Fantasy Baseball Diamond Market - AL

Fantasy baseball waivers and the acquisition of fantasy baseball free agents can make or break your season. Your fantasy baseball cheat sheets won't help you after spring training. If your team remains the same after opening day, you will have trouble competing in your rotisserie baseball league.

Do you need to replace your fantasy baseball busts? Which fantasy baseball players can you ignore? KFFL.com's Fantasy Baseball Diamond Market give you fantasy baseball tips and insight to sort through the masses quickly.

Key

Outfielders

Seth Smith, Colorado Rockies

Don't ignore Smith

With Dexter Fowler's demotion, Smith is pretty much locked into the two-hole against righties, whom he mashes, with Ryan Spilborghs the continued platoon mate against southpaws.

Smith has an above-average batting eye, has increased his contact rate and hits enough flyballs to be useful at Coors Field. Smith's .245 BABIP has room to grow, too, especially with his line-drive rate jumping back to 21.1 percent.

The 27-year-old is being ignored in many setups - nothing wrong with a No. 5 mixed outfielder that plays in Colorado, right?

Shallow mixed: Watch

Deep mixed: Acquire

NL-only: Acquire

Pitchers

Chris Volstad, SP, Florida Marlins

Since being blown up April 25, the tall righty has posted a 3.20 ERA with 35 K's in 45 frames. The righty carries a groundball-friendly profile (51.7 percent this year), which adds a sense of security since he isn't dominant.

The 23-year-old, who pitches in a pitcher-friendly park, still walks a bit too many to be called a control pitcher, but his strand rate of 67.9 percent could improve a little and bring some other numbers around. Volstad's newfound slider makes him a four-pitch hurler.

Mixing up your arsenal helps when your K's aren't mind-blowing. We might be seeing hints of his stellar '08 stint. Take a chance if your deep roster could use another arm. 

Shallow mixed: Watch

Deep mixed: Watch

NL-only: Acquire

Jonathon Niese, SP, New York Mets

The lefty will return to start Saturday at home against the Florida Marlins. The Fish are middling against lefties but are terrible on the road. He can be thrown in immediately in NLs, and maybe for desperate owners in deep, deep mixed.

Niese has some fantasy potential after that, too. He has OK dominance (7.19 whiffs per nine this year) and forces plenty of grounders; Niese's increased cutter use could help the former to grow a bit. Keep abreast of his progress; this Mets rotation is desperate for him to stick.

Shallow mixed: Pass

Deep mixed: Watch

NL-only: Acquire

Fantasy Baseball Diamond Market - AL