Waiver Saviors: April 6th, 2011

Waiver Saviors will be a semi-regular feature on COSFBA looking for players available in a majority of leagues (ESPN and/or Yahoo!) who are currently having a statistical impact and could/should be worth owning, if you have the need. Waiver pickups are all about filling a need with a player(s) currently hot and beating your fellow owners to the punch without destroying your current roster in the process.

Here are some players who've gotten off to a fast start and may be worth owning if your roster has already been bitten by the injury bug or some late round fliers/sleepers aren't panning out:

• 3B/OF Alex Gordon, KC (10.3% ESPN; 39% Yahoo! owned) is hitting .375 (9/24) with 1 HR (5 XBH), 3 RBI and 6 Runs. He's currently only OF eligible in ESPN leagues.
• OF Josh Willingham, OAK (6.8% E; 16% Y!) is hitting .333 (5/15) with 2 HR, 5 RBI and 5 Runs. He's currently Oakland's top-rated hitter.
• 3B/OF Willie Bloomquist, ARI (5.3% E; 12% Y!) is hitting .333 (6/18) with 1 HR, 2 RBI, 3 Runs and 4 SB. He's been filling in at SS for the injured Stephen Drew and could gain eligibility at that position, depending on your league's rules. Could he be this year's Omar Infante?
• OF Logan Morrison, FLA (26.8% E; 33% Y!) is hitting .286 (4/14) with 2 HR, 4 RBI, 3 Runs and 5 BB (.474 OBP). He also is one of the most active and accessible MLB'ers on Twitter.
• C Russell Martin, NYY (33.8% E; 51% Y!) is hitting .353 (6/17) with 1 HR, 3 RBI, 3 Runs, 2 SB and has started at catcher in all five of the Yankees's games, so far. He looks healthy and rejuvenated.
• SS Orlando Cabrera, CLE (8.4% E; 9% Y!) is hitting .375 (6/16) with 1 HR, 5 RBI and 4 Runs. He's the Indians' starting second baseman and should gain eligibility at that position soon.
• 2B/3B/SS Maicer Izturis, LAA (7.1% E; 14% Y!) is hitting .318 (7/22) with 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 Run and 2 SB. His position eligibility could be his biggest asset right now for a team that has multiple holes.
• RP Jordan Walden, LAA (33.3% E; 56% Y!) was recently named the Angels' closer and should be owned in all formats that use Saves. In 3.1 innings, he's posting 16.2 K/9 and 6.00 K/BB ratios with 1 Save and 2 Holds.
• RP Joel Hanrahan, PIT (72% E; 82% Y!) is Pittsburgh's closer and should be owned in 100% of leagues. He's already racked up 3 Saves with a 13.50 K/9.

It's very early to look at what starting pitchers can help your team but you should be keeping an eye on the box scores to see what low-ownership pitchers are performing well. And remember, IT IS VERY EARLY in the season. Don't blow up your roster chasing after "hot" players. You should be dropping guys who were late-round fliers or "sleepers", not proven veterans simply off to a slow start. It blows my mind that John Lackey and Ryan Raburn are currently two of the most-dropped players.