Early 2026 Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Moves Experts Love (Oneil Cruz, Adley Rutschman, Carlos Estevez)

The first week of the fantasy baseball season is already doing what it does best — creating chaos.

Small samples, surprise standouts, and early struggles can send managers scrambling to the waiver wire, trying to get ahead before the rest of the league catches up. It’s a delicate balance between reacting too quickly and missing out on a potential breakout.

To help sort through the noise, we turned to our Featured Pros for their top early waiver wire adds and drops. Whether you’re chasing upside or cutting bait on a slow start, these expert insights can help you make the right moves in Week 1.

Early Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Moves from Experts

Which player currently rostered in more than 50% of leagues do you believe could (theoretically) be dropped right now? Why?

Oneil Cruz (SS – PIT)

“I think I’m out on Oneil Cruz in anything other than a deep roto league. (And no, I don’t think this is a spite drop for his dismantling of Paul Skenes‘ ERA to start the season… but it could be.) If you play in a 12-team, H2H league, there are simply other outfielders who can give you most of what Cruz offers and who are in better situations and hit above .102 against left-handed pitchers. Yes, the stolen bases exist, but to collect those, you have to, y’know, play him. And that means eating his 32% strikeout rate at the top of an awful lineup. Obviously, you can try to trade him on name value; I’m convinced that’s why he is rostered in so many places. But I’d rather have a consistent contributor than the upside of a guy with a negative offensive WAR last season.”
– Kelly Kirby (FantasyPros)

“We know Oneil Cruz can put up some big counting stats as far as home runs and stolen bases go, but Cruz is back to old bad tricks. Early on in the year, he has some of the worst WHIFF, K, and chase rates. He isn’t making contact, he can’t play defense, and even the Pirates will have to figure out how much it’s worth taking on the negatives for a few positives. It’s too early to call it done, but if we are playing the theoretical game of who we could cut that was drafted high(ish), Oneil Cruz is the most obvious name.”
– Chris Welsh (FantasyPros)

Adley Rutschman (C – BAL)

“I’m gonna go extreme on this one and push the threshold up to 80%. It’s tough to drop someone this early who’s so widely rostered, but if I had to choose, I’d probably go with Adley Rutschman. I wasn’t particularly high on him coming into the season, and in standard 12-team leagues that only start one catcher, I’d be comfortable moving on. There are likely a dozen catchers I prefer at the position right now. That said, Rutschman isn’t a bad bench piece and is an Ok starter—but he’s by no means a must-hold at this point. There are several options I like just as much, or even more, based on current projections, including Dillon Dingler, Francisco Alvarez, and possibly even Alejandro Kirk. You could also consider upside plays like Carter Jensen and Samuel Basallo. Rutschman will likely still finish somewhere in the 10-15 range among catchers, but with so many comparable options in that tier, he can be safely dropped if you feel strongly about one of those alternatives.”
– Austin Lowell (Fantasy Baseball By The Numbers)

Carlos Estevez (RP – KC)

“It might seem a little premature to drop Carlos Estevez after one (staggeringly) bad outing, but his velocity is simply nowhere near the level he’s maintained throughout his career. He was maxing out at 91-92 in the World Baseball Classic, which is 4-5 ticks off last year’s average. Estevez was basically a five-alarm concern during the spring, and he was lit up immediately in his 2026 debut. We should probably expect an IL stint coming soon and/or a reassignment of relief role.”
– Andy Behrens (The Deep Shot)