Fantasy Baseball Dynasty Top 700 Rankings & Trade Value Version 2.25
This week: We should be talking about Mike Burrows' early-season success, plus a look at Tarik Skubal's dominance and why you shouldn't be worried about Jordan Westburg's slower start.
New this week: An in-depth look at Tarik Skubal’s dominance so far (spoilers: he’s been even better this year compared to last year). Plus, a look at Mike Burrows’ early-season numbers (you might want him on your fantasy team moving forward) and a breakdown of Jordan Westburg’s early-season numbers.
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Mike Burrows (#340, 30 trade value).
The Pittsburgh Pirates have a ton of starting pitching depth long-term. And quality pitching depth. Depth, options, whatever vernacular you want to utilize, the Pirates have a bunch of potentially very good pitchers long-term.
You’ve heard of Paul Skenes, no doubt, who is very good right now.
Jared Jones is currently on the 60-day injured list, but looks like a frontline starting pitcher in the future There’s elite pitching prospect Bubba Chandler. Hunter Barco and Thomas Harrington are at Triple-A, Braxton Ashcraft has made his Major League debut and showed promise. And that’s all without mentioning Mitch Keller – if he isn’t traded in the coming weeks – who is in the midst of a career year.
Mike Burrows might be pitching himself into that conversation and that long-term rotation.
The 25-year-old has pitched to a 3.63 ERA and a 4.52 FIP in nine appearances (eight starts) spanning 39.2 innings for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
He may have just the one pitcher win so far, but much of that might be attributed to Pittsburgh’s struggling lineup.
Plus, Burrows’ run-prevention numbers might be down to a couple of poor outings. Outings that were the first two of the right-hander’s career.
In seven appearances (six starts) since then, the right-hander has pitched to a 2.30 ERA and a 3.50 FIP in 31.1 innings of work, adding a 27.5% strikeout rate and a 7.6% walk rate in the process.
It’s a small sample size to be sure, but it’s a promising start to the rookie’s Major League career. And after a season last year in which we (rightfully so) talked about so many rookie pitchers making an impact, Skenes prominent among them, we probably should be talking about Burrows more this year.
Speaking of last year, if Burrows had posted those strikeout and walk rate numbers in enough innings to qualify, his strikeout rate would’ve ranked 11th and his K-BB% would’ve ranked 15th among qualified starters in 2024.
Tarik Skubal (#15, 80 trade value).
Speaking of strong pitching, Tarik Skubal has been better than ever this season. If the season were to end today, he’d log new career bests in strikeout rate, walk rate, WHIP, ERA and FIP.
He also, as it happens, ranks in the 92nd percentile or better in each of the following categories: xERA, xBA, average exit velocity, chase rate, whiff rate, strikeout rate, walk rate and hard-hit rate.
This has no bearing on fantasy scoring, but Skubal logged a 5.9 fWAR in 192 innings last season en route to winning the American League Cy Young.
He’s at a 4.7 fWAR through 18 starts and 116 innings pitched so far this season.
Today, I should point out, is July 8. We’re not even at the All-Star break.
Skubal continues to cement himself as the best fantasy pitcher in the sport. That he’s only continued to get better is a scary proposition moving forward for those without Skubal on their fantasy roster.
Jordan Westburg (#116, 47 trade value).
Following last season in which he logged eerily similar quality of contact numbers to Bryce Harper in 2024, Westburg has missed time due to injury so far.
Jordan Westburg in 2024: .353 xwOBA, .281 xBA, .491 xSLG, 11.8% barrel rate, 46.1% hard-hit rate, 21.7% strikeout rate.
Bryce Harper in 2024: .357 xwOBA, .267 xBA, .474 xSLG, 10.6% barrel rate, 48.2% hard-hit rate, 21.9% strikeout rate.
Entering play Tuesday, Westburg had logged just 156 plate appearances for the Baltimore Orioles.
And while some fantasy managers might be concerned long-term that the infielder is hitting just .243 with a .301 on-base percentage after hitting between .259 and .265 with on-base percentage numbers of .311 and .312, respectively in 2023 and 2024, you shouldn’t be.
Because while the batting average could certainly be better, Westburg has been hitting for more power so far, even in the smaller sample size.
The 26-year-old entered play Tuesday with nine home runs, a .236 ISO and a 14.3% barrel rate in 156 plate appearances.
Perhaps most importantly, he’s logging that barrel rate in tandem with decidedly above-average xwOBA (.346) and chase rate (24.9%) numbers.
If anything, Westburg’s 2025 numbers, albeit in a smaller sample size, are all the more encouraging for the infielder’s fantasy ceiling moving forward.
He’s an ideal player to trade for at the moment in the right deal as other fantasy managers might have a lower perceived trade value of the infielder.
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.
Also, a quick note on prospects:
Proximity matters. Upside is obviously king here, but proximity to the Majors matters here as well with prospects, at least from a fantasy standpoint. It can be a bit of a tie-breaker with prospects with similar upside but at different minor league levels. Furthermore, the farther away a prospect is from the Majors, the more it impacts their fantasy trade value.
Of course, that’s not going to have much of a difference with elite prospects in the low minors like Ethan Salas or Max Clark, but it’s why some prospects who aren’t necessarily in the upper echelon of fantasy prospects, may have a lower trade value number in dynasty formats than a lower ceiling player already in the Majors who is guaranteed to provide MLB (and fantasy) production at least in the coming years.
Last week’s rankings and analysis:
New Weekly Column Alert! (Check out Week 1’s column for free!) Really excited about this!
The Most Recent 50 Relievers Of Note:
Also:
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