Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleepers: Jarren Duran, Willy Adames, Jorge Polanco (2024)

One of the primary goals for every fantasy baseball manager ahead of their drafts should be to find players who return a hefty return on their draft day investment. For most fantasy drafts, that investment is their average draft position (ADP). You can dominate your draft by identifying which guys have the highest chance of providing the most value every time you’re up to pick. This becomes more important the deeper you go into the draft, as late-round players will either be duds who you’ll drop within a few weeks, decent contributors who outperform expectations and stick around on your roster for most of the season, or studs who can boost your title chances.

We asked our experts to provide their favorite early fantasy baseball sleepers. Here are all of their top fantasy baseball draft sleepers. Below we dive into a few notable names.

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Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleepers

Jarren Duran (OF – BOS)

“Jarren Duran is the definition of a post-hype sleeper. There are rumors of him possibly being traded to San Diego, but as of now, he is still a member of the Red Sox. If he stays a member of the Red Sox, we’ve heard Alex Cora say that he expects Duran to bat leadoff. Expect strong production across the board from Duran.”
– Corey Pieper (Fantasy Six Pack)

“Boston Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran is one of my favorite sleepers in 2024. He is currently ranked 178th in the latest FantasyPros consensus rankings and could easily smash his NFBC ADP of 177. The 27-year-old slashed .295/.346/.482 with eight home runs, 40 RBI, 46 runs, and 24 stolen bases over 361 plate appearances in 2023. His 46.3% hard-hit percentage is in the 77th percentile, while his sprint speed is in the 96th percentile. He is expected to fully recover from toe surgery that prematurely ended his season. Duran is projected to be Boston’s leadoff hitter and could easily pop 15 homers and steal 30 bases in 2024, making him one of my favorite value picks after 150. ”
– Brad Camara (RotoBaller)

Willy Adames (SS – MIL)

“Willy Adames posted a career-low .217 batting average last season, 30 points below his .247 career average. Blame it on an abnormally low .259 batting average on balls in play was only .259, which was well below his career .310 BABIP. Power is a given with Adames, who’s averaged 26.7 home runs and 83.7 RBI over the last three seasons and plays in a homer-friendly park in Milwaukee. Factor in a likely bounce in batting average, and Adames looks like a screaming value at an overall ADP of 169.”
– Pat Fitzmaurice (FantasyPros)

Jorge Polanco (2B – SEA)

“Jorge Polanco is a sleeper at ECR of 222. A hamstring injury hampered his 2023 season, but he ended with 14 home runs and 48 RBI in 80 games. That’s a conservative 24-homer, 84-rbi pace over 140 games. An offseason trade to Seattle should boost his production as he’s currently projected to bat third between Julio Rodriguez and Mitch Garver in a home ballpark that could be a power boost according to Statcast data. If he can stay healthy, we could see his best fantasy season since 2021.”
– Tristan Davis (SEMO Fantasy Sports Podcast)