Fantasy Baseball 2018: Stay away from these draft duds

Fantasy Baseball duds: Position Players

Jason Heyward

2018 stats:

Slash line: .259/.326/.389

HR: 11

RBI: 59

R: 61

SB: 4

Games played: 126

Heyward is a valuable MLB player, just not within the Fantasy Baseball realm. He’s collected four straight Gold Glove awards, but that won’t help you much in most leagues.

In the past, stolen bases were his only saving grace, but he collected less than a handful of them in 2017 and expected for 10 SB to be his max in 2018. Plus, he’ll miss a good chunk of games, which you cannot afford as a Fantasy Baseball owner.

Avoid Heyward like the Bubonic plague.

Yoenis Céspedes: New York Mets

2018 stats:

Slash line: .292/.352/.540

HR: 17

RBI: 42

R: 46

SB: 0

Games played: 81

Cespedes makes this list of Fantasy Baseball duds for entirely different reasons. If we logged a full slate of MLB games, he’d be on our list of top 25 players to draft. However, health has illuded the talented outfielder.

His wrist injury just won’t go away, which is a shame. The game of baseball is a much better place when he’s healthy, as is the case for your Fantasy Baseball team. Don’t waste a high draft pick on him and only snag him up in your draft if it’s in the later rounds.

Ryan Braun: Milwaukee Brewers

2018 stats:

Slash line: .269/.336/.487

HR: 17

RBI: 52

R: 58

SB: 12

Games Played: 104

It’s convenient to live in the past, but let the past die in this case. Ryan Braun is nowhere near the player he was a few years ago, and his shipment of PEDs has stopped — as far as we know. Too soon?

He’s also missed a bit of action for one reason or another, where he hasn’t played a full slate of games since the 2012 season. Like any other aging star, his value is in the later rounds of your Fantasy Baseball draft. Expect more of a dropoff from Braun in 2018.