Players are found off of the waiver wire that help you win your leagues every year. Typically, these players are considered too boring, too risky, or post-hype sleepers, but for one reason or another, they are overlooked. In order to win your league, you need to find these players before other people do. You can try and grab them off the wire, or you can target them late in drafts. They are easily cuttable if they don’t work out, but if they do, they give you a great head start in winning a championship. Here are my picks for the 2023 All-Undrafted Team players at each position who are all being drafted after round 26 in a 12-team league.
- Fitz’s Positional Primers
- Hitters to Avoid | Target
- Pitchers to Avoid | Target
- Latest Fantasy Baseball Mock Draft
2023 Fantasy Baseball’s All-Undrafted Team
Catcher
For catcher, I am giving one player for 1-catcher formats (after the 12th catcher off the board) and a catcher after pick 312 for a two-catcher league.
1-Catcher League: Danny Jansen (C – TOR)
Jansen was fantastic in the second half, hitting .270 with eight home runs and 31 RBI for the Blue Jays. The Blue Jays believe in him enough that they traded away top catching prospect Gabriel Moreno this offseason. There is a bit of concern that Brandon Belt may eat up some of his plate appearances at DH, but I think Jansen is still going to rack up enough plate appearances to return plenty of value.
2-Catcher League: Max Stassi (C – LAA)
All the hype right now is for Logan O’Hoppe in Los Angeles, but I don’t know that he makes the team out of camp. Both Stassi and Matt Thaiss are out of options, and I don’t think they want to lose either. If O’Hoppe isn’t making the team, then Stassi is the #1 catcher on the team, and he is not that far removed from being an interesting catching prospect. Catcher thins out really fast in two catcher leagues, but Stassi is an interesting gamble late.
First Base
Smith is going to be playing every day and hitting in the middle of the Washington lineup. While that is not as exciting as it may have been a few years ago, Smith is a former top prospect that has shown the ability to hit for a decent average with some pop. When you are looking at late options at first base, you want a guy who is going to play every day, add in the fact the Nationals have an early trip to Colorado, and he becomes a pretty interesting target at the position.
Second Base
Isaac Parades (1B, 2B, 3B – TB)
Parades is a former top prospect that has taken a while to find his footing in the Majors, but he is really interesting because of his ability to play multiple infield positions as well as hit for power. He hit 20 home runs in 2022 in just 381 plate appearances. He looks like he can find 500+ plate appearances this season because of his flexibility which could mean 25+ home runs. Considering he got unlucky in the BABIP department, we should see a bump in batting average as well.
Shortstop
While shortstop is really deep at the top, it falls off pretty quickly after the top 300 picks. If you are looking for upside, though, Volpe is the answer. He may not make the Opening Day roster, but he has been playing a lot in spring training, and he could force the issue with a good spring. He had 21 home runs and 50 stolen bases between AA and AAA last season. The sky’s the limit for him once he is up, and there is no reason to think he won’t be fairly early.
Third Base
Steer is a really interesting prospect. He showed a decent hit tool in the minors and good pop. It appears he is entering the season as the full-time third baseman in Cincinnati, which is one of the best parks in baseball for power. I do worry that he has a hole in his swing at the top of the zone that could be exposed, but he will get plenty of runs, and there is a nice upside if he can prove he can hit the high fastball.
Outfield
If you have been following my articles here on FantasyPros, you know how much I love TJ Friedl this season. He has power and speed and could lead off in Cincinnati, which is a great park for him. I think there is 25/25 upside here if he can keep a full-time role.
Starting Pitcher
Suarez has been dramatically undervalued in drafts so far this season. He made a mid-season pitch mix change, and it resulted in a 2.81 ERA and a 1.02 WHIP in the second half. He has a rotation spot locked up and a pretty nice schedule to start off the season with an opening series at Oakland. He is my most rostered pitcher thus far.
Relief Pitcher
With Gregory Soto traded to Philadelphia, the Tigers’ closer job is wide open, and it appears that Lange has the leg up on the job. Last year he had a 3.41 ERA and a 30% strikeout rate, and there is not much concern that anyone else on the Tigers is a real threat to him as long as he can keep the walk rate in check.
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