Fantasy Baseball Week 8 Drops: Randy Arozarena, TJ Friedl, Fernando Tatis Jr., Jazz Chisholm Jr. and More

After discussing some of the most-added players in fantasy baseball on Monday, it’s time to discuss the most-dropped players.

Like we have for the past several weeks, we’ll only discuss hitters, as the pitchers being dropped are mostly streaming options.

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Randy Arozarena Fantasy Outlook

Arozarena has appeared in several of my stories already this season, mostly talking about a fantasy star that’s severely underperforming. It appears that fantasy owners have had enough, as Arozarena is the most-dropped player right now according to FantasySP Waiver Wire data.

Through 41 games this season, Arozarena is batting just .159, with a .262 on-base percentage. He’s homered seven times and doubled four times among his 24 total hits, while driving in 17 runs and scoring 18 times. Arozarena has seven stolen bases, 20 walks and 51 strikeouts already.

Arozarena is a career .256 hitter, and his worst average ever in a season was .254 (last year). His average has dropped with each passing season of his career, but nobody expected a dropoff quite like he’s experienced this season.

Arozarena was drafted around pick 70 on average. I get we are now a month-plus into the season, but that’s a high draft pick a lot of fantasy owners are giving up on.

I get that his trade value is not nearly what it was at the beginning of the season, but I’d bet there’s multiple fantasy owners in your league that would take a flier on Arozarena. The return you'd get for a disappointing Arozarena will likely be more valuable than any player you can find on the waiver wire.

At least try to trade Arozarena before dropping him outright. Just stash him on the end of your bench until you can find a decent trade to accept.

TJ Friedl Fantasy Outlook

Friedl has had a forgettable season to this point. He started the season injured, and after recently returning to the field, he suffered a new injury and is now back on the injured list.

In his six games played, Friedl hit for a .182 average and got on base at a .250 clip. Over his career, Friedl is a .265 hitter, with a .338 OBP. Those numbers show he can be a valuable fantasy player, but if he can’t stay on the field, he doesn’t do fantasy owners any good.

There isn’t a timetable yet for Friedl’s return, so instead of stashing Friedl on the end of a fantasy bench, fantasy owners have decided to go another direction. I think that’s the right move right now. If you have IL spots in your league, then I’d try to place Friedl there (unless you’ve run out of IL spots).

He’s a good enough fantasy asset to hold on to, but only if it doesn’t hinder your fantasy team in the short term.

Andy Pages Fantasy Outlook

Pages was part of the waiver wire add story a week ago, and now is being dropped by fantasy owners. Fantasy owners are pretty ruthless when you think about it.

Pages has three hits over the past five games, but no RBIs and just one run scored. He’s struck out six times and walked on three occasions over that span.

Pages is still hitting .286 for the season, along with having a .327 OBP. Both of those are still pretty solid numbers. He’s got 10 extra-base hits among his 26 total hits, driven in 13 runs and scored 15 times in total. 

He’s playing nearly every day, and while he isn’t as hot as he was at this point a week ago, he’s still doing enough to keep on the end of a fantasy bench, especially in deeper leagues. I like him as a backup outfield option, mostly because he can get hot and then becomes a good fantasy asset hitting in a stacked lineup.

I’d hold on to Pages for a little while longer and look elsewhere for a drop candidate, but it really comes down to how your league is set up and what your fantasy team needs right now.

Fernando Tatis Jr. Fantasy Outlook

I was shocked to see Tatis on the drop list, so I was curious to try and figure out why he’s trending down.

Over 44 games this season, Tatis is hitting .251, with a .332 OBP. He’s got career marks of .277 for his average and .351 for his OBP, so while those are both down, he’s also not severely underperforming.

He’s logged 15 extra-base hits among his 43 total knocks, driven in 22 runs and scored 29 times. He’s also got six stolen bases, 18 walks and 42 strikeouts. Again, all those numbers are fairly solid, and I’ve yet to see a great reason to consider dropping him.

Over his past five games, Tatis has four hits, including a home run. He’s driven in two, scored once, walked once and struck out six times over that span. I’m still not seeing a reason to drop him.

I really think it just comes down to a lower average and OBP for why fantasy owners are deciding to drop Tatis right now. I think that’s a really poor decision, especially because he was a top-20 pick on average. Sure, his value is a bit down from the start of the season, but there’s really no reason to drop him - at least trade him away to get back a decent player instead of hoping a waiver wire option can outplay him.

Xander Bogaerts Fantasy Outlook

OK. What do fantasy owners have against Padres hitters this week? Bogaerts was another high pick that’s among the most-dropped players right now.

In 42 games so far, Bogaerts is hitting .212, with a .264 OBP. He’s got a career .289 average and .353 OBP, so he’s definitely underperforming so far.

Bogaerts has 10 extra-base knocks among his 36 total hits, has driven in 13 runs and scored 23 times. He’s also stolen two bases, walked 12 times and struck out on 38 occasions.

Bogaerts has three hits over the past five games, but they’ve come in his most recent two games, signaling a positive surge up instead of a downward trend. He’s homered twice, failed to draw a walk and struck out seven times over that span.

Bogaerts was drafted around pick 90, but still isn’t playing poorly enough to drop outright. There’s fantasy owners out there that would take a chance on Bogaerts, and that way, you at least get something of value back for him. Exhaust all trade opportunities before considering dropping him (and by that time, he’ll probably be trending in the right direction and not be a drop candidate anymore).

Jazz Chisholm Jr. Fantasy Outlook

Chisholm has played in 42 games this season, sitting with a .256 average and .333 OBP so far. He’s driven in 21 runs, scored 18 times and stole eight bases.

Chisholm has 15 extra-base hits among his 40 total knocks. He’s walked 17 times and struck out 43 times. Chisholm has a career .247 average and .308 OBP, so he’s actually on pace for his best season ever.

Chisholm has seven hits over the past five games, but just one RBI and run scored. He’s struck out four times and walked just once in that span. Still, he’s hitting well enough to stick on fantasy rosters, even if it’s in a reserve role.

He was drafted around pick 135, so while a poor season would make him a decent drop candidate, he’s simply not having that kind of season. If you are thinking about dropping him, put Chisholm on the trade block and see what kind of return you can get before moving on from him completely.

Jake Burger Fantasy Outlook

The last guy to discuss today is Miami’s Burger, who is hitting just .174 this season. Burger has a .215 OBP. He’s a career .242 hitter, with a .299 OBP.

Burger has only five extra-base hits among his 15 total knocks across 23 games played. He’s driven in 15, scored nine times, walked five times and struck out on 21 occasions.

Burger doesn’t boast a high average, instead providing fantasy value as a power hitter. He’s missed time and hasn’t hit a power surge at the plate yet. It could come at some point this season, but until it does, Burger is a player I’d be fine dropping now.

He was drafted around pick 178, which makes dropping him a lot easier than anyone else on this list. I’m actually surprised he’s still owned in over 50% of leagues. Keep a close eye on him if he hits the waiver wire, but in standard leagues, Burger can be safely dropped.