Fantasy Baseball: Top fades out of the outfield for 2025

Fantasy baseball analyst Dalton Del Don tracks the ball to identify which outfielders managers should avoid at their lofty draft prices this season. Click here for even more fades.

Atlanta Braves: Ronald Acuña Jr.

Acuña is set to miss the first 4-6 weeks of the season while recovering from his second ACL surgery. He’s reportedly looked great at the plate during Atlanta’s camp, but fantasy managers should be concerned about Acuña openly stating he plans on “taking it easy” on the base paths after returning. Atlanta is trying to avoid Acuña having to deal with lingering discomfort that followed him throughout the 2022 season following his first ACL procedure, when he posted a 115 wRC+. Acuña was also quietly pedestrian over 50 games at the plate (105 wRC+) before suffering his knee injury last season.

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Most projection systems remain extremely bullish, calling for 35+ steals over 120ish games. Other systems manually changed after Acuña’s quote painted a more pessimistic outcome.

Acuña is one season removed from going 40/70, so there’s obvious upside, but there’s real risk of him running significantly less in 2025. He’s a fade as a borderline top-30 pick in Yahoo drafts.

Chicago Cubs: Seiya Suzuki

Suzuki owns a legit 129 wRC+ over three years in the majors, but he’s also missed an average of 35 games each season. He’ll turn 31 years old this summer, and Suzuki’s batting average is at risk of falling in 2025. His .282 BA last year came with a .255 expected BA, which was one of the biggest differences in MLB. Suzuki’s .370 BABIP was the highest in baseball, and it also would’ve led the league in 2022 and 2023, which is especially surprising for a right-handed corner outfielder who usually puts balls in the air.

Cleveland Guardians: Steven Kwan

Kwan can be a batting average help, but his ADP (140) is too high for an outfielder projected to go 8/17 with few RBI. Kwan’s Hard-Hit% and Bat Speed were both in the bottom one percentile last season, and his average exit velocity was in the bottom 10th. Kwan has a low fantasy ceiling, yet he’s being drafted in between Dylan Crews and Pete Crow-Armstrong in Yahoo leagues; two players with far more fantasy upside. Moreover, Jasson Domínguez shouldn’t be going after Kwan in fantasy drafts.

Colorado Rockies: Brenton Doyle

Doyle will continue to benefit from hitting in Coors Field and possibly leadoff, but he carries some risk given his massive jump in ADP. Doyle is now a top 65 pick in NFBC leagues, and he’s going a few picks after Lawrence Butler in Yahoo drafts. Doyle is one season removed from batting .203 (with a 45 wRC+!), and he hit just .211/.273/.364 over 280 ABs on the road last season. Doyle hit .167/.203/.212 (.415 OPS) in September, even with the benefit of Coors Field.

The bags and homers are very nice, but fade Doyle’s new ADP just outside the top 80.

Pittsburgh Pirates: Bryan Reynolds

Reynolds is a safe floor play, but you’re passing on players with far more upside at his ADP inside the top 100. Reynolds’ 24 homers, 73 runs scored and 10 stolen bases came via a career-high 692 plate appearances (top 15 in the league) last season. Being able to stay healthy is obviously a plus, but just realize there’s been a compounding component to Reynold’s fantasy value. The Pirates should remain one of the lowest-scoring teams in 2025, so give me Christian Yelich straight up over Reynolds, who goes about 30 picks earlier than the veteran Brewer in Yahoo drafts.

Seattle Mariners: Randy Arozarena

Arozarena would normally qualify as a bounce-back target coming off a down season, but he landed in an even more extreme pitcher’s park after leaving Tampa Bay last year. T-Mobile Park in Seattle played more extreme toward pitchers than Coors Field did hitters last season. For numerous reasons, T-Mobile Park limits walks and has increased strikeouts an MLB-high 15% over the last three seasons. No park has damaged batting average more over that span. Arozarena’s .219 batting average last year came with the same .219 expected BA, which was in the bottom 10% of the league.

Arozarena is now on the wrong side of 30 and has seen declining Sprint Speed each of the last four seasons. The Mariners (101 SBA+) are a less aggressive running team than the Rays (137 SBA+), and Arozarena recorded just four steals (with only five homers) over 54 games after joining Seattle last year. He shouldn’t be going a round before Pete Crow-Armstrong in Yahoo leagues.

Toronto Blue Jays: George Springer

Springer could be a target to bounce back at a lower ADP coming off a down year, but there are more concerns than just last season’s performance. Springer hit mostly leadoff last season, but he’s likely to bat toward the bottom half of Toronto’s lineup in 2025. It’s possible that leads to Springer hitting cleanup, but he just posted a .660 OPS (91 wRC+) with sinking peripherals (8.7 BB%, 21.6 K%) in the second half last year. Moreover, he’s been a disaster on defense over the last two seasons, so there’s even potential that fast-rising prospect Alan Roden eventually ends up taking Springer’s job.