When it comes to making fantasy baseball drops, each week should be an exercise in improving your team and optimizing your starting lineup. Otherwise, you’ll be left in the dust and looking up at other teams in the standings. Scott Pianowski said that if you don’t make a drop you regret in a fantasy season, you are likely being too conservative. I completely agree, and I want to steer people away from making bad drops. We need to keep a forward-looking mindset, not looking back in anguish or anger.
Knowing which players are in your pool is crucial because drops are highly team- and league-specific. If pitchers are being hoarded like crazy in your league, then you should be wary of dropping any decent pitchers, even if you are flush with depth, as that can vanish quickly. If a team or two are punting saves, they are likely to hold more SPs than an average fantasy team, so that could make your league’s SP wire even more thin.
Key context factors like this are crucial. If your league quickly drops players who are injured, you can feel a little bit better about dropping that mid-round pick who is slated to miss 6-8 weeks, as you can either re-add him later or find your own injury stash to take on out of the pool. Putting in the extra time to notice these things is crucial, as each league is unique and all politics are local. If you are hoarding SPs, you could feel free to drop your last pitcher if he is not cutting the mustard; meanwhile, if you are a pitching-needy team, that same player may not constitute a drop. Team context and league context are a big part of the puzzle in the game of player drops. Sometimes a player is a shortlist drop, and you would only cut him for two or three players available. Or sometimes you may cut a player, only if you can get a great bargain in FAAB. There are ways to leverage the optionality of a player who might be a cut but isn’t a must-cut! Players who might be a must-drop for one, will not necessarily be a must-drop for another player’s roster. Context is always key.
My potential drop candidates will be listed in the tables weekly, and if you have any recommendations, please let me know on Discord or on BlueSky. I always adjust these over the weekend after new information comes to light. I may even mention a player as a hold for a few weeks and then suggest dropping him. I will do my best to treat each player as if they are on my biggest team and provide my guidance in that light. I will also add the ownership percentages for both the NFBC’s Main Event (15-teamer) and Online Championship (12-teamer). I will be using Mike Mager’s rating system this year, as it works well and there is no need to reinvent the wheel. These rankings will be based on a 0-4 scale, as such:
- 1 = Team context dependent; probably should not be dropped on most teams
- 2 = Team context dependent; compelling arguments to drop and not drop
- 3 = Team context dependent; probably should be dropped on most teams
When thinking about drops, I categorize them as must-drops or possible drops. Some players who are worth holding in some contexts but are upgradeable may be dropped. Players who have been demoted, are in a lesser role, or are on the long-term IL are must-drops, in some contexts. There is no universal set of rules, of course, and we are to be heading to where the puck is going, rather than where the puck has been.
When you are making a FAAB bid list, make sure to have at least 10+ player bids in a bid group if you have a player you must get rid of. There is no reason to carry a player who is out for the year, and sometimes newer players don’t have long enough bid strings. I have been there before, too. My recommendations for drops are sometimes possible, depending on roster context and any categorical or team needs you may have. If a player feels like a must-drop, I will illustrate that point in my notes on the drops.
I hope to provide guidance on transactions throughout the year and help you avoid bad moves and get ahead of players who could be considered dead weight. If you have a strong take on whether to keep a player or use a pitcher despite being listed as a disaster, follow that feeling. There are no absolutes, and these are potential recommendations that may not suit your roster or team context.
Potential Hitter Drops
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