At the mid-point of the season, there’s all sorts of hype surrounding both the 2017 All Star Game and the variety of lists lauding the First-Half Fantasy Baseball All Stars. Well, for every yin there’s a yang and it’s time to vent; time to hold those who have disappointed us accountable. Now that I look at it, even the word “disappointed” is disappointing. Let’s get mean. Let’s get nasty. These guys have screwed us over the last three months and there’s nothing more cathartic than really laying into them for the mountains of crap they’ve piled onto our fantasy teams. It’s time to take a look at the 2017 First-Half All-Bust Team for fantasy baseball.

C: Jonathan Lucroy, TEX – Ugh. Where the hell did this guy go? He was the third catcher off the board in virtually every draft because of his potential to not only hit 20 home runs, but to also post a batting average at least north of .270. He’s not even close to either mark this season nor does it look like he’s even on his way to turning things around. Kudos to him for not striking out, but a .255 average and four home runs is garbage considering his Draft Day price and such a hitter-friendly home park. Apologies to every fantasy owner I told to just wait it out back in May. We should have known then that he wasn’t going to deliver.

1B: Miguel Cabrera, DET – Yep, it’s that classic analogy to a game of musical chairs where no fantasy owner wanted to be left without a seat once the Miggy music stopped playing. And yet, here we are looking at the consummate first-round bust. Despite dropping to the back-end of the round, we still expected Miggy to provide a strong home run and RBI total while also hitting somewhere in the .300 range. His 11 home runs and 39 RBI aren’t too terrible (well, yeah they are for a first-rounder), but this .263 average is atrocious and his .185 ISO is a career-low. The numbers are down across the board here and while you don’t want to rule him out for some sort of a second-half rebound, relying on him to do so would be a mistake.

2B: Jonathan Villar, MIL – How about an “I told you so” here? And not just me, but almost every fantasy baseball pundit warned you that Villar’s 2016 was most-likely the outlier and not the springboard for some monstrous career boost. You don’t go from being a part-time utility man to a 19-homer, 62-steal sensation overnight unless you’re juicing and since he hadn’t tested positive for any illegal substances, you really had to question the production’s sustainability. Those numbers, plus the panic that ensued over a stolen base shortage that never presented itself, raised his ADP to 30.57 (Mock Draft Army) and left his owners scratching their heads as his .208 average and 15-steal return should be considered criminal for what you paid for him. Any hope of a resurgence is tied to his 31.4-percent strikeout rate, so good luck with that.  

3B: Alex Bregman, HOU – What happened to all that juicy power we were expecting? After watching Bregman smack 20 homers in the minors and then another eight in the majors to post a .214 ISO, his slow start and tally of just eight homers to date has been a massive disappointment. His ADP had him inside the top-100 overall, the eighth third baseman off the board, and some were even taking the youngster as early as 42nd overall. He’s shown some improved plate discipline as the season has progressed, but from a value standpoint, the juice has not been worth the squeeze. You dynasty owners can carry the torch for him in the future, but from the re-draft perspective, he’s barely run-of-the-mill.

SS: Dansby Swanson, ATL – OK, so my second “I told you so,” as you were warned very early on that Swanson profiled as one of those players who was going to be great for real-life baseball but not for the fantasy game. His hype and prospect rating all stemmed from his glove and there was nothing in his batted ball data to indicate he would either hit for power or steal any bases. Many elevated his ADP based on his name and ranking by Baseball America, but few really studied the numbers or the batting profile. Let this be a lesson to all you prospect hounds who are way too caught up in being the first to “discover” a rookie. It takes a lot more than just picking a guy because scouts say he’ll be good.

OF: Carlos Gonzalez, COL – Remember that game of musical chairs? Well here it is again as CarGo drifts into the vast sea of under-performing outfielders you paid too high a price for on draft day. We recognized the power drop-off and no one expected him to blast 40-plus homers again, but with the Coors Effect (as evidenced by his splits), there was at least hope of a mildly productive season based on where he was drafted. His .122 ISO flat-out stinks and hasn’t been this low since he saw 316 plate appearances for the A’s back in 2008. What’s worse is that you can’t even trade the guy unless you’re willing to accept 10 cents on the dollar which, at this point, might actually be worth it.

OF: Kyle Schwarber, CHC – I was tempted to put him in as the catcher here considering the shit-storm that enveloped us in the preseason when he was granted an injury exception and given catcher eligibility in some leagues, but I refrained from beating that dead horse. But no matter what position you’re talking about Schwarber has been an enormous bust this season. In truth, this should hardly be a surprise, especially if you ever watched him play. His strikeout rate was awful and while he obviously has decent raw power, he has absolutely no idea how to harness it properly. So much attention went to a walk he took in the World Series as it helped the Cubs rally for the title and all that did was create unrealistic expectations. The Cubs had no choice but to demote him and now here today (Thursday, July 6) all eyes will be on him now that they brought him back up so quickly. I’m guessing a nice 0-for-4 with three strikeouts to start.

OF: Starling Marte, PIT – Well you didn’t think we were going to let him slide because he was suspended, did you? Come on. This jackass screwed over fantasy owners in the worst possible way as he got busted for PEDs (read: cheating) and missed all but 13 games in the first half. Not only that, but he also sucked in those 13 games as he hit just .241 with two home runs and only two stolen bases. Marte was taken inside the top-20 overall in most drafts as owners expected double-digit home runs and 30-plus stolen bases by the end of the season. He’ll be lucky to reach 10 homers and 20 steals by year end and that’s actually being generous.

AL SP: Masahiro Tanaka, NYY – While there was a built-in hesitancy with drafting Tanaka due to the partially torn UCL, he was still being taken inside the top-20 of starting pitchers and inside the top-100 overall. Well, the elbow is still intact and the strikeout rate has increased, but so have the home runs allowed and subsequently, the ERA (5.25) and WHIP (1.36) as well. The HR/FB rate has nearly doubled from last season and while the xFIP sits at 3.83, the inconsistency and the abusiveness of some of his blow-ups has been really hard on fantasy owners and their numbers. The increased swinging strike rate is nice as it means he’s missing more bats, but when hitters do make contact, they’ve just been wrecking him. We can’t deny that he’s looked great in his last three starts, so maybe there is a turnaround coming, but that needs to be one hell of a turnaround to wipe out all the damage he’s already done.

NL SP: Julio Teheran, ATL – His ADP was right around where Tanaka’s was and Teheran has been equally disappointing. It’s all about the home/road splits here as we’ve learned that Sun Trust Park is hitter-friendly and gives a massive boost to left-handed power hitters. That fact has brutalized Teheran and it’s to the point where he’s just like a Rockies starter – use him on the road but keep him on your bench when he’s at home. Now while those road numbers have helped balance his overall totals, the fact that you can’t start him for half his games makes him a huge fantasy bust for where he was drafted. You should never have to play the match-ups with a top-20 starter. Never.

CL: Zach Britton, BAL – While I hate to cite a guy as a bust due to injury, Britton lands here because of where he was drafted. I suppose a case could also be made for Aroldis Chapman, but we were dealing with Britton’s injuries even in the preseason when he first injured his oblique. That injury helped spawn the rest of his troubles and now with the first half gone and you have just five saves and 10 innings pitched to show for it, you just want to hang your head and abandon all hope for relief pitchers in the future. He’s just come back from the DL this week, but Brad Brach owners might want to hold onto him for a little longer as we’ve seen Britton come off the DL and go right back on earlier this year.