The Cut List - Time to Let Go? Who to Consider Dropping for Fantasy Baseball (Week 23)

The Cut List for Week 23 of 2025. Jamie analyzes potential fantasy baseball busts, overvalued players, and injured players who you may want to consider dropping.

Welcome back to The Cut List as we head into Week 23 of the 2025 season. For every add, there is usually also a drop. For those unfamiliar, this is our weekly article examining players whom fantasy managers might consider cutting from their teams and struggling players who warrant a closer look.

We'll examine players worthy of a drop, those worth monitoring for potential replacements, and individuals on the hot seat who are worth holding onto ... for now. Those of you experienced Cut List readers will know I'm a strong advocate for not making knee-jerk reactions. A bad week or two shouldn't be a reason to push the panic button and dump someone.

As the season rolls on, there will be stronger cases to drop underperforming players. If there's ever someone you want me to take a look at, drop their name on Reddit, the RotoBaller Discord chat rooms, or reach out to me on X (@Baseball_Jimbo). Maybe you'll see them included next week. All stats and rostered rates (taken from Yahoo!) reflect when this piece was written.

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Worth Dropping and Replacing?

Nathan Eovaldi - SP, Texas Rangers - 69% rostered

Eovaldi was in the midst of a Cy Young Award-caliber season. His 1.73 ERA was the best in baseball among all pitchers with at least 130 innings pitched. Eovaldi was getting better as the season wore on. Since July 1, he has had a 1.56 ERA (nine starts), and he allowed just two earned runs in July (30 2/3 innings).

Things were derailed this week when Eovaldi was placed on the IL (injured list) with a rotator cuff strain. It doesn't look like we'll be seeing Eovaldi again in 2025. With a 7.4% chance of making the playoffs (according to Fangraphs), the Rangers are unlikely to rush him back.

RHP Nathan Eovaldi has a rotator cuff strain, per Rangers President of Baseball Operations Chris Young. pic.twitter.com/zW54v1pA0N

— MLB (@MLB) August 26, 2025

The IL is something Eovaldi has been far too familiar with throughout his career. He missed almost the entire month of June with an elbow issue. Eovaldi has only made 30 starts in a season once since doing so in 2014, and this is his sixth IL stint over the last four seasons.

Eovaldi will be 36 years old when the 2026 season starts. However, he's still someone I'd keep in dynasty leagues. You're not going to get 30+ starts from him, but Eovaldi has a 3.40 ERA since 2021 (736 1/3 innings). You can still get a bit more out of the veteran starter next year.

Verdict: In redraft leagues, Eovaldi is a drop. Even if the Rangers are in playoff contention entering the final week of the season, Eovaldi is far from a certainty to be healthy in four weeks. There's no reason to hang on to Eovaldi.

Corey Seager - SS, Texas Rangers - 91% rostered

Seager hasn't quite been able to live up to expectations this year. He's been one of the most consistent hitters in baseball in recent seasons. But Seager has also consistently missed time. He's landed on the IL for the third time this season and the sixth time in the last three years.

His latest IL stint isn't for an injury, as such. Seager has undergone an appendectomy, which will see him miss most (if not all) of September. Although Seager could return in 2025, I wouldn't bet on it.

Corey Seager is having an appendectomy and will miss "several weeks," but has not yet been ruled out for the season, per multiple reports. pic.twitter.com/8WKv2fyXmx

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) August 28, 2025

Seager might not be able to return until the later part of September. Like with Eovaldi, the Rangers could be out of playoff contention by then. If so, it wouldn't make sense to bring Seager back for the sake of a dozen (or fewer) meaningless games.

The good news for fantasy managers is that shortstop is a position of depth. Among the top 150 overall hitters (according to Yahoo! 5x5 rotisserie scoring), there are 34 shortstop-eligible players. Of the 34, 14 players are rostered in less than 70% of leagues.

Verdict: As good as Seager is, I wouldn't look to hold him in redraft leagues unless you have multiple IL spots and one is not going to be used anytime. There are enough options available on waivers in most leagues to add someone of use to replace Seager. I'd only hold him in dynasty leagues.

Hold For Now

Emilio Pagan - RP, Cincinnati Reds - 74% rostered

It's been three weeks since Pagan last registered a save. Since then, Scott Barlow and Tony Santillan have recorded a save for the Reds. They came on back-to-back days, after Pagan had pitched in consecutive days, two weeks ago. Pagan had a blown save in each of those two appearances.

So it seemed like Pagan was out as the Reds' closer. However, Reds manager Terry Francona stated that he intended to give Pagan a couple of days off. Francona's comments came two days after he publicly stated that he'd been using Pagan too much.

