MLB FAAB Report: Top Waiver Wire Pickups and Bids for Week 2

Each week during the season, the waiver wire presents new opportunities to improve your roster—and how you manage your FAAB budget can be just as important as who you add. In this weekly FAAB Report, we’ll break down the top waiver wire targets along with recommended bid ranges to help you stay aggressive where it matters while still managing your budget for the long haul.

Your first step… Well, okay, your second step, right after reading this article, is to head over and devour our updated Top 500 Dynasty Baseball Rankings for 2026.

Week 2 MLB FAAB Report

In this article, we’ll focus on players rostered in fewer than 50% of Fantrax leagues and provide a suggested FAAB bid range for each. These recommendations are based on a combination of role, recent performance, underlying skills, and opportunity, helping you prioritize where to spend while managing your budget effectively. The players below will be sorted into three groups – Must Adds, Strong Adds, and Speculative Adds, which, in turn, will have different levels of FAAB allotment. Let’s get started.

Must Adds

Liam Hicks (C, 1B – Miami Marlins) – 37% Rostered

The Marlins have been one of the early surprises of the 2026 season, jumping out to a 5-1 start and sitting atop the AL East. Liam Hicks has been a key contributor, recording at least one hit in four games while leading the league with 12 RBI. Just as impressive has been his plate discipline, striking out only once in 17 at-bats while posting an elite .526 on-base percentage.

The advanced metrics back up the hot start as he is ranked 97th percentile in xBA, and 93rd in all three of xwOBA, xSLG, and hard hit rate. Yes, it’s a small sample size, but he is hitting in the middle of the order on a red-hot team and has multi-position eligibility. He provides value in multiple categories and is not only a strong play in points leagues but also in roto.

FAAB Suggestion: He was 20% rostered earlier in the week, and that has already doubled, so I would shoot for a 20-25% bid. 

Joey Wiemer (OF – Washington Nationals) – 51% Rostered

When I started this write-up, Wiemer was still in the low 40% range when looking at roster percentage across Fantrax leagues. Another player off to a hot start, sitting 4th in points among outfielders and 9th overall among all bats in points leagues.

He has recorded multiple hits in four of five games, has a triple, two home runs, and five walks. The only knock is that he hits lower in the lineup and lacks RBI opportunities (4 RBI). If he stays hot, however, you can expect those numbers to rise fast. If you are in need of an outfielder, Wiemer is the best choice on waivers this week.

FAAB Suggestion: If you are in need of an outfielder I could see going up to 20% on Wiemer.

Strong Adds

Jake Bauers (1B/OF, Milwaukee Brewers) – 39% Rostered

Early-season injuries to Andrew Vaughn and Jackson Chourio have opened the door for Bauers to step into an everyday role, and he has taken full advantage of the opportunity. He has picked up a hit in four of six games, including two home runs, and has flashed some sneaky speed with two stolen bases. His bat speed (92nd percentile) and average exit velocity (88th) sit in elite territory, while the barrel rate (77th) and hard contact (70th) rate are not far behind. He does come with a higher strikeout rate, but that is something we can live with as long as he keeps slugging and driving in runs. That shouldn’t be a problem hitting behind Turang, Contreras, and Yelich.

FAAB Suggestion: With Vaughn not expected back until mid-May, I am comfortable spending around 12-15% of my FAAB budget on Bauers. I also prefer him more in points leagues.

Bryce Elder(SP – Atlanta Braves) – 36% Rostered

With a ton of injuries to Braves starters (Strider, Schwellenbach, Smith-Shawver) to start the season, Bryce Elder opened the season in the rotation. His first start went very well as he only needed 83 pitches to tally a complete game against the A’s, where he allowed just five hits and no runs while striking out five for 24 fantasy points.

He has never profiled as a swing-and-miss pitcher but has been very good at limiting hard contact and can provide much-needed innings for the Braves. Strider is the only pitcher of those three mentioned above that is close to returning, so Elder could be in line for a steady role in the middle of the rotation.

FAAB Suggestion: For strictly pitching depth on your roster, I would spend 8-10% but if in need of a starter I would go as high as 15%

Speculative Adds

Nick Gonzalez (2B, Pittsburgh Pirates) – 26% Rostered

Gonzalez went undrafted for the most part and has quickly seen his stock rise at a position that lacks a lot of depth. He has not only started all six games for the Pirates, but he has also had hits in five of them, including four multi-hit efforts.

While he doesn’t walk much or provide much power, there are a lot of boxes he does check. He is hitting for average (small sample), and that had moved him up to 2nd in the lineup on Wednesday. If he were to get more starts near the top, it would only provide more opportunities to score runs. Even better is the fact that he could become multi-position eligible very soon, with four starts at third base, one at shortstop, and one at second.

FAAB Suggestion: With some of the risk he presents I would only spend around 2-5% of my FAAB 

Jake Irvin (SP – Washington Nationals) – 26% Rostered

It was a positive start to the season for Irvin, who held the Cubs to three hits and two earned runs, both of which came off solo shots. He also flashed some swing and miss upside with seven strikeouts, which was also backed up by a 12.9% swinging strike rate. He has never profiled as a strikeout pitcher in the past so I am not expecting it going forward, but it was nice to see early on.

He does have a nice mix of pitches, throwing six at least 9% of the time in his first start, led by a four-seamer, sinker, and curve, each of which he threw over 20% of the time.

He has a very tough test coming up with his next two scheduled starts against the Dodgers and Brewers, and that is what makes this pickup speculative. If he can make it through those two starts without blowing up the roster % will definitely rise fast so getting him cheap now could pay off in deeper leagues.

FAAB Suggestion: With tough starts on the horizon, I feel we can get him with a 2-5% FAAB bid