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With just three weeks left in the MLB season, there isn't much margin for error left for Fantasy Baseball players. Whether you're playing for a championship this week or next week – or trying to chase down a title in your Roto league – you've got to make sure every move counts. For most of the season, we're focusing on long-term upside with a lot of our waiver-wire moves, but these days, it's all about getting the most immediate impact possible. 

With that in mind, you'll notice some overlap between our waiver-wire targets for this week and Scott White's Sleeper Hitter and Sleeper Pitcher columns because the goal is basically the same at this point: Helping you put together the best lineup possible for this week. Here's who we're looking for this week:

Week 25 Waiver Targets

Catcher

Kyle Teel, White Sox (40%) – Breaking into the top-12 at catcher has been shockingly tough this season, but Teel might deserve that honor at this point. He went deep twice in the past week and is hitting .315/.395/.500 since the All-Star break now. Power probably won't be a huge part of Teel's game, but he has a great approach at the plate and makes a solid amount of contact with about average pop, which should at least give him a profile without many weaknesses – he'll even steal the occasional base. It's a profile that should work in both points and Roto leagues and he might be worth starting in both at this point. 

First Base

Kyle Manzardo, Guardians (47%) – For most of the season, Manzardo has been out of the lineup against left-handed pitchers, but since Carlos Santana was released, Manzardo has been in the lineup more consistently, starting the last three against lefties. He has mostly held his own against lefties, and the Guardians have a lot to gain by finding out if Manzardo can truly be an everyday, middle-of-the-order hitter. The upside for us is that Manzardo should be in the lineup pretty much everyday the rest of the season, and that (and his poor batting average) are the biggest things holding him back as a Fantasy option. One of those issues is seemingly out of the way, and Manzardo is hitting .267 since the All-Star break, so the other one might be, too. That could make him a viable starter moving forward – and a nice late-round sleeper for 2026 if he holds his own against lefties. 

Second base

Jeff McNeil, Mets (39%) – McNeil put together a big second half last season, but nobody really believed in the 33-year-old's apparent resurgence. It turns out we maybe should have taken it more seriously, as he is sporting an .801 OPS on the season. McNeil has, at times, been something less than an everyday player, but even that hasn't been an issue in the second half, as he has started 39 of 44 games since the All-Star break. He remains an excellent source of batting average (.284 in the second half), at the very least, and is a useful option at either second base or the outfield. 

Third base

Jordan Lawlar, Diamondbacks (34%) – We're still waiting for the breakout from Lawlard, and I still believe it's coming. He is a career .328/.414/.576 hitter at Triple-A, and even if you (fairly) think that is inflated by playing in the Pacific Coast League, his .298/.395/.515 line overall in the minors is plenty exciting, especially when paired with a 150-game pace of 25 homers and 52 steals (on an 86.4% success rate). This is a supremely talented player who has barely gotten a chance at the MLB level, and I'm not giving up on that. 

Shortstop

Aidan Miller, Phillies (13%) – This is, admittedly, a total dart throw. Scott White pointed out in his last Prospects Report column that Miller is starting to live up to his potential, hitting .356/.480/.644 since the start of August, and though he's only played at Double-A, I do wonder if the Phillies might call on him if Trea Turner's hamstring strain costs him significant time down the stretch. This is a team built to win right now that might go into the postseason without Turner or Zack Wheeler, so an aggressive promotion of a talented top prospect might be the kind of desperation move they could consider. Miller has more walks than strikeouts over the past four weeks, so maybe the Phillies will opt to call him up while he's hot to see if he can provide a spark. 

Middle infield

Sal Stewart, Reds (26%) – We haven't gotten much production from Stewart yet, though his did hit his first MLB homer Saturday, a 108-mph shot that showcased his solid raw power. And there's been plenty to be pleased with even with Steward not doing much so far, as he has a manageable 25% strikeout rate and a very impressive 94.5 mph average exit velocity. The Reds haven't fully committed to him as an everyday player, but if those hard-hit balls start turning into hits consistently, it won't take much to force their hands. It's worth betting on a player this young and talented.   

Corner infield

Ke'Bryan Hayes, Reds (16%) – Maybe the Reds have unlocked something in Hayes. He was, at one point, a decent hitter and pretty useful Fantasy option, but he completely collapsed in his final couple of seasons with the Pirates. Since getting to the Reds, however, he's hitting .280/.355/.439, a more than 200-point OPS increase from his time with the Pirates, and the underlying numbers are starting to back it up, too, with a strong .340 xwOBA over his past 100 plate appearances. We aren't getting a ton else from him besides batting average, so this is strictly a deep-league play, but one worth considering.

