Fantasy Baseball Second Base Draft Bust Candidates for 2025: Ozzie Albies, Brice Turang, Gleyber Torres and More

It’s time for the third article of my fantasy baseball draft bust series. 

We started with third basemen and then covered shortstops. Now, we will cover second basemen. 

Also be sure to check out the second basemen draft steal story. My 2025 redraft 2B rankings and dynasty 2B ranking stories are also out!

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1. Ozzie Albies

We’ll start out hot with one of the top fantasy second basemen in the game. I have Albies as the No. 2 player at the position for 2025.

Albies has been one of the top hitters in the league (not just among second basemen) over his career, but injuries have shortened too many seasons. He’s played eight seasons - if we take over the COVID season in 2020, he has four seasons under 100 games played and four over 145 games played.

He’s a career .270 hitter with a .322 on-base percentage. He’s hit between 24-33 home runs and drove in 72-109 runs in the seasons he’s played in 145 or more games. He also has at least 13 stolen bases and 96 runs scored in those four years.

It’s hard to deny how great of a hitter Albies is, but if he’s not on the field, he’s not going to be a good fantasy asset. He hasn't played over 145 games in back-to-back seasons since 2018-19, and that definitely makes him a risk and a potential draft bust for 2025.

Any spot in the Braves’ lineup is at least a decent one for a fantasy outlook. I expect Albies to hit in the bottom half of the lineup, which will stunt his fantasy potential a bit. If he can stay on the field though, he’ll have the chance to post some monster numbers in what should be a bounceback season for the Braves as a whole.

Albies is one of the biggest, high reward, high risk fantasy players in my eyes going into 2025. If he stays healthy all season, he’ll probably go down as a draft steal by the end of the season, because he’ll outplay the pick you took him at. There’s also a chance he misses more games this season, and it cripples your fantasy team unless you draft perfectly around him. Tread very carefully with Albies, and make sure you have a backup plan in place in case he misses more time.

2. Nico Hoerner

Hoerner should hit in a similar spot to Albies, but in the Cubs’ lineup, which isn’t nearly as good a fantasy position. Hoerner was my No. 5 fantasy 2B for 2025, and he might miss the start of the regular season because of an offseason surgery.

Hoerner played in 151 games last season, which set a new career high. He’s been over 135 games in three straight seasons though.

He hit .273 and got on base at a .335 clip. Those numbers were down from his 2023 numbers, but I think the injury he played through affected him some. Hoerner had seven homers, 48 RBIs, 31 stolen bases and 86 runs scored - all those numbers were down from his 2023 marks.

He’s a valuable fantasy asset because of his average and OBP, with some stolen bases helping him out too. He doesn’t strike out much, so he avoids a lot of negatives.

Hoerner was a top-five fantasy 2B last season, but a lot of that comes from being on the field often. If he misses the start of the season, he’s going to have a hard time matching last season’s numbers, and that doesn’t factor in any other ailments he might have to deal with.

Luckily for fantasy owners, the injury concern should move his average draft position down as the season nears, and you won’t have to worry as much about him being a big bust. Right now though, he could be a decent draft bust because of where I’ve seen him ranked.

3. Brice Turang

Turang is a similar hitter to Hoerner. He ranked seventh on my top-10 list.

After a pretty uninspiring rookie season, Turang got off to a red-hot start in 2024. He cooled off as the year went along, but he still finished with good numbers and set himself up as a pretty good option heading into 2025.

In 155 games last season, Turang had a .254 average and .316 OBP. He hit seven home runs and drove in 57 runs, while stealing a whopping 50 bases. Turang scored 72 runs and only struck out 105 times.

His average isn’t the best, but he’s got a pretty good OBP, and those stolen bases really boost his fantasy value. I expect him to hit in the bottom half of the Brewers’ lineup pretty much all season, and that will allow him to steal plenty of bases still. Getting on base and being in scoring position will give him a chance to score a bunch of runs too.

What makes Turang a bust candidate is him only having one solid season of data to go on. Because he doesn’t hit for a lot of power, if Turang’s average and OBP drop between the marks he posted in his first two seasons, there’s barely any pop to fall back on - he’d have to steal more bases in order to remain a top-10 fantasy 2B.

I’d be fine drafting Turang for the 2025 season, but would only want him as a secondary option in a standard league. Only in deeper leagues would I be OK having Turang be an everyday fantasy starter.

4. Gleyber Torres

Torres wasn’t in my top 10, but he was an honorable mention. He signed with Detroit this offseason, and is already coming off a draft bust season.

In 154 games with the Yankees last season, Torres hit .257 and got on base at a .330 clip - those marks were both down a decent amount from 2023. He only had five less RBIs, but hit 10 less home runs and scored 10 less runs.

Torres now goes to a weaker lineup, which is going to dampen his fantasy outlook a bit already. There’s enough talent in the Tigers’ lineup for Torres to post a big season while batting near the top of the lineup, but after his down 2024 season, I don’t have high hopes for Torres.

He signed a $15 million dollar deal, but it’s just a one-year contract, so if he struggles mightily, I wouldn’t be surprised if Detroit just moves on from him midseason. I don’t think things will come to that, but I simply don’t see him turning into a big fantasy asset on a daily basis.

5. Bryson Stott

Stott took a big step back in 2024, and now fantasy owners are wondering which player Stott is going to be for the long haul.

After having a .280 average and .329 OBP in 2023, Stott had a .245 average and .315 OBP in 2024. He also had less home runs (11), RBIs (57) and runs scored (65), but did steal one more base (32).

His average really brought down his fantasy value last season, but otherwise, Stott still had pretty solid numbers. He had similar numbers to 2024 in his rookie season in 2022, so maybe that’s the type of hitter we should expect going forward.

He’s not a highly-regarded fantasy player for 2025, but he’s going in most standard drafts, and that puts him in draft bust potential, even if he’s one of your last picks. I’m fine taking him as a lottery ticket guy late in a draft, but it better be just that and one of your few lottery ticket picks. There’s value to be found near the end of fantasy drafts, so you don’t want to waste them all on players you might not be able to count on.