Collette Calls: Values in the 2026 Scrap Heap

I previously wrote this article very early in the winter so it could be included in the RotoWire print magazine, but since that product is no longer out in circulation, I have moved the article to the first one I write after completing the Bold Predictions installments. I prefer this approach because it benefits you, the reader, as I force myself to use unique names not featured in the Bold Predictions series to give you more names to think about rather than less, because I would often repurpose a few names from this article. 

This installment previously mentioned names such as Sean Manaea, Nick Martinez, Michael Kopech, Mark Vientos and Joc Pederson before their last helpful fantasy seasons, but I have also included several notable whiffs such as Anthony Rendon, Chris Paddack, Tim Anderson and Anthony Rizzo when that quartet was giving plenty of warning signs that their productive days were over. Last year was no different.

Nearly to the date last season, this article contained the following names, with the table below showing their ADP when the article was written and their final earned auction value (EAV) for standard 15-team leagues:

Nelson was a big win, and Kepler had a modicum of value, but the rest of the list was a massive bust due to injuries or underperformance. I have my work cut out for me to regain your confidence. 

I have set the following conditions for players to be included in this year's installment of this annual article:

• Player must have an ADP above 360 over the past three weeks, meaning they are currently falling outside the player pool drafted in a 12-team, 30-round mixed league such as the RotoWire Online Championship.
• Player must have been drafted in 2025 Draft Champions drafts, to eliminate anyone showing up on this list just because they are new. After all, we're looking for players whose market value has slipped since this time last year.
• Player's 2025 EAV must be $1 or less. 

Do not come here looking for miracles, but rather some names to keep in mind for your last few reserve picks or last dollar at the table. At the very least, you should add these players to your watch list in your respective league management tool so you can keep an eye on them if you decide to pass on them at the draft table. Standard 12-team league managers could do that with many of these names, but 15-team managers will be rostering several of these names, as their ADPs are inside the top 450 overall. 

Hitters

Carlos Santana - 1B, Arizona

Santana is one year removed from consecutive 20-homer seasons, and landing in Arizona appears to give him some playing time and multiple trips to Coors Field. His 2025 bat speed measured the same as his 2023 bat speed, and he was still in the 85th percentile in max exit velocity last season. He has gone as high as 438 since Arizona signed him and is now making his way into the last two rounds of 15-team drafts even though the skills have not changed over the course of draft-and-hold season. 

Jonny DeLuca & Jake Fraley - OF, Tampa Bay

The club likes DeLuca's defense and has played him at all three outfield positions since acquiring him before the 2024 season. The outfield depth chart reads like platoon city, with veteran lefty bats like Fraley and Cedric Mullins, but Mullins and DeLuca are the only two guys on the roster who can truly be trusted to play center field unless Chandler Simpson has made massive improvements in his fielding abilities over the winter. The move back to the indoor turf at Tropicana Field is also likely to lead to more load management that Kevin Cash did not have to worry about on grass last season, as well as increasing the likelihood of nagging injuries to players with track records for collecting such injuries. Fraley has a chance to lock down the strong side of the platoon in right field, and could even hit higher in the lineup should the Gavin Lux experience not work out well.

Christopher Morel, OF, Miami

Morel did not get enough plate appearances to qualify for leaderboards, but he still maintains very high marks in his quality of contact. The challenge is the low frequency of contact around those noisy batted ball events. The Cubs and the Rays both gave up on the upside, but Miami is now the Last Chance Saloon for this 26-year old slugger. The worst-case scenario is Morel is still a mess and the Marlins just let him go and he navigates his way to an overseas league, but the best-case scenario is he duplicates what the Marlins tapped into when they acquired a similiar profile from Baltimore after the 2024 season in Kyle Stowers and watched him blossom last season:

Lane Thomas, OF, Kansas City

Thomas is two seasons removed from a 20-20 season which was boosted by Dave Martinez's aggressive baserunning, something which was proven once he was dealt to Cleveland at the deadline of the 2024 season and simply stopped running. His 2025 season was a disaster, which finally ended once he succumbed to foot surgery in July. The Royals must have felt fine with the medicals because they gave him a one-year deal to come help provide offense to an outfield depth chart which severely lacked it last season. Thomas is still one of the faster players in baseball and can now get back to running and possibly even tapping back into the teens with homers again. I recently used pick 32.11 to add him to my Draft Champions roster for these reasons. 

