2025 Overvalued MLS Fantasy Players

Navigating the dynamic pricing structure in MLS Fantasy is one of the game’s most unique, and often challenging, aspects, especially early in the season. Identifying overvalued players is just as crucial as finding bargains if you want to maximize your budget and build a winning team. Player prices fluctuate weekly based on their point performance relative to their current price. While the exact factors influencing the pricing algorithm remain a mystery, general consensus suggests a major factor is a player’s performance over the previous three weeks relative to their current price.

For example, if Lionel Messi is $10m and scores 10, 14, and 12 points in consecutive weeks, his price will rise. Conversely, if he puts up a 9, 4, and 2, his price will likely drop—as long as he’s not already at the minimum of $4m. The start of the season is ripe with price discrepancies, and I’m here to help you navigate them.

 

 

Keepers

Chris Brady ($6.8m)

Brady and the Chicago Fire went up in flames last season, finishing dead last in the Eastern Conference and conceding 62 goals through 34 matches. With Gregg Berhalter taking over and adding a group of well-experienced, quality players, I expect Chicago to be improved in 2025. However, with the goalkeeper position already looking pricey, spending nearly $7m of your starting budget on Brady doesn’t seem like the key to fantasy success.

Defenders

Steven Moreira ($7.3m)

Steven Moreira is a solid defender, but with limited paths to points for center backs, he’s nowhere near worth $7.3m when it comes to fantasy—at least not this early in the season. If you want a piece of Columbus’ defense, you can grab Rudy Camacho ($6.5m) or Malte Amundsen ($6.8m) who will give you roughly the same returns. So, unless you’ve got a gut feeling that Moreira’s due for a hat trick, it’s best to steer clear if you’re aiming to maximize value. 

DEF – Adilson Malanda ($7m)

How times change. Last season, Malanda was the best value defender in gameweek one, and now, just a year later, he’s starring in an article about being overvalued. Sure, he’s a great defender, and Charlotte will contend for the best defense in the league again this year, but there’s no point in spending $7m on him when you can pick Tim Ream and save $1m of your precious early-season budget. 

DEF – Franco Escobar ($6.8m)

Coco Carrasquilla, Hector Herrera, Steve Clark and Micael are all gone, and while Houston has brought in a few replacements, it’s safe to say that their defense won’t be as solid as it was last season, when they conceded just 39 goals. Picking Escobar at $6.8m isn’t worth it—no matter how you spin it. Dynamo won’t keep 9 clean sheets again this year, and Escobar likely won’t offer much going forward.

Midfielders

Aleksey Miranchuk ($8m)

When Miranchuk first joined Atlanta United, expectations were high. While he showed his quality at times near the end of the season, I don’t think many were impressed with his debut season in MLS. He’ll have his moments of magic this season, sure,  but I would much rather pay $0.5m more to get Miguel Almiron, or just roll with the cheaper option in Saba Lobjanidze at $7.3m.

Sergio Busquets ($7.5m)

Busquets is a legend, but when it comes to fantasy, he just doesn’t offer much—and that $7.5m price tag should make it easy to leave him out of your team. The former Barcelona man rarely gets involved in the attack, and like center backs, defensive midfielders have a tough time picking up fantasy points. Skip Busquets and look to players at similar price points, such as Robin Lod, Diego Luna, and Martin Ojeda.

Lorenzo Insigne ($7.8m)

Insigne in MLS has been an absolute disaster, yet some people still believe he’ll turn it around. Spoiler alert: he won’t. Outside of a few screamers, he’s been wildly inconsistent. Pair that inconsistency with his toxic attitude, and you have one of the biggest DP flops in MLS history. Priced at $7.8m, I’m more than happy to leave him out of my team—and you should be too. 

Forwards

Petar Musa ($8.5m)

I’d be much lower on Musa if I had written this before knowing that he’d be playing with Lucho Acosta. However, I still think his $8.5m price tag is too high to justify a spot in your team this early in the season. Once budgets are a bit more flexible, Musa should be a great option. For now, though, you can find better value in players like Gabriel Pec, Diego Rossi, and Chicho Arango. 

Wilfried Zaha ($8.5m)

Zaha is a big name, and he joins Charlotte FC with lots of hype surrounding him. I don’t think he’ll live up to it. He’s a 32 year-old wide player who has hardly played any matches in the past year, so it’s hard for me to expect much from him. Even if he does perform, I still prefer other forwards at this price point, like Kévin Denkey, Christian Benteke, and others. He’ll have some great moments, but I don’t think he offers much value heading into the season. 

Jordan Morris ($7.8m)

Morris is coming off a solid 2024 season, scoring 14 goals in 34 league matches. Seattle has a really exciting squad this year, so I wouldn’t say he’s a bad option. But here’s my question: why not find $0.2m and bring in Jesus Ferreira at $8m? He’ll be a lot more involved in general play and I can nearly guarantee that Ferreira will have more fantasy points than Morris by the end of the season. Instead of picking Morris I recommend finding the extra cash for Ferreira, or a more consistent, similarly-priced forward like Rossi or Kelvin Yeboah. 

 

Contributor: Eli Redpath, @vurkes on Discord