Outfield

Daulton Varsho, Blue Jays (49%) – Varsho is just under-rostered at this point. I was skeptical of his apparent breakout, too, but he just hasn't shown any signs of slowing down despite missing time with multiple injuries. He's already sporting a career-best .362 expected wOBA for the season, but over the past 100 plate appearances, it's up to a .418 mark that would be just behind Kyle Schwarber for the fifth-best mark in baseball for the season. I don't think Varsho is actually that good, but I do believe he has taken a real step forward this season while maintaining his excellent pulled-air skills, allowing him to maximize production. To a certain extent, he's an all-or-nothing power hitter, but when you've been playing at a 50-homer pace for months, you can live with that. Varsho deserves to be much more widely rostered than he currently is. 

Harrison Bader, Phillies (20%) – I didn't take much note of the Phillies' trade for Bader at the deadline, but he's become surprisingly key for them in the stretch run. He's playing pretty close to everyday and hitting .302/.376/.490 since joining the team, and while the underlying data doesn't necessarily back it up, he does have a .344 xwOBA since joining them, which is plenty solid. Especially given his pull-heavy swing and the Phillies helpful home park. I don't think Bader is a long-term difference maker or anything, but he's a nice option for this week with seven games against some beatable pitching staffs on the way. 

Matt Wallner, Twins (31%) – Wallner is what he is, and that's an extremely one-dimensional slugger. When he isn't homering, he has very little value for Fantasy, but the good news is, he has nine homers since the start of August, so he should be pretty useful right now. Especially for Week 25, with six projected right-handed starters on the way. Just hope this is one of those weeks where he pops three or four homers.

Starting pitcher

Luis Morales, Athletics (70%) – I'm not totally bought in on Morales as a long-term answer for Fantasy, especially given his tough home park. But there's no denying he's getting the job done right now with a 1.59 ERA in his first five career starts and 26 strikeouts in his past 23.2 innings of work. There's some risk in starting a flyball pitcher in two starts at Sacramento, but I think it's worth rolling the dice at this point. 

Cade Cavalli, Nationals (29%) – Cavalli is even riskier than Morales, seeing as he hasn't even enjoyed the success Morales has. But he's also a two-start option for Week 25 and he has even better matchups, getting the Marlins and Pirates in a neutral park. There's some risk that things could go really wrong here, but there's also a chance he strikes out 15 and collects a couple of quality starts against this weak competition. 

Parker Messick, Guardians: (56%) – Ironically, one of the pitchers who got the least hype upon his promotion to the majors has actually been one of the most reliable early in his career. Messick limited the Rays to one run over six innings Sunday and has gone at least six innings with one or zero runs allowed in three of his first four MLB starts. He doesn't light up the radar gun the way some of the other young pitchers do, but he's a funky lefty with good command and an excellent changeup, so he's following the Matthew Boyd blueprint to success so far. And now he gets a great matchup in Week 25 against the White Sox. I'm trusting him. 

Emmet Sheehan, Dodgers (54%) – I'd be a lot more excited about using Sheehan this week if the Dodgers would just settle on a consistent rotation. Assuming he goes on turn as expected, Sheehan is in line to face the Rockies away from Coors Field, and that should be a very useful situation to take advantage of – he struck out seven over six innings against the Rockies in Colorado a few weeks back and followed that up with 10 strikeouts in seven innings against the Reds. He's not a reliable option for several reasons, but Sheehan should be useful if he makes that start. 

Justin Verlander, Giants (41%) – Verlander is actually putting together a pretty impressive second half here. There have been a couple bumps in the road (starts of five and six earned runs allowed, notably), but despite that he has a 3.18 ERA since the All-Star break with 53 strikeouts in 51 innings of work. That comes along with a 1.33 WHIP and just over five innings per start, so it's not like he's turned the clock back to his ace days, or anything. But he's been surprisingly useful. The matchup against the Dodgers this week isn't ideal, but he'll get the Diamondbacks, Cardinals, and Rockies in his final three starts for those of you looking beyond just this week. 

Relief pitcher

Brad Keller, Cubs (9%) – Daniel Palencia left Sunday's game after giving up five runs without recording an out, and after the game manager Craig Counsell said Palencia is dealing with a capsule strain in his right shoulder. There is no other word on the severity of the injury or how long he might miss, but it's not unreasonable to think the Cubs might need to turn to another option for the ninth inning in light of this news, and Keller seems like the best bet. The one-time starter has been excellent out of the Cubs bullpen this season, sporting a 2.17 ERA and 2.93 FIP, with his velocity way up and his sweeper generating massive amounts of swing and miss. He could actually end up being a pretty impactful closer down the stretch.