2023 Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Outlook: Brent Rooker Dominating!
The Oakland Coliseum is one of the least visited stadiums in baseball. The stadium is not in great shape at all, as the lights have gone out during games. Moreover, players are often not satisfied with the playing surface. Also, there have been reports of a sewage leak that has spilled over into the dugouts. Consequently, they have informed the league that they will be moving to Las Vegas, as they have purchased a piece of land to build a new stadium that will be the home of the Athletics.
With a number of years in futility due to the failure in renovating the stadium, as well as not being able to match the payroll of some of the better teams, the Oakland Athletics have been stuck in mediocrity for quite some time. They have not been able to retain top talent such as Matt Olson and Matt Chapman, which has resulted in a drop in attendance so severe, that they sit at the bottom of the league in attendance. While there has been little to cheer for the Athletics and their fans, there has been a lone bright spot, and his name is Brent Rooker.
The 28-year-old journeyman seems to be holding down the fort for the Athletics, as he is getting things done defensively and offensively. Rooker, who is with his fourth MLB team and has yet to play 100 games in the league, is proving that he is worthy of a lengthy MLB career. Rooker started his playing career with the Minnesota Twins after being selected in the second round. After being drafted in 2017, he spent a considerable amount of time in the minors before appearing in 58 games in 2021.
He then split the 2022 season between the San Diego Padres, and the Kansas City Royals respectively. However, he did not get much playing time at the pro level and spent the majority of his time in the minors. Being relegated to the minors didn’t bother Rooker. That appeared to be the case, as he took the demotion as an opportunity to develop his game offensively. He improved his contact swing as well as his ability to swing for power and established himself as a reliable power threat.
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In the offseason, he was claimed off waivers by the Oakland Athletics. While everything has been crumbling right before them early on in the season, the Athletics seems like they may have struck gold with this pickup. That appears to be the case since he is batting with an average of .333 through the first 17 games this season. The main highlight of this young campaign so far for Rooker has to be his two home runs in a win against the Anaheim Angels. He has six homers on the season thus far with a decent 15 RBI.
As a matter of fact, not only is Brent Rooker trying to hold down the fort for the Athletics, but he is doing the same for his fantasy owners. Rooker has now increased his ownership to 39% and that should steadily increase even more. Look for Rooker to improve his style of play to improve the Athletics' record, as he relies on his solid fundamentals. That appears to be the case, as he has shown fantastic discipline at the plate and has been swinging for power with great contact rates. If he maintains his main attributes, the Oakland Athelitcs may very well have a new face of the franchise, but if that’s the case they may lean towards trading him so they can load up on draft capital, which is a typical Oakland Athletics move.
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