Fantasy Baseball 2025 Redraft Top 500 Rankings & Trade Value Version 1.0
It's never too early to start draft prep.
The first 2025 fantasy baseball rankings are finally here! Highly anticipated, hot off the press and here for the sole reason to help you win your league in 2025, as well as all your fantasy baseball trades along the way.
It really never is too early to start 2025 draft prep, so let’s dispense with the preamble and dive right into the rankings.
Ok, a slight bit of preamble, these rankings will be updated every Thursday, whether it’s the offseason, Spring Training or the regular season.
Curious how recent off-season moves impact next season’s fantasy outlook? These are the rankings (and columns/analysis) for you.
Looking for under-the-radar prospects to circle and underscore on your draft big board as potential under-the-radar league winners? I’ve got you covered there as well.
Maybe you’re looking to swing a trade that could be the difference in winning a fantasy championship. Whether it’s one of those things, some of them, or all of them, these continual rankings and analysis are here to help you win your league.
(If you have any questions about specific trade offers for your team or are curious about an offer you were thinking of sending out, becoming a paid subscriber grants you daily access to my fantasy help chat where I’ll be answering all of your fantasy baseball questions every weekday, whether it’s offseason, the regular season or the fantasy playoffs.)
Anthony Santander (ranked 123rd with a 63 trade value). I’m probably lower on him than most. If he’s playing 1B, that maybe changes things, a bit considering he’d have eligibility at both first base and in the outfield. But while his power season was excellent on paper, he also logged just a .328 xwOBA and a .370 xwOBAcon.
Tanner Scott (128th with a 63 trade value). He’ll jump into the top 80 potentially if he’s closing with a new team – assuming he signs with a new team. That happens when you finish in the 88th percentile in ground ball rate (52.0%), the 86th percentile in strikeout rate (28.6%), the 84th percentile in chase rate (31.9%) and the 90th percentile or better in all of the following: xERA, xBA, fastball velocity, average exit velocity, whiff%, barrel% and hard-hit%.
J.D. Martinez (215th with a 29 trade value). If he has OF eligibility at any point, it’d probably change things. And while he was better than his initial numbers would suggest due to underlying data, I’d prefer the utility spot to either be used to rotate hitters or for a truly elite option like Shohei Ohtani. For now, Martinez is one of the best options in terms of fantasy players who are limited in upside due to either position (as is the case with Martinez), are platoon hitters (Joc Pederson and Ryan O’Hearn) or who are more above-average contributors in just one or perhaps two categories (like Luis Arraez, Brice Turang, Giancarlo Stanton and Jose Caballero).
Shea Langeliers (126th with a 63 trade value). Want a fun fact? 65 qualified batters had a barrel rate over 11% last season. Here are the only catchers on that list: Willson Contreras, Logan O’Hoppe, Langeliers, Salvador Perez and Cal Raleigh. Only Raliegh had a higher barrel rate than the A’s catcher (12.8%).
Jorge Soler (214th with a 29 trade value). Moving to Anaheim doesn’t help him here fantasy-wise. Hitting near Mike Trout and some of the Angels’ other solid young hitters (Zach Neto, Logan O’Hoppe and Nolan Schanuel, who all had a 101 wRC+ or better last year) certainly isn’t the worst-case scenario, but it’s a considerable step down from the lineup he just departed in Atlanta. With that being said, he does seem like an early July trade candidate, speculatively speaking, though the upside of that hypothetical does little to lift his fantasy ceiling at present.
Joc Pederson (297th with a 14 trade value). Pederson’s fantasy upside for next is very much team-dependent. Coming off an excellent season in Arizona where he posted a career-high .393 on-base percentage and a new personal best in stolen bases (seven), the outfielder also collected 23 home runs and a 12.5% barrel rate in 449 plate appearances. If he signs with a team where he can continue to mostly crush right-handers, his fantasy production should benefit considerably. If he joins a team and is playing every day (or, in other words, also regularly against left-handed pitching), his overall production could drop off a bit.
Coby Mayo (196th with a 40 trade value) would be ranked considerably higher on this list if there was a clear opportunity for regular playing time in Baltimore. Maybe a trade (or two, or three) opens that up. But for now, he’s ranked at 219th and not much higher based purely on the lack of opportunity. It’s a similar sentiment for Heston Kjerstad and Jackson Holiday, though Anthony Santander potentially departing as a free agent might help the former.
