3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Players to Avoid on 4/4/17

Jake Arrieta, SP, Chicago Cubs

FanDuel Price: $10,500

On a slate lacking many aces, Jake Arrieta shakes out as the most expensive pitcher and the only one above $10,000 on FanDuel. Given that the other top options are Carlos Carrasco (shaky spring), Johnny Cueto (lacks upside), and Lance McCullers (volatile), it would be hard to blame you if go with Arrieta as the "safest" play.

But how safe is he really? Arrieta had a bit of a down year last year with a 3.94 SIERA, along with a 23.9% strikeout rate and an elevated 9.6% walk rate. The walks are certainly a concern, and while it's still a strong strikeout rate, it's not exactly along the lines of Noah Syndergaard or Stephen Strasburg, who were in this price range yesterday. Simply put, these aren't exactly ace-level numbers.

Furthermore, Arrieta is facing off against the St. Louis Cardinals, who had a 107 wRC+ against right-handers last year and struck out close to league average (21.1%). They're hardly a bunch of scrubs.

When you're paying this much for a pitcher, you really want to be confident in your investment. But at this price you're paying for 2015 Arrieta, and it's too early to know if he'll be walking through that door this season. Until he proves he's worth it or his price goes down, the safe play may be to take a wait-and-see approach and spend your salary elsewhere.