Every year, fantasy baseball leagues are lost because of players that bust, get injured, or disappoint. Sometimes these issues are unavoidable, but sometimes there are red flags that we ignore. Here are the 10 players that you should not draft.
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Fantasy Baseball Hitters to Avoid
Cal Raleigh (C – SEA) (NFBC ADP: 18.42)
Raleigh is coming off an historic season, hitting the most home runs in a single season for a catcher where he hit 60 home runs with 110 runs, 125 RBI, and 14 stolen bases. The reason I am fading him for 2026, isn’t just the obvious regression, it’s the price. The last time a catcher was going this high in the ADP, it was Gary Sanchez in 2018 and that worked out poorly. There is just too much that can go wrong at the position. It is the most injured offensive position and while I do think that Raleigh will be good, he will have a hard time returning the value in the second round of drafts.
Nick Kurtz (1B – ATH) (19.88)
Kurtz is an example of a player that you can love and still not want to draft him. He is coming off of a fantastic rookie season where he hit .290/.382/.619 with 36 home runs. The problem is he is likely going to regress a ton in the batting average department. His xBA was .249, his Z-contact was 76%, and his swinging strike rate was 14.2%. There should be plenty of power in Sacramento, but the average floor is much lower than people realize. With first base being such a deep position, there is no reason to spend a second round pick on Kurtz.
Pete Crow-Armstrong (OF – CHC) (32.92)
Ok, so I had Crow-Armstrong in this article last year and I will admit when I am wrong. He hit .247/.287/.481 with 31 home runs and 35 stolen bases. That being said, he really struggled in the second half and it was because of the poor underlying skills I warned about. In the second half, he hit just .216/.262/.372 with six home runs and eight stolen bases. There are going to be extremely high highs, but extremely low lows and this early in the draft, you should look in a different direction.
Rafael Devers (3B – SF) (65.42)
Devers is coming off of a season in which he hit .252/.372/.479 with 35 home runs and 109 RBIs. However, he was not as dominant after he was traded to San Francisco. After becoming a Giant, he hit .236/.347/.460 with 20 home runs in 395 plate appearances. He struck out at a 29.4% clip with the Giants and the team around him and the park is just not as good in San Francisco. He will still hit for power, but there is a low average floor and it seems unlikely he will get to 100 runs or RBIs with the Giants.
Byron Buxton (OF – MIN) (85.27)
After years of waiting, Buxton truthers were finally rewarded with an amazing season where he hit .264/.327/.551 with 35 home runs and 24 stolen bases. The problem is Buxton’s health. 2025 was Buxton’s first season since 2017 where he registered 400 plate appearances or more and he has never had 550 or more plate appearances in a season. The chances that he will be able to pull off another season in which he is able to stay healthy enough to get to 500+ plate appearances seems very unlikely and at this high of a pick, it isn’t worth the gamble.
Will Smith (C – LAD) (113.38)
There is nothing wrong with Smith from a skills perspective. The problem is the playing time. He missed some time with injury, but the bigger issue is that there is no room for extra plate appearances because of Freddie Freeman and Shohei Ohtani occupying first base and DH. Smith doesn’t have enough power or speed to overcome the lack of plate appearances compared to the other catchers at this position.
Kyle Stowers (OF – MIA) (137.23)
Stower is coming off of a fantastic rookie season, where he hit .288/.368/.544 with 25 home runs and stole five bases. However, he was extremely lucky with a .356 BABIP and the underlying contact skills are scary. He had a 78% z-contact and a 16% swinging strike rate. The power is legit, but the average is going to regress and the Marlins won’t give him a lot of upside in runs or RBIs.
Chandler Simpson (OF – TB) (166.85)
Simpson has a ton of speed. He stole 44 bases in just 441 plate appearances for the Rays in 2025. However, he has literally no power and while the speed is valuable for fantasy, it isn’t as valuable in real life baseball. The Rays sent him down at one point last season and brought in multiple outfielders this offseason and while they will give Simpson a chance to succeed, he will have a short leash.
Kyle Teel (C – CWS) (185.00)
Teel is a former top prospect who was traded for Garrett Crochet and made his debut last season. That’s the problem. The name value attached with Teel is actually greater than his fantasy value. Teel doesn’t have a ton of speed or power and while he is a good real life catcher, he will split time with Edgar Quero and Korey Lee. There just isn’t enough in the profile for him to be an interesting player this season.
Jordan Beck (OF – COL) (233.12)
Beck is coming off of a season where he hit 16 home runs and 19 stolen bases. However, he hit only six home runs in the second half and the underlying contact skills are terrible. He will get helped by playing in Colorado, but he is so bad on the road that he is tough to roster.
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