The trade deadline isn’t the last time we’ll have big, must-add players emerge on the waiver wire for Fantasy Baseball. There will still be a few impact prospects called up in the next few weeks, and there are always at least a few out-of-nowhere breakouts who flip Fantasy standings on their head in the final months of the season.But Monday was the last big, official mile marker, and plenty of teams had their rotations and lineups shaken up as a result of the deadline. And a few other teams took the opportunity the deadline provided to make some changes to their rosters, calling up some really interesting young players to help them in the stretch run.
We’re less than eight weeks away from the end of the 2026 MLB season, so the final sprint is just about here. This weekend’s waiver-wire run will probably be the biggest one left, but for those of you in daily transactions leagues, let’s take a quick look at some of the fallout from Monday’s deals, highlighting six players who should see a spike in value, starting with a couple of prospects who got the call (and one more we expect to follow shortly after):
Tuesday’s waiver wire targets
George Lombard, SS, Yankees (26%) – The future of the shortstop position in New York is here. The Yankees sent Anthony Volpe down after Monday’s game and called Lombard up to make the stretch run. Lombard hasn’t necessarily put up massive numbers throughout his minor-league career, but he’s done enough to play his way into a top-50 worldwide ranking thanks to his blend of excellent plate discipline, good enough pop, and speed. In 78 games across Double-A and Triple-A as a 21-year-old, he has 12 homers and 14 steals while walking 16.8% of the time, and his production has mostly stayed constant after his promotion to Triple-A. Lombard might be a bit on the wrong side of the passive vs. patient divide, but he was also sporting a surprisingly high 92.7 mph average exit velocity at Triple-A, so even if pitchers try to challenge him in the majors, he has the pop to make them pay. Lombard probably isn’t a superstar in the making, but he has a well-rounded skill set with a lot of ways to contribute to both the Yankees and your Fantasy team, and he should be added in most leagues now that he’s up. And it should be for good.
Hector Rodriguez, OF, Reds (6%) – Rodriguez doesn’t come to the majors with nearly as much hype, and not just because he isn’t a Yankee. Rodriguez is clearly a tier or two down from Lombard as a prospect, but just because he hasn’t had as much written about him doesn’t mean he isn’t a name to know. The Reds called him up Monday after a short Triple-A career that saw him hit 34 homers in 157 games across two stints in the past two seasons. His stint in 2026 was a lot better than the first one, as he hit .274/.347/.533 while hitting 27 homers with just a 20.4% strikeout rate. The International League will inflate offensive numbers across the board these days, but Rodriguez has at least above-average raw power and he started hitting the ball in the air with more consistency this season. It’s not entirely clear whether Rodriguez will have an everyday role in Cincinnati, but with Noelvi Marte continuing to struggle and neither JJ Bleday nor Dane Myers likely around in the long run, Rodriguez could certainly play his way into a significant role.
Joshua Baez, OF, Cardinals (46%) – The Cardinals haven’t called Baez up yet, but after trading Lars Nootbaar at the deadline, it feels like just a matter of time. I think this one is less about the Cardinals wanting to see what the likes of Bryan Torres or Nelson Velasquez can do and more about Baez having a few boxes left to check off before the Cardinals are ready to get him up. I bet the biggest one at this point is the strikeout rate, which still sits around 30% at Triple-A. Despite that, he is hitting .251/.324/.577 and figures to get a look at some point down the stretch for a Cardinals team that is still technically in the playoff picture but which came down squarely on the side of “not trying to contend” with their deadline moves.
Abimelec Ortiz, 1B, Nationals (3%) – With Luis Garcia out of the picture, the Nationals have a couple of ways they can go with the first base position. Ortiz is definitely the more interesting one. That’s not to say Andres Chaparro doesn’t have any appeal, but Ortiz is the younger player and was in the lineup ahead of Chaparro Monday, batting second, even! It doesn’t hurt the case that Ortiz homered in his first plate appearance after being promoted, either. Ortiz has played 126 games at Triple-A over the past two seasons and has hit .256/.360/.518 with 27 homers and a totally manageable 20.2% strikeout rate. None of that means Ortiz will be a productive major-leaguer, but he has an interesting enough blend of raw power and contact skills to be worth a look, especially with a pretty wide open runway for playing time.
Luke Weaver, RP, Pirates (38%) – The first of two potential closer adds to come out of the trade deadline, Weaver is the less speculative of the two, but his role isn’t guaranteed. Yet. Mason Montgomery is a very good reliever who hasn’t necessarily done anything to cost himself his hold on the Pirates’ ninth-inning role – and he even got a save Monday, striking out three while working around a hit for his third save of the season. But Montgomery hasn’t been lights out this season and the Pirates took a while to embrace him as an option to close even as both Dennis Santana and Gregory Soto routinely failed. That hesitance and the fact that the Pirates went out and got Weaver suggests they don’t fully trust Montgomery, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the next save after Weaver reports to the team went his way. Weaver has a 1.84 ERA and 2.84 xERA and is probably just the best reliever in Pittsburgh’s bullpen, and it’s usually worthwhile to bet on the best reliever in the bullpen ending up the closer.
Jeff Hoffman, RP, Twins (35%) – Hoffman is definitely the bigger question mark, both because of his struggles over the past two seasons and because the Twins have an in-house closer who has held his own in the job so far. Of course, Yoendrys Gomez’s 3.42 ERA comes with a bunch of peripherals that suggest he’s bound for an implosion – 5.36 xERA, 4.50 FIP, with less than two strikeouts for every walk so far – so I think Hoffman figures to get a shot at some point even if the Twins aren’t just going to hand him the job. He has authored some pretty memorable letdowns since joining the Blue Jays as their presumed closer and ultimately lost the job for good early this season, so he’s no sure thing, either. But he has a 3.34 xERA and 2.49 FIP underlying his 3.94 ERA, and he has a 1.21 ERA since the start of June, so I’m pretty confident that he’s just the best pitcher in the Twins bullpen now. It may not take them long to figure that out.