Terry Francona said he planned to give Emilio Pagan the last two days off.#Redspic.twitter.com/x1KZaaY7TT

— Chatterbox Sports (@CBoxSports) August 20, 2025

Since those two days off, Pagan has only pitched three times. He didn't allow a run in any of those outings. And the Reds have gone 1-8 in that time. No save opportunity has been available for Reds' relievers, and there's been nothing to suggest Pagan wouldn't get the next save opportunity.

That was evident on Friday. Pagan pitched the ninth inning of a tie game. Something a team's closer will generally do at home. He kept the game tied before Santillan pitched the 10th inning. Santillan gave up two runs (both unearned) as the Reds lost 7-5.

It's that reason why I'd hold on to Pagan. As frustrating as it's been not getting any saves from Pagan, that's the nature of closers. They will go multiple weeks without recording a save. Unless we hear that Pagan isn't the Reds' primary closer, he's still got fantasy value.

Ivan Herrera - C, St. Louis Cardinals - 47% rostered

Herrera is ranked 14th among all catchers this year (according to Yahoo!). That's despite having spent nine weeks on the IL across two separate stints. A total of 31 catcher-eligible players have played more games than Herrera this season.

Part of how Herrera has remained productive is the volume when he is healthy. Herrera has predominantly been the Cardinals' DH (designated hitter) this year, with only 14 games played behind the plate (and four in the outfield).

Herrera gets so much time as the DH because he's been a very productive hitter. As we can see from his Statcast Profile, Herrera has consistently made good contact this year and his .285/.365/.434 slash line is no fluke.

Herrera has struggled a bit since the All-Star Break. He's hitting .246/.333/.331 since July 18, but has started to turn things around this week. Herrera entered Saturday's game with a .417/.563/.750 slash line this week. On Friday, he hit his first home run since August 4.

There is one important note to add on Herrera. While I'm still holding in redraft leagues, Herrera is about to lose a lot of value in dynasty leagues. If your league settings are such that a player needs to have played 20 games at a position for eligibility the following season, Herrera will be a DH only in 2026.

Having only played 14 games as a catcher, it's highly unlikely he'll make it to 20 games this year. Herrera's last appearance as a catcher was on June 19, before his second spell on the IL. It's also doubtful that Herrera will see the outfield in 16 more games, too.

While I'm not saying Herrera is a drop in dynasty leagues, it's something you need to take into consideration for 2026. Herrera might get back behind the plate next year and regain catcher eligibility. But if you were banking on him being your catcher next year, you'll need to find an alternative.

On the Hot Seat

Seiya Suzuki - OF, Chicago Cubs - 95% rostered

Suzuki was set to have the type of season many had hoped for. On July 7, Suzuki had a .263/.319/.561 slash line with 25 home runs, 77 RBI, 48 runs, and two stolen bases. Since then, Suzuki has two homers, 10 RBI, 17 runs, and two steals while hitting .203/.330/.284 (43 games).

There hasn't been an apparent injury to explain things. Suzuki experienced wrist soreness in April. But as we mentioned, he was still raking in May and June. And this hasn't been a two-week slump, which we can put down to a small sample anomaly. Suzuki has been slumping for weeks.

Suzuki's slump may not be quite as it seems. Over the last two months, he has still maintained solid expected numbers. We can see that from his xwOBA over his last 250 plate appearances, dating back to June 19. Back then, Suzuki had a .370 xwOBA. Now, he's got a .369 xwOBA.

Even though Suzuki hasn't been hitting well in recent weeks, he's been getting on base. Suzuki had an 11.7% BB% in July and 19.4% BB% in August. Suzuki has also cut down the strikeouts this month. His 19.4% K% in August is the lowest he has had in a month since August 2023.

It appears as though pitchers have been much more careful against Suzuki after what he did in the opening three months of the season. The fact that Suzuki has been getting fewer pitches to hit and is being more selective will also explain why he's only homered four times in the last two months.

That's not to say we haven't seen regression from Suzuki. Since July 1, Suzuki's Hard-Hit% has dropped from 51.1% to 49.0%. His average exit velocity has also dropped from 92.7 MPH to 91.8 MPH. They're still well above league average, but have regressed nonetheless.

We know what Suzuki is capable of. And the Cubs' remaining schedule is one of the easiest on paper. That started with this weekend's series at Coors Field. On Friday, Suzuki got his first extra-base hit since August 15. Hopefully, that's a catalyst for Suzuki to get back to his early-season form.

