Fantasy Baseball: Potential Busts At Each Position 2016

Outfield: Andrew McCutchen

ESPN ADP: 4th Outfielder, 8th overall

Andrew McCutchen isn’t going to be a bust in 2016. He’s probably going to be one of the most reliable players that you could grab up.

There are other players you could use that 8th overall pick on and still replace McCutchen’s production in a later round. Nolan Arenado, for example, is a player going later than McCutchen but with much better projections.

McCutchen is projected to slash .298/.393/.500 with 9 net steals, 21 home runs, 33 doubles, and 79 RBIs in 2016. Arenado is projected to slash .285/.326/.521 with 37 doubles, 27 home runs, and 89 RBIs. Arenado hit 42 home runs last season compared to McCutchen’s 23 so the projections could be a little bit off.

Let’s use a Player A vs. Player B scenario from 2015 again:

• Player A: .265/.312/.443 – 23 home runs, 31 doubles, 100 RBIs, 10 net steals
• Player B: .292/.401/.488 – 23 home runs, 36 doubles, 96 RBIs, 6 net steals

Player B is Andrew McCutchen. While his slash line, blows player A’s slash line out of the water, the rest of the stats are comparable.

Player A, is projected to go 79th overall and is the 25th best outfielder according to the ESPN ADP projections. Player A is Matt Kemp.

I’m not saying Matt Kemp is as good as Andrew McCutchen and he’s certainly not as reliable. I’m simply trying to prove that you don’t have to waste your first pick on a big name.

Next: 'Bust' May Have Been A Reach