If you’re lucky enough to have two picks in the space of the first 20 picks in your fantasy baseball draft, you have to be careful with the players you choose. There are some players who are near locks, such as drafting either Shohei Ohtani or Aaron Judge with the first pick, or selecting Juan Soto if your pick lands between the third and fifth selection.
However, there are some players you should approach with caution, particularly when it comes to the second-round pick. Here are two players I would advice against choosing if picking in the Top 20.
Junior Caminero – 3B, Tampa Bay Rays
The third base position is probably the weakest position in fantasy when it comes to impact talent. There’s Jose Ramirez, and there’s the rest. Junior Caminero made a strong impression in his first full season in the majors in 2025, slugging .45 homers and racking up 110 RBI with an .846 OPS and a .271 ISO en route to an All-Star berth. He should once again be one of the best 3B in the league, but he might not be worth taking a risk in the first two rounds.
There are reasons to believe that the star third baseman is set to experience regression in 2025. The power is real, and he should be a source for around 30 homers once again, but it only takes a quick glance at the home/away splits to see that Caminero might not be able to repeat what the did in 2025. Caminero posted a .953 OPS across 294 at-bats at hitter-friendly Steinbrenner Field as opposed to a .743 OPS over 308 at-bats on the road. Considering that the Rays will play their 2026 home games in Tropicana Field, one of the most pitcher-friendly venues in the majors, that’s enough to fade Caminero out of the Top 20.
Elly De La Cruz – SS, Cincinnati Reds
De La Cruz has all the tools in the world to be an absolute monster and one of the best players in baseball. He has excellent size, range, power and speed. The problem is that he rarely puts everything together. He can go through dominant periods at the plate, but he can also go through prolonged slumps. He has excellent range, but he also led the MLB in errors for a second straight year in 2025 with 26. Defense isn’t important in fantasy, but still, he’s one of the two Top 20 players I’d fade and, instead, I’d look to strengthen another position.
The fact that shortstop is one of the most loaded positions in fantasy ahead of the 2026 season doesn’t help De La Cruz’s cause. If you want to target a shortstop with one of the first 20 picks, you have Bobby Witt Jr. and Gunnar Henderson as alternatives, while Trea Turner and Francisco Lindor as options to consider as a late second-round or early third-round selection. De La Cruz has an interesting skill set, but until he’s able to put it all together on a consistent basis, I’d fade him as a Top-20 player.
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