Fantasy Baseball Sell-Highs: Overachievers to Trade Away? (Week 16)

July 10, 2026

Joey's fantasy baseball sell-highs, overvalued players to consider trading away. These hitters and pitchers have overperformed early and may bust going forward.

Welcome back, RotoBallers, to another edition of overachievers to trade away. Each week of the fantasy baseball season, we look at which star players are sell-high candidates. Last week, we dove into players like Robbie Ray, Sonny Gray, and Manny Machado.

This week's edition will look at five more sell-high candidates. These five players are rostered in over 70% of Yahoo! leagues and are major sell-high candidates in Week 16 of the fantasy baseball season. The sell-high candidates on this list include a few pitchers coming off strong starts, and two hitters in the midst of career years.

Let's dive into the best sell-high candidates and overachievers in Week 16 of the fantasy baseball season.

Michael King, SP, San Diego Padres

San Diego Padres starting pitcher Michael King is definitely trending up in all fantasy leagues right now. He has thrown a quality start in three of his last four starts and is coming off another strong outing his last time out. King threw six innings of one-run ball with two walks and four strikeouts against the Diamondbacks on Wednesday night. That start lowered his ERA to 3.41 on the season.

While most fantasy managers could be looking to buy the Padres right-hander amid a nice stretch on the mound, he's actually one of the bigger sell-highs this week. King is due for some massive negative regression over the next few weeks, making now the perfect time to sell him away in both points and roto formats.

His expected ERA (4.56) is 115 points higher than his actual ERA (3.41), and he ranks in the bottom half of the league in expected batting average against (.250), chase rate (29.3%), strikeout rate (20.8%), walk rate (9.7%), and barrel rate (8%). These metrics are a clear sign that some rough outings could be in store for King moving forward.

There really isn't much optimism that the 31-year-old can continue to be a top fantasy pitcher for the rest of the season. A major concern surrounding King is that he has struggled to miss bats this year. His 20.8% strikeout rate is the lowest of his career, and he has just a 14.9% strikeout rate over his last eight starts dating back to May 30.

Emerson Hancock, SP, Seattle Mariners

After a few rough outings in mid-June, Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Emerson Hancock is back to producing solid numbers on the mound. He threw 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball with six strikeouts against the Guardians on June 28 and threw seven shutout innings with five strikeouts against the Blue Jays in his last start. Hancock now appears to be fully back with a solid 3.23 ERA across 97 2/3 innings pitched this season.

But instead of holding onto Hancock and hoping that his strong numbers are here to stay, fantasy managers should be looking to sell him. While his two starts against the Guardians and Blue Jays were impressive, neither team has really been hitting the ball well over the last month. Both Cleveland and Toronto rank bottom-5 in runs scored since June 9.

On top of that, Hancock's underlying metrics suggest that his overall numbers should start to decline very soon. His expected ERA (4.34) sits 111 points higher than his actual ERA (3.23), and his .252 expected batting average against, 25.9% chase rate, 23.4% whiff rate, 9.5% barrel rate, and 43.6% hard-hit rate are all below league-average.

The fact that Hancock has a bottom-10% chase rate, a bottom-35% whiff rate, and a below-average swinging-strike rate (10.6%) is a major red flag. That means fantasy managers should be looking to get rid of the Mariners right-hander in Week 16 of the fantasy baseball season. There's no better time to sell him than now.

Taj Bradley, SP, Minnesota Twins

Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Taj Bradley has really thrown the ball well over the last few weeks. He has a 2.25 ERA and a 34.7% strikeout rate over his last four starts. His last two outings, though, have been pure domination. Bradley threw five innings of one-run ball with 11 strikeouts against the Astros on July 1 and then threw seven innings of one-run ball with 10 strikeouts against the Guardians in his last start.

Taj Bradley, Filthy 90mph Cutter. 😷 pic.twitter.com/mktnFn3gTm

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) July 8, 2026

However, fantasy managers shouldn't expect these types of performances to be the new norm for Bradley. There are still plenty of concerns about his game, including a 42nd percentile chase rate (29.5%), a 34th percentile walk rate (9.4%), a 17th percentile barrel rate (10%), and an eighth percentile hard-hit rate (45.8%). He also ranks in the bottom half of the league in pull air rate against (17.9%).

The combination of having a high barrel rate and a high hard-hit rate makes him someone to trade away in most fantasy leagues. His fantasy value will never be higher, especially given that he has struck out 21 batters combined over his last 12 innings of work. If you capitalize on this nice stretch from Bradley to acquire a more established starter, it's a move worth making in Week 16 of the fantasy baseball season.

Liam Hicks, C/DH, Miami Marlins

This is not the first time that Miami Marlins catcher Liam Hicks has been featured on this sell-high list. There's no doubt that the 27-year-old has posted elite numbers this year. Hicks is currently slashing .288/.361/.460 with 13 home runs, eight doubles, one triple, 56 RBI, and one stolen base across 81 games in this breakout campaign.

LIAM HICKS DOINK

He's up to 50 RBIs ‼️

→ https://t.co/HPtwm8N99R pic.twitter.com/BLzHLCYWVE

— Miami Marlins (@Marlins) June 13, 2026

Nevertheless, it's a bit of a surprise to see those numbers from Hicks, given his underlying metrics are really poor. The Marlins catcher ranks in the 20th percentile in expected slugging (.355), sixth percentile in average exit velocity (85.4 mph), 14th percentile in barrel rate (3.8%), 12th percentile in hard-hit rate (30.2%), second percentile in launch angle sweet-spot rate (26%), and seventh percentile in bat speed (68.4 mph).

Those metrics just don't match his current numbers at the plate. Those poor metrics are eventually going to catch up to Hicks, which could result in some rough stretches for him in the second half. There might not be a better time to trade him away than right now, especially since he's hitting .364 with one home run and eight RBI over his last 15 contests.

The lefty slugger has clearly been an overachiever at the plate to start the 2026 season.

Brandon Marsh, OF, Philadelphia Phillies

Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Brandon Marsh has come out of nowhere to become a fantasy star. He hit .249 with 16 home runs, 17 doubles, 60 RBI, and 19 stolen bases across 135 games in 2024, and had a .280 batting average with 11 home runs, 25 doubles, 43 RBI, and seven stolen bases across 133 games last year.

This season, Marsh has taken his game to a new level. He's slashing .305/.340/.502 with 15 home runs, 15 doubles, two triples, 46 RBI, 50 runs scored, and eight stolen bases across 88 games this season. Those numbers put the 2026 All-Star on pace to hit 26 long balls, drive in 80 runs, score 87 runs, and steal 14 bases in over 150 contests.

Brandon Marsh's third home run in as many days! pic.twitter.com/LCCE8j6wP4

— MLB (@MLB) July 1, 2026

But it would be a small shock to see Marsh finish with those types of numbers by the end of the season. Although he has emerged as an elite fantasy option, he is just slightly overperforming at the plate this year. That's ultimately why he is featured on this list. This article is all about finding players who might be overachieving and then potentially trading them away while their fantasy value is so high.

Marsh's expected batting average (.273) is roughly 30 points lower than his actual batting average, and his expected slugging percentage (.445) is 57 points lower than his actual slugging percentage. His home run numbers could also decline a bit in the second half since his barrel rate (9.7%) ranks in the 61st percentile, and his pull air rate (18.6%) is only a 1.9% difference from last year.

The 28-year-old should still be a solid fantasy option in the second half. However, if you're looking to sell high on a player and get the most value out of him, Marsh is a fantastic sell-high candidate.

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