Time is running out on the season. Fantasy managers can't remain patient for much longer. But Suzuki has displayed his offensive abilities for much of this season. And with one of the best schedules over the final month of the campaign, Suzuki warrants being rostered.

Reader Requests

As always, we're keen to hear who you want us to analyze. If there is anyone you want to include on next week's Cut List, drop their names on the Reddit thread or in the RotoBaller Discord chat rooms. Alternatively, you can reach out to me on X, and we'll endeavor to cover some requests each week.

Dansby Swanson - SS, Chicago Cubs - 78% rostered

Although Swanson's numbers don't match Seager's on a per-game basis, Swanson has also been very consistent in recent seasons. Between 2021 - 2024, Swanson's season average was 155 games, 23 home runs, 83 RBI, 85 runs, and 14 stolen bases. Swanson hit .254/.320/.427 across those four years.

This year, Swanson's 155 game pace is 25 homers, 76 RBI, 88 runs, and 12 steals with a .251/.300/.428 slash line. If we look at Swanson's numbers per month, we can see his consistency hasn't just been on a year-by-year basis. He's been a solid fantasy contributor every month this season.

August is set to be Swanson's second-best month of the season. This time last week, we wouldn't have been saying that. On Thursday, Swanson ended a three-week home run drought. He followed that up with two homers on Friday at Colorado, which is partly why Swanson is included here.

It's not as if Swanson had a dreadful August before this week. He was set to tally double-digit RBI and runs, while pacing for three homers and three steals. But would you ever want to drop a player the week before they had a three-game series at Coors Field?

As mentioned with Suzuki, the Cubs have one of the easiest remaining schedules. Swanson isn't going to win anyone a fantasy league in September. But he should continue to put up solid numbers. He's a reminder to keep looking at schedules before making any drop decisions, too.

Addison Barger - 3B/OF, Toronto Blue Jays - 43% rostered

Barger became one of the most-added players in fantasy this year. After hitting .197/.250/.351 in 69 games for the Blue Jays in his rookie season last year, Barger has taken a huge step forward in 2025. The sophomore is hitting .249/.301/.466 with 18 homers, 61 RBI, 55 runs, and three steals (109 games).

Before August, Barger was on course for a much better year. This month, he's hit .193/.236/.325 with a 53 wRC+. Despite Barger's struggles in August, he's still been hitting second in the lineup for Toronto. But that's been against right-handed pitchers (RHP).

Barger slides down the lineup against lefties, if he plays at all. Thankfully for Barger and his fantasy managers, the Blue Jays haven't faced many LHP recently. Barger's splits against righties and lefties aren't huge, but still make it understandable when he gets platooned.

Barger is hitting .236/.286/.361 against LHP this year and .252/.304/.490 against RHP. With only three hits in the last fortnight, Barger's platoon splits aren't the immediate issue. While his longer-term outlook is more promising than it was 12 months ago, Barger isn't someone I'd hold in redraft leagues.

Will Warren - SP, New York Yankees - 42% rostered

A look at Warren's season-long numbers will shed light on why he's rostered in less than half of fantasy leagues. After 28 starts, Warren has an 8-6 W-L record, 4.30 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, and 149 Ks (136 innings). Giving up five runs in four innings last weekend led to fantasy managers dropping him.

Warren allowed another four runs on Thursday night. However, they were all unearned. Miguel Vargas hit a two-out grand slam in the second inning. An inning that would have been over if not for Anthony Volpe's 18th error of the season.

Warren has actually been a solid starting pitcher for quite some time. Since June 1, Warren has had a 3.75 ERA (84 innings) and a 2.68 ERA in his last seven starts. Warren has actually been one of the better pitchers in fantasy for weeks.

With a 3.85 xFIP and 4.06 SIERA, Warren's 4.30 ERA is a little bit unlucky. What is interesting is that as Warren's ERA has been lowering, his xFIP has actually been increasing, as we can see from the graph below.

One of the driving factors for Warren's fantasy value has been the strikeouts. He ranks tied-25th for total strikeouts among all pitchers this year. Warren's 24.8% K% ranks in the 67th percentile. The problem at times has been control. Warren has a 10.0% BB%, which ranks in the 21st percentile.

Since July 1, Warren has walked multiple batters in eight of his 11 starts. He's walked three or more batters in 11 of his 28 starts this year. The walks have also led to Warren not going deep into games. He's completed six innings just five times. All five times were quality starts.

Only pitching five innings in the majority of starts will cap Warren's fantasy value. Provided Warren doesn't regress significantly in his next couple of outings, there's little reason to move on from him. Given the Yankees have one of the easiest remaining schedules, Warren is more of an add than a drop.

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