Tyler O'Neill, OF, Baltimore

I know what the depth charts show, but I also know what the payroll shows and refuse to believe the club is going to pay O'Neill $16.3 million this season to play as the short side of a platoon. His 31-homer season in Boston feels like a decade ago, but it was just two seasons ago and a reminder of what he can do when he can stay as healthy as possible. There are few better very late-round power upside dart throws than someone who has hit 30-plus homers twice this decade. He was 33 percent better than league average offensively two seasons ago, and yet went 504th overall to Paul Sporer in my aforementioned Draft Champions draft as I was writing this paragraph. 

Jorge Soler, OF, Los Angeles

The draw here is the same as it is with O'Neill: power. Soler still has excellent bat speed and a high barrel rate, but a balky back carved into his season and reduced his ability to consistently tamp into his power. He's playing in the final year of his contract and will obviously be motivated to prove he can stick in the majors before testing out his power in an overseas league. 36 homers, in Miami of all places, happened just two seasons ago, and it will be interesting to see what Soler can do in this walk year if his back is at least at the level it was in 2024 when his offense was 20 percent above league average. He could hit anywhere from cleanup to seventh for the Angels this season depending on the condition of said back.

Nolan Arenado, 3B, Arizona

Arenado has seen his home run total decline each of the past five seasons and his wRC+ is in a four-year freefall as well. The hope here is the move to the desert with the indoor conditions of Chase Field help him tap into the fountain of youth and at least get back to what he was doing as recently as 2024 when he was just slightly above league average and was contributing across four categories. Do not go looking for any type of George Springer late-career resurgent season, but 2024 is very repeatable and serviceable, yet Arenado is still barely being drafted in 12-team formats.

Miguel Amaya, C, Chicago

Carson Kelly is still the primary catcher on paper, and it's unclear what Moises Ballesteros will be doing since he has options and Amaya is now out of them. The latter point almost guarantees Amaya makes this team, and we forget just how front-loaded Kelly's numbers were last season. Kelly was hitting .272/.396/.553 with nine homers, 24 runs and 24 RBI heading into June but hit .239/.301/.373 with eight homers, 24 runs and 26 RBI the rest of the season. Amaya has struggled with injuries, but he was also reworking his swing and hit .281/.314/.500 in limited duty in just over 100 plate appearances. If you are one who likes to wait until the 30th round to take your second catcher in NFBC leagues or others which allow such behavior, this could likely be one of your better options there in the end game. 

Pitchers

David Festa, SP, Minnesota

This time last year, most of us were clamoring for the Twins to jettison both Chris Paddack and Simeon Woods-Richardson to clear way for Festa and Zebby Matthews. Little did we know Festa would turn into Bailey Ober Jr. and have a terrible problems with home runs, surrendering 10 homers in just 53.1 innings of work. Festa has now worked 117.2 innings and has allowed 19 home runs, resulting in a 1.5 HR/9 ratio. Oddly enough, his issues have mostly been against righties, as he's yet to find an effective secondary pitch to throw against them. Watch for news that Festa is coming to camp working on a new pitch before jumping in here, but there was a reason so many were excited about his potential just a year ago.

Chris Martin, RP, Texas

Texas won 81 games in 2025, yet no pitcher had as many as 10 saves for the club. Robert Garcia remains as one of the three pitchers who earned nine saves, but both Shawn Armstrong and Luke Jackson have departed the team, leaving Garcia as the incumbent. Garcia's hold on the job is about as tenuous as any closer role out there, and Martin certainly has the skills to take over the role. One could even argue he is better suited for the role and could pull a Kirby Yates for Texas in 2026:

Tobias Myers, SP, New York

Myers pitched well for Milwaukee in 2024, but a five-point drop in his strikeout rate and a near 30-point increase in his opponents' batting average in 2025 have fantasy managers running the other direction so far this winter. The Mets rotation has options, but several health track records are suspect. Myers is very likely to start as a swingman out of the Met bullpen, which may help him recover some of the effectiveness his fastball lost in 202. There's a Michael Wacha-like feel to him at his best, and his extension helps his fastball play up when things are going well.