Pete Fairbanks (190th with a 42 trade value). Fairbanks, when healthy, looked to be the Rays’ preferred closer in 2024. But, beware the Rays bullpen usage and the likelihood that Fairbanks isn’t the primary closer. In other words, Tampa Bay has a long history of not only spreading saves around but also trading away high-leverage, late-inning relievers in recent years. See Andrew Kittridge, Jason Adam, Diego Castillo and Brooks Raley. If Fairbanks is healthy and the full-time closer in Tampa Bay, he’s one of the better fantasy options for redraft purposes. However, there are just too many potential variables where his potential workload is concerned compared to other elite closers.
Trevor Megill. At 268th (with a 19 trade value), Megill might not stand out too much. But, in the event that the Brewers trade Devin Williams (who has one year left on his contract), Megill would be a potential top-12 or better closer. The 30-year-old Megill logged a 32.8% chase rate, a 29.7% whiff rate and a 27.3% strikeout rate in 46.1 innings last season. If he can replicate those numbers next season, a top-12 fantasy closer might actually be his floor for any stretch that he’s closing.
With David Fry unlikely to play the field in 2025 after undergoing right elbow surgery this month, Bo Naylor’s fantasy upside sees a reasonably considerable bump to a spot at #341 (with a 12 trade value) Naylor struggled mightily at the plate from a quality of contact standpoint this past year, logging a .260 xwOBA and a .196 xBA, both in the first percentile league-wide. His 31.4% strikeout rate ranked in the fifth percentile. Still, Naylor logged 13 home runs and six stolen bases in 389 plate appearances and should be a decent option for counting stats in deeper leagues and those with two catchers in the starting lineup – as long as the xwOBA doesn’t crater again.
Kyle Manzardo (254th with a 25 trade value) Speaking of Cleveland, Kyle Manzardo could jump up these rankings considerably if the Guardians end up trading Josh Naylor, vacating first base for Manzardo. Stephen Vogt and company started to get Manzardo more plate appearances down the stretch and in the postseason and the former top-100 prospect won’t overwhelm with power production, but there’s top-15 upside at his position if he’s hitting regularly near Jose Ramirez and Steven Kwan.
Teoscar Hernandez (43rd with a 90 trade value). I mentioned this in the first Dynasty top 700 update last week (link below the bullet point), but if Hernandez stays in Los Angeles this winter (something that getting the qualifying offer from the Dodgers shouldn’t exactly hurt), the slugger would remain a decidedly above-average fantasy option with his propensity for loud contact in such an elite lineup. If he signs elsewhere in a decidedly weaker lineup? That’s another story. He’d still be good fantasy option, but more good and not great with so many quality fantasy outfield options out there.
Jasson Dominguez (#228 with a 17 trade value). Jasson Dominguez probably isn’t going to stay at this exact spot on the list. Of course, that’s true of many who could see their fantasy ceiling impacted by offseason transactions as we move towards the regular season, but much of Dominguez’s fantasy ceiling for 2025 is directly tied to whether or not Juan Soto returns to the Bronx. Sure, with Alex Verdugo also a free agent, Dominguez could still start alongside Aaron Judge and Soto should the latter re-sign with the Bronx Bombers. But, put Soto back on the Yankees and Dominguez’s pathway to the third starting outfield spot isn’t the clearest. The Yankees still have Trent Grisham on their roster and could utilize, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Oswaldo Cabrera or Jon Berti there. Furthermore, as a team looking to compete for a World Series, if Dominguez isn’t fully ready to go in the Majors full-time by Opening Day, another outfield addition would certainly make sense on paper, although that last bit is purely speculative on my part.
Also:
Beware the Open Roster Spot (Or lack thereof)
Oh and one more quick note, beware the open roster spot, or lack thereof rather, in trades.
While a two-for-one or even a three-for-one or four-for-two deal might line up from a trade value standpoint, the roster spots are worth considering. Essentially if you’re having to cut someone it turns into you giving up another player or players in addition to potentially the best player in the deal. It’s obviously a different story if you’re working with a flexible roster or open roster spots, but it adds another layer to deals that can potentially change the calculus of things considerably.
Related, Must-Read Reading:
The first Dynasty Update is (also) here!
