We’re a third of the way through the 2025 MLB Season and approaching the summer months when we can live & breathe baseball until the NFL Season. That also means we’ve got a good grasp of which players’ fantasy baseball seasons are thriving and who needs to be kicked to the curb. We’ll be looking at 4 big-name players you need to move on from in fantasy baseball.
Players to Drop NOW
Devin Williams, RP, New York Yankees
The New York Yankees made a big splash in the offseason, trading for Devin Williams. He was touted as one of the best closers in the game. Less than 3 months into his stint with the New York Yankees, Williams was demoted from his role as the primary closer for the team. It’s been a shaky start for Williams, who is throwing a horrendous 6.75 ERA in only 20 innings pitched on the season. He’s blown multiple games and is posting a negative WAR. Despite these numbers, Devin Williams is still rostered in nearly 85% of fantasy leagues.
The Yankees gave Williams the closer role while Luke Weaver got a break, and Williams blew his shot at getting the spot back. Without having the main closing role, the opportunity for Williams to earn saves diminishes. This was the only thing still making him fantasy relevant due to his other poor stats. As a result, I’m completely out on him for the year. Williams should be dropped in all redraft formats.
Zac Gallen, SP, Arizona Diamondbacks
For the first time in his career, Zac Gallen has an ERA above 5.00. He is currently sitting at a disastrous 5.54 through 12 games. On top of that, he’s off to a 3-7 start, which would be the 2nd worst mark of his career if the season were to end today. To Gallen’s Credit, the Diamondbacks have had one of the toughest strength of schedules thus far. But the road from here on out is not going to get any easier. The Diamondbacks have multiple series left against division rival Dodgers & Padres, which won’t fare well for Gallen & company.
We loved Gallen in 2021, and he was one of the biggest steals in fantasy. Last year, he took a bit of a step back, and this year is just not his season. After being drafted as a top-40 pitcher, he is not playing like it. He’s rostered in nearly 90% of Yahoo leagues, but our team is not one of them. Gallen’s someone that we’re just pulling the plug on. Some players who have flown under the radar that should still be available on waivers are Andrew Abbott, Reese Olson, and Clarke Schmidt. I would rather have one of them for the rest of the season instead.
Salvador Perez, C, Kansas City Royals
The longtime Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez has been an All-Star for 9 of the last 12 years. Unfortunately, his days as an All-Star appear to be over. In his 14th year playing, Perez is slashing his worst numbers with a .222 batting average and a .260 on-base percentage. His numbers are so bad this year that he’s posting a negative WAR and is a detriment to the team.
The catcher position lacks options for fantasy. It might be time to either leave that position open or go for someone who isn’t going to hurt your team anymore. With most leagues being H2H categories, Perez is hurting you more than helping. Thankfully, Perez’s name still carries some weight. I’d love to dump him off to the next unfortunate person for almost anything vs. having to pick someone up off waivers.
Christian Yelich, OF, Milwaukee Brewers
Despite having an injury that sidelined him for half of 2024, Christian Yelich had a resurgence that had him batting over .300 for the first time since 2019. We were very high on the veteran outfielder entering the season, and for good reason. So far, it has not paid off as Yelich is off to the 2nd worst start of his career. The last time he played this poorly was in 2020, another season where he came off an All-Star appearance. Yelich’s current lines are a .211 batting average, .299 on-base percentage, and a whopping 61 strikeouts already.
The only fantasy relevance that Yelich still has going for him is home runs and stolen bases, where he’s posted 10 each so far. These aren’t bad numbers and can still provide you value if these are categories that you struggle with in H2H. However, he’s going to bring your other batting categories down significantly, and with how little we’re getting back. We just don’t think Yeli is worth the hold. Given how plentiful the outfield position is and the fact that there are usually two utility starting slots, there’s an abundance of options to replace him with. If I can get someone hitting above .250 on waivers, I’ll take them the rest of the way instead.