Waiver Saviors: Post-Trade Deadline Pickups

Now that the July 31st Trade Deadline has come and gone, it's time to look through the waiver wires to see if there are players available who may have directly or indirectly benefited from a trade.

• 1B Derrek Lee, PIT (43% ESPN; 30% Yahoo!; 48% CBS) will officially become the Pirates every day first baseman now that Lyle Overbay was designated for assignment (DFA). Over his last 15 games, Lee is hitting .333 (15-for-45) with three home runs, seven RBI and a 1.032 OPS. Being out of the basement in Baltimore to a pennant race in Pittsburgh could be exactly what this veteran needs to wake up his bat for a productive two month stretch.
• OF Jason Bourgeois, HOU (30% ESPN; 17% Yahoo! 36% CBS) should benefit from Michael Bourn and Hunter Pence being shipped out of Houston. Since returning from the DL in late July, he's gone 9-for-25 (.360) with his first home run of the season and five stolen bases in his last four starts. If you need speed, Bourgeois is a must-have at this point.
• 2B Jose Altuve, HOU (1% ESPN; 2% Yahoo!; 12% CBS) began his big league career with a seven game hitting streak and is now 14-for-39 (.359) over 11 games. He hasn't shown any pop or speed, so his value is currently limiting to batting average. Deep keeper, dynasty and NL-leagues need to pay attention to his progress, going forward.
• 1B/3B Chris Davis, BAL (0.4% ESPN; 2% Yahoo!; 17% CBS) finally got his wish to be traded away from the Rangers system. He'll be given an opportunity in Baltimore to show if he can make it happen at the major league level. It's hard to ignore the power potential he's shown at the AAA level. So I guess it's "put up or shut up" time.
• 1B/OF Lucas Duda, NYM (3% ESPN; 3% Yahoo!; 15% CBS) seems to be the primary benefactor of the Carlos Beltran trade. NL-Only league owners are probably the most interested in his services.
• OF Ryan Ludwick, PIT (44% ESPN; 29% Yahoo!; 57% CBS) will probably be in the mix for the majority of playing time in left field for the Pirates, which could spell trouble for Jose Tabata, Alex Presley and Garrett Jones.
• SS Rafael Furcal, STL (23% ESPN; 33% Yahoo!; 40% CBS) was brought in to be the Cardinals' starting shortstop and maybe a change of scenery will help get his average up over the .200 mark sooner than later.
• OF Jon Jay, STL (20% ESPN; 12% Yahoo!; 38% CBS) takes over in center field for the recently exiled Colby Rasmus. He's a .300 hitter with the ability to reach double digits and should benefit all around from hitting in front of Albert Pujols, Matt Holliday and Lance Berkman.
• SS Dee Gordon, LAD (2% ESPN; 3% Yahoo! 23% CBS) inherits the starting shortstop job due to Furcal's departure but really only brings his speed to the fantasy baseball game. He's 9-of-12 in stolen base attempts in 23 career games for a pace of 63 steals and 21 caught stealings over 162 game average.
• 1B Paul Goldschmidt, ARI (1% ESPN; n/a Yahoo!; n/a CBS) was called up from AA to be the D'Backs everyday first baseman after Juan Miranda failed to contribute and Brandon Allen was traded to Oakland. You'll have to wait for Yahoo! and CBS to add him to their player databases but feel free to pounce in your ESPN leagues if you believe he's the real deal. His 30 home runs (54 XBH) in 103 games this season are something to get excited about.

Keep an eye on teams that were sellers like Houston, Baltimore, San Diego and Seattle to give some young players a long look over the next couple of months. You may find some short and long term solutions, depending on your leagues' settings.