I am an optimistic person and usually avoid dwelling on negative things. But there are times when I need to use a critical eye, and this is one of those times. I’d like to introduce you to Fred’s Fades – a list of players I will avoid in the 2026 draft.
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While almost every player makes sense at some point in the draft, these players won’t be near the top of my list when we get to their ADP. While some of my fades stem from personal preference, others are backed up by data from Yahoo Fantasy+. Each round of selection is based on a 10-team league.
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Round 1: Jose Ramirez, 3B, Cleveland Guardians
This pick has less to do with Ramirez’s skill set and more to do with my distrust of the Guardians’ offense. After the front office failed to find outside help for a team that ranked 28th in points last season, I don’t think the current crop of players is talented enough to expect significant improvement. I’d rather draft a hitter from a more productive lineup like Eli de la Cruz, Julio Rodriguez, or Kyle Tucker.
Round 2: Corbin Carroll, OF, Arizona Diamondbacks
Although Carroll had already fallen after undergoing surgery to repair a broken hamate bone, he still needed to fall a little more. There’s no need to risk injured players when players like Pete Alonso and Nick Kurtz are still on the roster. While a healthy Carroll is an excellent fantasy asset, the career .258 hitter hasn’t been a big factor in terms of batting average and RBI.
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Round 3: Ketel Marte, 2B, Arizona Diamondbacks
Even though Marte is a great player, he’s prone to missing games every year. In fact, the 32-year-old has only appeared in 140 games over the past five seasons. Missing a few games will inevitably take a toll on his statistics, something he can’t afford considering how rarely he steals bases. Marte may also be hampered this year as the D-back lineup no longer resembles the one that led the majors two years ago.
Fourth round: Mookie Betts, SS, Los Angeles Dodgers
This pains me because I love watching Betts play and he is one of the best players in baseball in the past decade. But I’m not sure the 33-year-old has enough to justify his ADP, even if he rebounds from a down year. He hasn’t posted an impactful steal total since 2018 and has hit a combined 39 home runs in 266 games over the past two years.
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Round 5: Max Fried, SP, New York Yankees
I’m having a bit of a hard time here because Freed is pretty popular in the fantasy industry. I think he’s a guy with a mediocre ceiling, thanks to his good but not great strikeout skills. I could say the same thing about Logan Webb, who has a similar ADP, but Webb improved his error rate last season and made up for his lack of strikeouts per inning by being the best workhorse in baseball.
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While the ceiling daunts me, Yahoo Fantasy+ data shows Fried’s floor is lower than some managers believe. In fact, he ranked sixth-worst in scoring among ADP’s top 100 starters (295.8 points).
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Round 6: Josh Naylor, 1B, Seattle Mariners
I can’t do it. I can’t pretend Naylor has enough speed to hit 15 bases, let alone 30. I also can’t pretend that I feel good about his first full season at pitcher-friendly T-Mobile Park. Naylor performed well in a limited sample with the Mariners, but it wasn’t enough to allay my concerns.
Round 7: Austin Riley, 3B, Atlanta Braves
There are a few players on the road that I covet. No. 7 overall, which means I won’t be drafting Riley this year. I believe the 28-year-old can get his career back on track in 2026, but considering he batted .258 with 35 homers, 110 RBIs, and 117 runs in 212 games over the past two seasons, there’s still plenty of reason for hesitation.
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Round 8: Alex Bregman, 3B, Chicago Cubs
I’m well aware of the weaknesses at the third base position this season, which has me looking for any hot corner option with a solid ADP. Unfortunately, Bregman is overrated. Going from Fenway Park to Wrigley Field is a major downgrade. Bregman has totaled nine steals over the past six seasons, has a .263 average since 2020, and last hit more than 26 homers in 2019.
Round 9: Oneil Cruz, OF, Pittsburgh Pirates
While Cruz hits the ball as hard as almost anyone, he doesn’t hit it often enough to be an effective hitter. The lanky slugger struck out 32.0% of the time last season, resulting in a .200 average and .676 OPS. His tendency to swing and miss is nothing new, nor are his struggles with lefties. Cruz has a .102 OPS against lefties, and the Pirates will soon be forced to turn him into a platoon player.
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Yahoo Fantasy Plus ranks Cruz as the third-worst ADP top-100 player (595.5 points), which supports my position that he’s best left to a different coach.
Round 10: Salvador Perez, C/1B, Kansas City Royals
The main reason I wouldn’t draft Perez is because there are so many attractive late-round options at the catcher position. Another reason is age — Perez will turn 36 in May, and I don’t see the need to draft an aging receiver when there are so many options at the position. Perez will help with home runs and RBIs, but he doesn’t score much and has a batting average above .255 in just one of the last four seasons. My opinion on Perez is supported by Yahoo Fantasy Plus data, which shows him with the lowest floor (629.6 points) of all draftees in the ADP range.
Round 11: Tyler Glasnow, SP, Los Angeles Dodgers
I could have listed Pablo López, who is out for the season. But whoever drafted Lopez didn’t put much effort into the draft. Instead, I’ll list Glasnow, who pitched 100 innings just three times in his 10-year career and posted a career-high 134 innings. It seems foolish to let him play more than 120 innings, and I’d rather take a chance on a high-potential youngster like Jacob Misiorovski or Trey Yesavich.
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Round 12: Agustin Ramirez, center, Miami Marlins
I’m not sure Ramirez can last a full season as a starter. His defensive skills are poor, which is a big problem for such an important position. In fact, rookie Joe Mack might already be better suited to run Miami’s pitching staff. If Ramirez moves out of the catcher position, he will immediately become a liability to the offense unless he improves on the .701 OPS he had in his rookie year. Considering his performance got progressively worse as the season went on (.637 OPS in the second half), a second-year surge seems unlikely.