Players To Avoid Drafting In 2025 (Fantasy Baseball)
Everyone hypes up the guys they plan to draft (guilty), but let’s break down the guys I’m refusing to draft in 2025
You guessed it, it’s about time we flip the script and really dive into the guys I’m refusing to draft. The key to a successful draft is to not only understand the players you like, but also those you don’t. Whether it be because their ADP is too high, they’re too much of an injury risk, or you think they’re just flat out bad, they’re all valid reasons for avoiding certain players.
Now everyone’s list isn’t going to be the same. I can almost guarantee the first name on my list is going to be one a lot of you do NOT agree with and that’s ok. It’s about doing research, having a clear draft strategy, and understanding who doesn’t fit that mould. One thing I’m going to implore you to do, though, is to not fall into the “He burned my last year so I’ll never draft him again” cycle. I understand how important recency bias can be, but if you bring that mindset into your draft you’re likely going to make a few bad draft decisions that can come back to bite you.
Royce Lewis is the only example of a “I’ll never draft him again” player I’ll allow, but at the same time if you were drafting him at his fourth round ADP last year that’s your own damn fault. That mindset may lead you to pass on guys like Julio Rodriguez, Nolan Arenado, and Pablo Lopez this season. All of which I absolutely love, but you may have absolutely hated last season after drafting them.
With that I mind, here are the guys I’m avoiding this draft season. Do with this info as you please.
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Elly De La Cruz - SS - CIN
ESPN’s weird ADP of 34 is throwing me off a little, but Elly is a consensus top five pick everywhere else and won’t be on any of my rosters. Don’t get me wrong, there may not
be a more “fun” player in baseball than Elly. His power and speed combo is impressive. The issue comes from the fact that you have to spend an early early early pick on not only the deepest position in fantasy, but also on a guy who’s bat to ball skills still are average at best. He’s a switch hitter who can’t hit lefties, has minimal power against lefties, and will leave you needing to make up for his batting average with your next few picks. I know the ceiling is high, the floor is just too low for me to be comfortable taking him in the first round.
Yordan Alvarez - OF/DH - HOU
First and foremost, despite being a Mariners fan, I love Yordan. It’s rare to see such a big, lumbering power hitter also be one of the best pure hitters in the game. My issue with drafting Yordan comes solely from the fact his knee seems like a ticking time bomb. He’s on record this offseason saying that his knee injury last season was actually much more severe than people realize but he still elected to forego surgery and it feels ok now. I try and preach security with your first few picks. Drafting someone with built in injury risk, season ending injuries at that, is just a flat out no for me. Let someone else carry that burden on their roster.
William Contreras & Adley Rutschman - Catchers - MLW / BAL
This is a twofer for one specific reason, do not use a top 65 pick on a catcher EVER. Don’t do it. Oh you love them and they play for your favorite team? Don’t care. Don’t do it. Even in two catcher leagues, the catcher position is deep enough as a whole that you don’t need to waste early picks on the position. Use those picks to fill in needs at much more crucial positions like starting pitcher, outfield, or second base. Getting Catchers this early will only backfire when you can get guys like Willson Contreras, Will Smith, and JT Realmuto after pick 100. Just don’t do it, please.
Jacob Degrom - SP - TEX
Listen, I know we all WANT Degrom to return to his former self. I know we all saw what Chris Sale was able to do last season and have caught ourselves thinking “If he could do it, what’s stopping someone else like Degrom?”. The answer is two Tommy John surgeries and 15 or fewer starts in every season since 2019. Six years ago. If you wanted to take a flyer on Degrom as your SP3 or SP4 I could see MAYBE considering it. The issue is he’s been so hyped up this offseason he’s currently being drafted as the 14th pitcher off the board. Gross. This is a pick you let someone else make and avoid the stress of losing your SP1 at some point during the season.
Spencer Steer - 1B/OF - CIN
Steer being in this list is due to a combination of me not seeing a path to regular playing time and him showing last season that he has legitimate flaws at the plate. In his final 76 games, starting July 1st, Steer slashed just .207/.303/.393 with a barrel rate of just 5.3%. While I do have a soft spot for guys who play at either Coors Field or Great American Ballpark…Steer can’t even hit well there. He hit just .216 at GABP last season and has a better career OPS on the road (.767) than at home (.753). The Reds have added Gavin Lux and are set to have Matt McLain return. It’s already been stated both will spend time in the outfield this season. I know Steer also can get reps at the corner infield spots but those are loaded with talent as well.
For a guy going just inside the top 100 picks, I need to see a much clearer path to playing time, especially when projection systems like ATC have him only going 18/16, OOPSY has him 16/13, and The Bat X has him at 19/13. That’s just not good enough for a guy who’s also struggled to hit above .220 in two of his three stints in the big leagues.
