two of the ALCS — especially Cade Smith — but the team couldn’t overcome a poor outing by starter Tanner Bibee as they fell into a 2-0 hole vs. the Yankees. Over in the NL, with the series tied at one apiece, the Mets are favoured to take Game Three Wednesday night (-184 as per FanDuel).

The 2024 Fantasy baseball season is done like dinner, and we trust that you enjoyed a successful year with plenty of help from our waiver wire picks.

The waiver wire offers value in multiple ways. Sometimes, it provides a temporary fix to an injury issue or it’s simply a case of jumping on a player delivering short-term value. But when you pick up a player and he sticks on your team for all or most of the season and contributes throughout, that is the true definition of waiver wire gold.

With this in mind, we give more weight to players that were identified earlier in the season, as — in theory — they had an opportunity to drive value for your team over a longer stretch.

Obviously, we had plenty of misses along the way (especially given that we tend to dig deep), and because of the weekly nature of our column it means that some hot free agents get scooped up days before we can tout them. But the fact is that if you managed to wind up with, say, three or four of these guys on your team, you were probably a pretty happy owner this season.

Note that we took some liberties moving multi-position eligible players around to ensure the team was as balanced as it could be.

Without further ado, we present the 2024 MLB Wire Troll All-Star Team.

Dates in parentheses represent when we recommended each player.

Catcher

Austin Wells, New York Yankees (Week 10): How good was Wells in his rookie season? Well, he spent most of his time batting cleanup in a powerful Yankee lineup, and that pretty much sums it up. We recommended him just as his bat was starting to heat up, and Wells went on to have a highly productive year as the team’s clear No. 1 catcher and he did a solid job of getting on base — and has continued to deliver in the postseason (see video below). If next year he can show the kind of extra-base sock he hinted at in his first taste of the bigs in 2023, he’ll be an elite Fantasy option at a thin position. And given Wells’ superb framing skills and overall defensive value, he’s locked in behind the plate, so not someone you ever have to worry about getting shifted to another position.

Honourable mentions: Tyler Stephenson, C, Cincinnati Reds (Week 20); Joey Bart, Pittsburgh Pirates (Week Eight); and Dalton Rushing, C/OF, Los Angeles Dodgers (Week Eight).

First Base

David Fry, C/1B/OF, Cleveland Guardians (Week 11): First base didn’t offer a ton of great options off the wire this year, but utility man Fry enjoyed a fine sophomore season, and has added some nice moments in the postseason to boot. He saw a ton more action this year and showed improvements across the board. Fry doesn’t offer much upside, but in breaking into the majors as a 27-year-old last year, he made for a great story.

Honourable mentions: Jhonkensy Noel, OF/1B/3B, Cleveland Guardians (Week 16); Gio Urshela, 3B/1B, Detroit Tigers/Atlanta Braves (Week Four); and Nolan Schanuel, Los Angeles Angels (Week 17).

Second Base

Brice Turang, 2B/SS, Milwaukee Brewers (Week Four): Although he slowed significantly from July on, Turang still took a nice step forward in his sophomore season, winding up swiping 50 bags before adding another pair in his three playoff tilts. He established himself as an everyday player and improved his contact rate, but drew walks less often. If Turang can reverse that last trend, he could have a stolen base crown in his future. There’s still upside in his game.

Honourable mentions: Xavier Edwards, 2B/SS, Miami Marlins (Week 20); and Spencer Horwitz, 1B/2B, Toronto Blue Jays (Week 16).

Shortstop

Tyler Fitzgerald, SS, San Francisco Giants (Week 20): Okay, so Fitzgerald isn’t ever likely to win a Gold Glove at shortstop (don’t be surprised if he moves to 2B next year), but man can he ever hit. Taking over as a full-timer in the second half, he turned on the power and hit so much better than anything he’d shown in his first taste of the bigs in 2023. As a baserunner, Fitzgerald’s sprint speed is second to none.

Honourable mentions: Ernie Clement, SS/3B, Toronto Blue Jays (Week 18); and Orlando Arcia, Atlanta Braves (Week 22).

Third Base

Josh Smith, SS/3B/OF, Texas Rangers (Week Eight): Smith snuck up on everyone this year, heading into the season unranked but finishing just outside the top 20 at third base thanks to a fresh approach that saw his line drive rate bounce back big time. The result was that he hit better than ever while only sacrificing his extra-base pop a tiny bit. Heading into 2023, Smith was barely a top 120 outfielder, and we’ve already talked about how he wasn’t even ranked at the hot corner this year. That’s definitely not going to be the case in 2025.

Honourable mentions: Connor Norby, 2B/3B/OF, Baltimore Orioles/Miami Marlins (Week 20); Jose Miranda, Minnesota Twins (Week Four); and Abraham Toro, Oakland Athletics (Week Seven).

Outfield

Brenton Doyle, Colorado Rockies (Week Seven): Another player who took a huge step in his sophomore season, Doyle seems poised for a run of All-Star appearances after his big breakout this year. Already an excellent source of speed, he took it to a new level this year (and did so with a much greater success rate) while also adding a ton more power and a dramatically improved BA to the mix. Doyle is also a superb fielder, ranking in the 99th percentile of fielding run value.

