Alright fantasy managers, you now have full permission to start reacting to cold starts for fringe players on your team. You drafted them for a reason so it’s worth giving them at least two weeks to assess their play before moving on. In fact, in deep leagues, a critical success factor for competing is knowing when to act decisively on the waiver wire. Though, making decisions off small sample sizes can lead to costly player drops that can boost competing teams. That’s why I factor in a player’s past season performances into this first deep league waiver wire targets article in the new season.
Deep League Waiver Wire Targets for Week 2
15-Team Mixed League Targets
1. Jake Mangum, OF, Rays (34% rostered)
There’s a good chance this is the last chance deep league fantasy managers will have to roster Jake Mangum. For weekly waiver leagues that run on Sunday evenings, it’s likely that he’s still on the waiver wire. The reason Mangum is our top deep league waiver wire target this week is due to his scorching hot start at the plate. So far, he has eight hits in his first 15 at bats with four RBI and three stolen bases. Already nick-named ‘The Mayor’ in the minor leagues, this breakout comes as no surprise to his coaches. In fact, he batted .317 in nearly 400 at-bats in AAA last season. If the hit tool can hold up in the big leagues, the counting stats production will follow.
Jake Mangum does it again! He rips a 2-run double down the line to make it 2-0 #Rays. He’s now 5-for-5 in his last five at bats. pic.twitter.com/Wb0QRbpKLk
— Ryan Bass (@Ry_Bass) April 1, 2025
2. Chase Dollander, SP, Rockies (29% rostered)
It’s seemingly been a decade or longer since the Rockies have had a top-performing starting pitcher. Not only are the park factors extremely challenging but their pitching development has lagged significantly. There’s a new hope that top pitching prospect Chase Dollander can crack the code. After dominating the minors last season, Dollander had a shot to crack the Opening Day lineup. While that didn’t happen, it only took one start at AAA to get the call to make his major league debut.
The @Rockies have called up their top prospect, Chase Dollander, for what would be his big league debut.
The 2023 first-round pick is No. 24 on MLB's Top 100: https://t.co/fDLqPuNKad pic.twitter.com/oXJmi12Bee
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 4, 2025
AL-Only League Waiver Wire Target
Kyren Paris, SS, Angels (29% rostered)
To get in early on the next waiver wire darling, sometimes fantasy baseball managers need to have more belief in a player than the team’s coaching staff. That’s clearly the case for Kyren Paris, who has done nothing but hit in his, so far, very limited at-bats. Angel’s manager, Ron Washington, states the limited playing time is a result of the positional adjustment learning curve. While this has merit, it seems only a matter of time before Paris gains more consistent playing time as he is moving the needle at the plate with a hot start to the season. In fact, a recent hamstring injury to Luis Rengifo may have just freed up the playing time opportunity.
Kyren Paris is hitting .545 with a 1.643 OPS and 3 game winning hits.
He has started 2 out of 7 games
THIS IS ANGELS BASEBALL pic.twitter.com/Behpda5gwz
— Vinnie (@VinRBI) April 5, 2025
NL-Only League Waiver Wire Target
Michael McGreevy, SP, Cardinals (37%)
Another top pitching prospect that is on the cusp of a call-up to the majors is Michael McGreevy of the Cardinals. In fact, it was announced before the season that the likely plan will be to bring him into a six-man rotation in mid-April. This is assuming he continues to perform well in the minors, which he is doing and more. In his first AAA start, he dominated by allowing only one hit across five scoreless innings. It’s likely we’ll see McGreevy making starts this month and building on his impressive 2024 debut, where he held a 1.96 ERA over 23 innings.
#STLCards' No. 11 prospect Michael McGreevy finishes his spring with a statement:
5 IP
1 H
0 R
0 BB
4 K @Cardinals | @CardsPlayerDev pic.twitter.com/BNJCh4L4HJ— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) March 21, 2025
Got a few deep league waiver wire targets of your own? Don’t be greedy! Drop some names in the comments below.
