Fantasy Baseball Rankings 2024: Busts from proven MLB model that predicted Daulton Varsho's difficult season

Apr 21, 2019; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Boston Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers (11) on deck to bat at Tropicana Field.

White Sox starting pitcher Dylan Cease entered the 2023 campaign as a high-tier Fantasy baseball pick after posting outstanding numbers in 2022. He struggled during the 2023 season though, going 7-9 with a 4.58 ERA in 33 starts, which were his worst numbers since his rookie year. Reds starter Hunter Greene was another one of the Fantasy baseball busts last season, finishing with a 4.82 ERA across 22 starts. Which pitchers should you avoid for your 2024 Fantasy baseball lineups?

Avoiding overvalued players is one key to building a winning Fantasy baseball strategy. This can sometimes mean passing on established players who are still available when you go on the clock in your 2024 Fantasy baseball drafts. Before finalizing your 2024 Fantasy baseball draft prep, be sure to see the 2024 Fantasy baseball rankings and cheat sheets from the proven computer model at SportsLine.

Last season, SportsLine’s Projection Model identified several top Fantasy baseball sleepers, breakouts and busts, including Blue Jays outfielder Daulton Varsho.

Varsho set new career highs in doubles (23), triples (3), home runs (27), RBI (74) and stolen bases (16) in 2022 and Fantasy baseball managers were predicting he’d take another step forward in 2023, drafting him 73rd overall on average. However, the model saw some holes in his game and predicted him as a 2023 Fantasy baseball bust who wouldn’t live up to his Fantasy baseball ADP.

The result: Varsho’s OPS dropped from .745 to .674 and he also saw drops in home runs (20) and RBI (61), while failing to take advantage of the new baserunning rules (16 steals again). Anybody who followed the model’s advice and avoided Varsho in their Fantasy baseball drafts avoided a major headache.

The SportsLine model is engineered by the same people who powered projections for all three major Fantasy sites. And that same group is sharing its 2024 Fantasy baseball rankings and cheat sheets over at SportsLine, helping you find Fantasy baseball sleepers, breakouts and busts long before your competition. Their cheat sheets, available for leagues on many major sites, are updated multiple times every day.

Any time more MLB news comes out about MLB free agency signings or Fantasy baseball injuries, the team at SportsLine updates its projections. Go to SportsLine now to see these proven Fantasy baseball cheat sheets.

Top 2024 Fantasy baseball busts

One of the Fantasy baseball busts 2024 the model is fading: White Sox designated hitter Eloy Jimenez. There were rumors regarding a potential trade involving Jimenez earlier in the offseason, but the latest reports say there has been “very little interest” in him. He made his MLB debut in 2019, batting .267 with 31 home runs and 79 RBI to finish fourth in American League Rookie of the Year voting.

Jimenez has struggled to stay in the lineup since then, appearing in 55 games in 2021 and 84 games in 2022. He is coming off his healthiest season since 2019, but he still missed more than 40 games due to multiple trips to the injured list. SportsLine’s model thinks Jimenez has simply not displayed enough consistency to warrant his current ADP, suggesting players like Byron Buxton as better options later in the draft.

Another of the 2024 Fantasy baseball busts the model projects won’t live up to their ADP: Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz. Having just turned 22 last month, De La Cruz looks like one of the most exciting prospects in baseball after showing some incredible flashes during his rookie season in 2023. He hit 13 home runs (including four that went over 450 feet), drove in 44 and stole 35 bases over 98 games.

That incredible potential is a big reason why his current 2024 Fantasy baseball ADP is 37.50, but spending a fourth-round pick on a player who just slashed .235/.300/.410 is a big risk unless you’re in a keeper league. A .336 BABIP doesn’t seem to indicate that De La Cruz was particularly unlucky. Even if you’re expecting his overall batted-ball profile to improve, he’s guaranteed to fight swings and misses after being struck out 194 times across AAA and the big leagues. That’s why the model ranks him behind Willy Adames and Carlos Correa, who are being drafted more than 10 rounds later on average. See more busts at SportsLine.

How to find proven 2024 Fantasy baseball rankings

SportsLine’s model is also fading a surprising starting pitcher who is coming off the board in the third round on average in early 2024 Fantasy baseball drafts. The model is predicting this ace suffers a setback and finishes outside the top 15 at his position. Avoiding him until later on could be the difference in winning your league or going home with nothing. You can only see who it is here.

So which 2024 Fantasy busts should you be avoiding in your upcoming drafts? Visit SportsLine now to get 2024 Fantasy baseball rankings for every single position, all from the model that predicted Daulton Varsho’s falloff in 2023, and find out.