The Cut List (Week 2): Time to Let Go?

April 8, 2018

Players to cut or drop in week two of the 2018 MLB season. Connor McEleney lists overrated players and busts that should be waived in fantasy baseball.

You shouldn’t hesitate to drop the players I highlight below in standard 10 or 12 team leagues. Like I said last week, you shouldn’t hesitate dropping any of these guys for a player on a hot streak.

There’s a strong chance all three of these players will continue to struggle for weeks. You can play the waiting game, or you could cut bait and replace them with any of the players listed on our famous waiver wire blog.

Here are our candidates to be cut or dropped from fantasy teams heading into Week 2 of the 2018 MLB season.

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Time to Move On

Logan Morrison (1B, MIN) - .067 BA, 1 run, 0 HR, 1 RBI

Why you should cut him: swinging freely at the plate, not making enough contact, tough to own when not hitting HR.

Morrison has been out of control through the first six games of the season. As if his 52% swing rate isn’t bad enough, he’s only making contact on 60% of pitches. So, he’s swinging freely but he’s not hitting anything. That’s why his batting average is sitting at .067 right now. You can either wait for him to shake this cold streak or you can cut him to add a guy who’s actually producing.

Better 1B options: Yonder Alonso, Brandon Belt, Joe Mauer

Ryon Healy (1B/3B, SEA) - .056 BA, 0 runs, 0 HR, 1 RBI

Why you should cut him: low fantasy ceiling, he’s barely a league-average player.

Word of warning: don’t get suckered into buying low on this guy. He came into the league smoking hot and had a decent sophomore season, but there isn’t much here in terms of pure upside. Here’s the good thing for you Healy owners out there: he’s 6 foot 5 and only 26-years-old. I’m sure you have a league-mate who loves the sound of that. Send him a text saying that Healy’s on the block, but you NEED to mention his height and age. League-average third baseman Ryon Healy doesn’t sound nearly as enticing as 6 foot 5, 26-year-old league average third baseman Ryon Healy. Never underestimate the greed of the height zealots in your league.

Better 3B options: Brian Anderson, Eduardo Escobar, Yolmer Sanchez

Julio Teheran (SP, ATL) - 10.1 ERA, 5 Ks, 6 BB in two starts

Why you should cut him: velocity is down, terrible peripherals (10.86 FIP), strikeout rate is down, walk rate is up.

Go ahead and keep Teheran if you love owning overrated starters with garbage peripherals. It’s your fantasy team, after all. 14% of his owners on ESPN were smart enough to drop him in the past few days and you should take note. All of the pitchers listed below are much better options for your fantasy team going forward, but Manaea is especially valuable out of the group. If you could somehow swing a Teheran-for-Manaea swap, you'd be in great shape for the rest of the season. Teheran's just not that good, especially in Atlanta's new ballpark.

Better SP options: Sean Manaea, Tyler Skaggs, Tanner Roark, Tyler Mahle

Chris Davis (1B, BAL) - .111 BA, 1 run, 1 HR, 1 RBI

Why you should cut him: he hasn't been good for the past two years, ceiling is lower than you think it is, BA so low it can't be rostered. 

I think the Chris Davis resurgence hype is officially dying out at this point. His batting average will be so bad that it's not even worth taking up a spot on your bench. A lot has changed since he hit 47 HR back in 2015, but if he hits 35+ HR this year I'll be first in line to get ridiculed by all of the Crush Davis enthusiasts who never lost hope. 35 HR should be the bare minimum for Davis and he isn't going to come near that this year. How's that for a smoking hot take?

Better 1B options: Yonder Alonso, Brandon Belt, Joe Mauer

Update on Last Week’s Cuts

Kendrys Morales (DH, TOR) - 2-for-12 with 0 HR since March 31

Jose Peraza (SS, CIN) - 3-for-12 since March 31 with 0 runs, 0 RBI, 0 SB

Jackie Bradley Jr. (OF, BOS) - 3-for-19 since March 30 with 3 runs, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 1 SB

Hunter Renfroe (OF, SD) - 4-for-14 since March 31 with 3 runs, 0 HR, 1 RBI

Maikel Franco (3B, PHI) - 5-for-12 since March 31 with 4 runs, 2 HR, and 10 RBI

Franco's grand slam as part of the Phillies' monster game on Saturday certainly boosts his numbers. The problem is that he only played in three games all week. He's doing his best to save his job, but the rest of these players still have no business in starting lineups for fantasy teams.

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