This is a companion piece to our 2025 Dynasty League Rankings. The opinions below are my own and do not reflect the TDG consensus.

JOSH JUNG, TEXAS RANGERS (AGE: 26, RANK: 14)

For this feature to be helpful advice to dynasty managers, I am going to limit myself to a player we have ranked in our top fifteen.  These are the players you will be looking to roster as primary third basemen in a standard 15-team league so it’s important to identify the potential landmines in this field. There are very obvious choices of players to avoid further down the list, such as Ke’Bryan Hayes, Deyvison De Los Santos and of course, he who will not be named. With all of that in mind, my choice for the player to avoid, given the trade capital or trade value it will take to get him, is our 14th-ranked third baseman, Texas Ranger, Josh Jung.

Jung had a good year in 2023, with 23 home runs and 70 runs batted in (.467 SLG), but I don’t see enough reasons to believe he’s going to be able to repeat or even surpass that. He followed up with an injury shortened 2024, a year in which he had seven home runs, 16 runs batted in, and a .421 slugging average.  Even accounting for a shortened season, that drop in slugging average is not enticing.

When healthy, Jung does not take enough pitches to walk and his OBP is going to weigh down a fantasy team. That’s acceptable when a player is also providing 35+ home runs and 90+ RBI, but that’s not the case with Jung. If you look further down the list for players who will hit as many home runs as Jung with a higher OBP, you’ll see Max Muncy, Eugenio Suárez and Christopher Morel.

Of course, the biggest cloud on the horizon is his injury history.  Here’s the list of injuries since he’s debuted in the majors:

April 2023: Hand

August 2023: Thumb Fracture

April 2024: Wrist fracture

September 2024: Wrist tendonitis

It is important to note that he missed significant time due to injuries in his last two years in the minor leagues as well (foot in 2021, shoulder in 2022).  Fractures are flukes and players who do not lead the league in HBP are not “prone” to fractures, but the fact that he’s had so many problems in his hands and wrists, including tendonitis in the same wrist that was fractured last spring, has to make one wonder about the impact on his power. The Rangers are saying all the right things about Jung’s health lately, but that’s what teams do. If a fantasy manager does want to buy the lottery ticket and roster Josh Jung, my advice is to have reliable depth on the bench.

(Drew Klein)