Jake McCarthy, Arizona Diamondbacks (Week Four): McCarthy bounced back big time after his disastrous showing in 2023. He didn’t steal bases as often as usual, but made up for that with a career-best BA and a recovery in his extra-base power. McCarthy has improved his strikeout rate each season, and last year also proved he can help his team win games with his glovework, so small wonder he’s a Gold Glove finalist.

JJ Bleday, Oakland Athletics (Week 11): Long-time prospect Bleday took a huge step forward in his development, producing at an All-Star rate as part of a surprisingly good A’s lineup. His power and production improved dramatically and he lowered his strikeout rate for the second straight season. Bleday has a great arm in the outfield and is among the game’s best in terms of launch angle sweet spot percentage. The arrow is pointing up here.

Honourable mentions: Mike Tauchman, Chicago Cubs (Week One); Miguel Andujar, Oakland Athletics (Week 10); Michael Siano, St. Louis Cardinals (Week 13); Enrique Hernandez, 3B/OF, Los Angeles Dodgers (Week 20); Jasson Dominguez, New York Yankees (Week 23); and Mickey Moniak, Los Angeles Angels (Week 21).

Starting Pitchers

Luis Severino, New York Mets (Week One): Severino enjoyed a tremendous comeback season, proving invaluable to the Mets and perfectly timed with free agency looming this winter. Not only did he finally stay healthy, but he posted the lowest walk rate of his career (for a full season). Severino induced better than average swing rates when working in the shadow portion of the plate and had excellent results when working in this sector and the heart of the plate, so clearly, his stuff was playing well.

Hayden Birdsong, San Francisco Giants (Week 16): In proving he can win at the MLB level, Birdsong has set himself up to be part of what should be a very solid rotation for the Giants in 2025. Despite pitching for a losing team, his record wasn’t awful as a rookie and his advanced metrics suggest he was better than his ERA indicated. Birdsong’s command has deteriorated as he’s moved up the ladder, but he was promoted aggressively; once he has time to adjust, we think he’ll get back to where he was at Triple-A or even Double-A. His K rate is already top notch, so even his floor is Fantasy friendly.

Frankie Montas, Cincinnati Reds/Milwaukee Brewers (Week One): Montas stayed healthy last year, and while he wasn’t exactly studly all the time, he did make some progress, especially after getting dealt to Milwaukee, where his K rate really soared. It will be interesting to see if he and the Brew Crew exercise their mutual option for 2025 or if he’ll again test free agency.

Andrew Heaney, Texas Rangers (Week 10): Okay, so that meager win total wasn’t appealing, but if you take a closer look at Heaney’s campaign, it was quite successful. His ERA was still a very solid 3.81 before a rough stretch over his final four starts, and at one point he put together a run of 15 straight starts in which he gave up three earned runs or fewer. Toss in a solid WHIP, the second highest inning count of his career and nearly a punchout per frame and it all adds up to Heaney being a very useful Fantasy asset. Just in time for free agency, too! There’s not likely any upside here, but depending on where he lands, he could be a decent late-rate pick, or — at the very least — again a solid wire addition in 2025.

Honourable mentions: Tobias Myers, Milwaukee Brewers (Week 15); Landon Knack, Los Angeles Dodgers (Week 15); Albert Suarez, Baltimore Orioles (Week 17); and Alex Cobb, San Francisco Giants/Cleveland Guardians (Week 14).

Relief Pitchers

Nick Martinez, RP/SP, Cincinnati Reds (Week 13): The knock on Martinez has always been that he’s a solid reliever, but struggles to stick in the rotation when given a chance to start. Well, this season he thrived in both roles. Sure, Martinez was still far better in the arm barn (1.86 ERA), but his 3.84 mark as a starter was nothing to sneeze at, and he set himself up to possibly get a qualifying offer from the Reds as a free agent this winter. He reached double digit wins for the first time while improving his ERA for the third straight year in what was far and away the finest season of his career. Martinez’s work as a starter helped push forward his case as the best reliever off the wire this season.

Luis Ortiz, RP/SP, Pittsburgh Pirates (Week 17): Another swingman who got enough starts to provide Fantasy value, Ortiz broke through with a career-best effort while seeing more action than ever before. Dramatically improved command led to a much better ERA, even as his velocity dipped for the second straight year. Ortiz had struggled to stick as a full-timer MLBer for the last couple of years, but it looks like he’s a fixture now, even if his rotation spot is not necessarily guaranteed.

Luke Weaver, RP/SP, New York Yankees (Week 26): Weaver was enjoying a strong year, but became even more valuable when he usurped Clay Holmes as the Yankee closer and Weaver’s flawless showing in the postseason has proven that move was justified. In the regular season, Weaver posted a great record and very strong command. The former Cardinal top SP prospect has really found himself as a full-time high leverage reliever.

Honourable mentions: Jose Soriano, SP/RP, Los Angeles Angels (Week Seven); Grant Holmes, RP/SP, Atlanta Braves (Week 23); and Edwin Uceta, Tampa Bay Rays (Week 24).

RotoRob Tune of the Day

American songwriter Jimi Hendrix was one of the more influential musicians of the 20th century. Here’s the final track from his 1971 album, The Cry of Love, “Belly Button Window.”