Jose Berrios, SP, Toronto

Berrios's season ended with an elbow issue which kept him off the postseason roster and allowed Trey Yesavage to announce his presence with authority. Berrios is now a well-paid back-end starter who does not have a guaranteed spot in the rotation, yet has also never failed to throw at least 165 innings in a full season since 2018. Toronto is well-positioned for another deep run into October, and Berrios is a pitcher who won 16 games for a 74-win Toronto club in 2024 simply by staying around in games long enough for the offense to rally. If the barking elbow was to blame for the increase in walks and ERA last year, a 30th-round pick or a $1 bid on Berrios could return some nice value. 

Zach Eflin, SP, Baltimore

While we're on the topic of old back-end starters coming off injury, let's discuss Eflin and his back. The former first round pick has had a history of back issues, and when it is not right, he is not right. Three disastrous outings against the Rays, Yankees and Nationals did a number on his overall stats. He finally shut it down and had back surgery and is self-reporting that he feels "night-and-day different." If he can get back to his 2023-2024 form with a healthy back, his current market price is an absolute bargain and that recent track record should help you feel better about giving the 32-year old pitcher with a 62-year old back another chance.

Reynaldo Lopez, SP, Atlanta

Atlanta wants Lopez stretched out as a starter in the spring as they try to figure out the final three spots behind the duo of Chris Sale and Spencer Strider. The recent news that Spencer Schwellenbach will open the season on the 60-day IL with elbow trouble puts more of a spotlight on Lopez to hopefully reclaim his spot in the rotation this season. Lopez is a season removed from a breakout campaign, until his body failed him late in the year and then did so again in his one and only start of the 2025 season. Lopez's 2024 was built upon some fortunate outcomes, but he has once pitched to a sub 4.00 ERA as a starter and several times as a reliever. This is not someone to draft in the front half of your rotation, but his current market price is such that I was able to take him as my eighth starting pitcher in my current draft to see how this story plays out. 

Ben Brown, SP?, Chicago

It is reported Brown will also be stretched out as a starter in camp along with Javier Assad and Jordan Wicks, and all three still have a minor-league option, so someone is going to Iowa to work on things as the team leaves Mesa next month. Brown's sophomore campaign saw him work as a swingman, and he was more effective out of the pen than in the rotation, but his command continues to hold him back. What is fascinating for Brown is his similar pitchers on his StatCast profile page based on velocity and movement: 2024 Reynaldo Lopez, 2025 Logan Gilbert, 2025 Zebby Matthews, 2024 Jack Leiter. What can Brown do for you in 2026?

Cade Povich, SP, Baltimore

Povich is coming off a rough 2025 where a .350 BABIP and 68 percent strand rate did him no favors, but 1.4 HR/9 with a 3.5 BB/9 was present as well. He is back-end material for the Orioles, especially if Eflin's back flares up again, but I honestly cannot understand how a lefty pitched to a 5.85 ERA with 13 homers allowed in the reconfigured Camden Yards but was quite effective on the road. He has nearly 200 major-league innings under his belt and owns a 5.20 ERA and 1.47 WHIP, so I fully understand why his market value is what it is, but I'm still intrigued as a streaming option while the projection systems also show his ERA dropping nearly a full run. 

Christian Scott, P, New York

I, along with many others, loved what we saw from Scott as he ascended in the Met system, finally coming up in the summer of 2024 and pitching well until his UCL had other plans for him. Scott had his Tommy John surgery with an internal brace added in September of 2024 and is reporting to camp at 100 percent in an attempt to compete for a spot in the rotation. He will be far enough removed from his surgery for most to take the chance, but where his command will be after such a long layoff will be anyone's guess. Scott's command was one of the things which made him so enticing as a prospect as he pitched to a 25 percent K-BB%, which put him in rarified air for prospects. 

Happy thrifting in the end rounds and I hope that more than just two of these names return some value in 2026.