The second base position is not one that will be filled with talent across the board. Once the top options, such as Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Ketel Marte, are off the board, there’s a sizable drop in terms of talent.
There are some names that will draw attention due to their pedigree, but having an elite name doesn’t always translate to fantasy production.
Here are three players who, despite having a ton of pedigree, won’t be able to live up to the expectations on their shoulders and, ultimately, will fall short of their ADPs.
2026 Fantasy Baseball Busts: Second Basemen to Avoid
Jose Altuve, Houston Astros (ADP: 98)
There’s no question that Altuve has been one of the best second basemen in all of baseball over the past decade. However, the Venezuelan infielder isn’t getting any younger, and there’s a strong chance he’ll see his decline accelerate in 2026.
The numbers don’t lie with Altuve. He hit .265 in 2025, a 30-point decrease from 2024 and the lowest batting average of his career if excluding the shortened 2020 season.
Altuve remains a power threat, but he’s no longer someone who wreaks havoc on the basepaths, and it’s hard to make a case for him to be a 20-20 threat in 2026.
Altuve will remain a regular in the Astros’ lineup, but he’s not expected to hit for a high average anymore. Even if he’s going to be a solid contributor for Houston, he’s not expected to be a top-100 player in fantasy anymore if his 2025 numbers are a sign of what’s to come for the 35-year-old.
Ozzie Albies, Atlanta Braves (ADP: 137)
Albies is the typical case of a player who gets drafted higher than he should be solely based on his name and not his performance. Albies appeared in 157 games in 2025 but had a woeful season, posting a career-worst .240 average with a .671 OPS, which was another career-worst output. Perhaps the most worrying stat is that he posted a .306 OBP and a .365 slugging percentage, while his .125 ISO was also a career-worst by a wide margin.
Albies will remain the Braves’ second baseman and should see enough plate appearances to entice fantasy managers that he might be able to bounce back.
However, his numbers have been trending downward for two years now. A player who owns an OPS below .680 doesn’t deserve to be selected around the 10th round, so he feels like a strong bet to perform way lower than what his ADP indicates.
Ceddanne Rafaela, Boston Red Sox (ADP: 157)
If you look at Rafaela’s numbers during the 2025 season, he had a solid year after belting a career-best 16 homers while adding 63 RBI, a career-high 84 runs scored, and a .709 OPS across 156 games and 587 plate appearances.
However, a deeper look shows things weren’t as glaring as they look on the surface. Rafaela posted a .752 OPS with 14 home runs and an 18.8% strikeout rate between March and July, but his OPS decreased to .622 and his strikeout rate rose to 22.2% in the final two months of the regular season.
If fantasy managers get the player who adjusted well to big-league pitching in the first months of 2025, there’s a chance he could respond to his ADP of around the 10th to 12th round.
However, if he posts a below-average OPS with a high strikeout rate, there’s no question he’d fail to perform according to his ADP.
Given that big-league pitchers seemed to figure Rafaela out down the stretch, the scales are tipping in the wrong direction for the 25-year-old.
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