The best players in the world play on NFBC. The most popular high-stakes contest is the NFBC Main Event, which has a $1,750 buy-in with a $7,000 league prize and a $200,000 overall prize. Thankfully, for everyone, NFBC allows us to see what each team is doing with their FAAB pickups on Sunday night.
Each week, I look at the most popular fantasy baseball waiver wire and FAAB pickups in the NFBC Main Event to see who the best players in the world are picking up and whether we should add them.
The best players in the world play on NFBC. The most popular high-stakes contest is the NFBC Main Event, which has a $1,750 buy-in with a $7,000 league prize and a $200,000 overall prize. Thankfully, for everyone, NFBC allows us to see what each team is doing with their FAAB pickups on Sunday night.
Each week, I look at the most popular fantasy baseball waiver wire and FAAB pickups in the NFBC Main Event to see who the best players in the world are picking up and whether we should add them.
Fantasy Baseball FAAB Waiver Wire Pickups
Clayton Kershaw was picked up in all 57 Main Event leagues with a max bid of $225 and a minimum bid of $21. Kershaw made his season debut on Saturday. While he didn’t pitch particularly well, he has a ton of name value and pitched much better in his Minor League rehab assignments.
He is on the best team in baseball, so there is a ton of upside if he returns to the form we are used to seeing with Kershaw. However, he has not thrown many innings since 2023, and he is no longer the stud he once was.
Will Benson was picked up in 56 Main Event leagues with a max bid of $130 and a minimum bid of $9. Benson is up in the Majors due to the multiple injuries in Cincinnati and making the most of his time, hitting five home runs and stealing a base with a .367/.424/.933 triple slash in his first nine games.
Benson has a ton of physical gifts, but struggles with making contact. He can run hot sometimes, like he is now, but he almost always comes crashing back down to Earth due to his lack of a hit tool. You can ride the hot streak, but be ready to jump off the bandwagon when Benson inevitably slows down.
Slade Cecconi was picked up in 53 Main Event leagues with a max bid of $89 and a minimum bid of $5. Cecconi made his season debut for the Guardians, replacing injured starter Ben Lively in the Cleveland rotation. His stuff was really impressive, throwing five innings and earning eight strikeouts in the loss to the Reds.
Cecconi has always struggled with command, but his stuff is really good if he can figure out how to command it. He has a great opportunity with Cleveland to stick in the rotation. It is a good organization in terms of pitching development.
Matthew Lugo was picked up in 48 Main Event leagues with a max bid of $41 and a minimum bid of $1. Lugo has been playing regularly for the Angels since his call-up, hitting .360/.385/.880 with three home runs.
Lugo has some pop and speed, but has struggled to make consistent contact in his time in the Minors. He is getting extremely lucky with a .429 batting average on balls in play (BABIP), and likely is just a bad player on a hot streak.
Noah Cameron was picked up in 43 Main Event leagues with a max bid of $90 and a minimum bid of $1. Cameron has rejoined the Royals’ rotation with both Cole Ragans and Seth Lugo hitting the injured list (IL).
Cameron has been great in his two starts in the Majors and very good in the Minors, but struggled to get the same strikeouts in his two MLB starts as he has throughout his Minor League time.
The stuff, command and control are pretty good, so I expect the strikeouts to come, but he will have to pitch well to stay in the rotation because both Ragans and Lugo are expected to come back fairly quickly.
Dalton Rushing was picked up in 42 Main Event leagues with a max bid of $201 and a minimum bid of $8. Rushing is a top Dodgers catching prospect widely considered a top-10 prospect in baseball.
The problem is that Rushing is stuck behind Will Smith in the pecking order. If he were able to play a different position, he might have a ton of value, but with Smith at catcher, Freddie Freeman at first and Shohei Ohtani as the team’s designated hitter, there is just nowhere for Rushing to rack up plate appearances.
Alexander Canario was picked up in 39 Main Event leagues with a max bid of $46 and a minimum bid of $1. Canario is a former prospect of note who has power and speed, but has always struggled to make contact, which is why the Cubs finally moved on from him.
Canario is in Pittsburgh now, and there is room for him in the Pirates outfield, but he is mostly a cheap power bat that could drain your batting average.
Ryan Weathers was picked up in 36 Main Event leagues with a max bid of $303 and a minimum bid of $128. Weathers returned from the IL with elbow issues to throw a gem versus the Cubs.
Talent is not the question for Weathers, but he has struggled with health and command. If he can stay on the mound, then he could have a ton of upside, but he has never thrown more than 94.2 innings in any Major League season.
Subscribe: YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | iHeart | Castbox | Amazon Music | Podcast Addict | SoundCloud | TuneIn
