Fantasy Baseball Dynasty Top 700 Rankings & Trade Value Version 2.26

This week: Two pitching trade targets for rebuilding dynasty managers, plus a look at Gavin Sheets' breakout season at the plate.

Jul 16, 2025

New in this week’s Top 700 Dynasty update, an in-depth look at Gavin Sheets’ breakout season at the plate, plus more on why fantasy managers should consider Jordan Hicks.

Elsewhere, why Joe Boyle is worth a look for fantasy managers who are currently rebuilding. All that after this week’s Top 700.

(A quick note, if you’re having trouble reading the table in full in the Substack app, it can be viewed in full either in the email or in a web browser.)

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Jordan Hicks (#424, 27 trade value).

Hicks was featured in this column just a month ago following his trade to Boston from the San Francisco Giants.

In short? His fantasy ceiling didn’t seem quite as high, going from starting half his games in San Francisco’s extremely pitcher-friendly ballpark to the comparatively not-so-pitcher-friendly Fenway Park.

But that was then, and this is now.

The Red Sox have shifted Hicks back to the bullpen, somewhere where he’s thrived in the past.

Hicks pitched to a 3.29 ERA and a 3.22 FIP in 65 appearances spanning 65.2 innings back in 2023, logging three pitcher wins, 12 saves and 13 holds in the process. The 28-year-old logged a 28.4% strikeout rate, an 11.2% walk rate, held batters to a .229 average, a 35.7% hard-hit rate and a 5.4% barrel rate that year.

Walks have been a problem at times, but for his career as a reliever, the right-hander is sporting a 3.75 ERA and a 3.82 FIP while holding opposing batters to a .287 wOBA. His career ground ball rate, whether pitching as a reliever or a starter, sits at 57.0%.

Hicks has already recorded a save in his first four appearances with the Red Sox and is the ideal reliever to take a flier on for rebuilding dynasty teams, especially considering Aroldis Chapman is a free agent after the season, per Spotrac.

Gavin Sheets (#331, 30 trade value)

Last season, the San Diego Padres had to replace Juan Soto in their lineup. Jackson Merrill’s breakout season certainly helped, but the National League West franchise got key contributions from Jurickson Profar and Luis Arraez in filling out the lineup and adding depth.

Heading into this season, that lineup depth was tested once again with Profar departing for Atlanta via free agency and Ha-Seong Kim signing with the Tampa Bay Rays.

Enter Gavin Sheets.

Sheets flashed power potential in his four years with the Chicago White Sox from 2021 through 2024. He logged a 123 wRC+, 11 home runs and a .256 ISO in 179 plate appearances as a rookie in 2021 and reached double-digit home runs each year. However, he never topped 15 home runs in a season with the White Sox.

And while he didn’t have a breakout season in Chicago, he’s doing just that in San Diego with the Padres.

Sheets is batting .265 with a .324 on-base percentage in the first half, ranking in the 82^nd percentile or higher in xwOBA, xBA, xSLG, hard-hit rate and average bat speed.

And while Petco Park won’t do him many favors long-term, Sheets is simply hitting the ball harder. His chase rate and whiff rates are all reasonably in line with what he’s usually done.

What’s not in line with what he’s usually done, and is markedly better, is the average bat speed.

Gavin Sheets Since 2021

2021: 29.6% chase rate, 20.6% whiff rate, 46.3 GB%, 19.8 LD%, .395 xwOBAcon
2022: 33.2% chase rate, 21.9% whiff rate, 41.2 GB%, 23.5 LD%, .325 xwOBAcon
2023: 29.7% chase rate, 21.7% whiff rate, 37.8 GB%, 23.7 LD%, .291 xwOBAcon
2024: 32.4% chase rate, 23.0% whiff rate, 37.1 GB%, 31.6 LD%, .353 xwOBAcon
2025: 30.6% chase rate, 23.1% whiff rate, 35.7 GB%, 31.3 LD%, .427 xwOBAcon

Sheets posted a 72.8 MPH average bat speed in 2023. That number was a reasonably similar 72.7 MPH in 2024.

This year? It’s 74.6 MPH, good for ranking in the 86^th percentile league-wide.

Sheets, per Spotrac, is a free agent after the 2027 season. He should remain a fixture in the Padres lineup for the next few years and could push for 25 home runs this season.

Joe Boyle (#461, 26 trade value).

Like Hicks, Boyle is an ideal trade target for dynasty managers currently rebuilding or reshuffling their roster.

The 25-year-old has always logged quality Stuff+ numbers. Per FanGraphs, Boyle posted a 110 Stuff+ number in 16 Major League innings in 2023. His Stuff+ number was 105 in 47.2 innings last season and is at 107 in 14 Major League innings so far this season.

He’s spent much of the year in the minors so far, but has recently operated in something of a bulk relief role, pitching after Drew Rasmussen as Tampa Bay looks to limit the latter’s innings at times this season.

And while it remains to be seen just how many innings Boyle will log the rest of the way, he’s flashed considerable upside so far. Upside that should eventually land him in Tampa Bay’s rotation full time, even if that’s not until next season.

The former Athletics hurler has pitched to a 1.29 ERA and a 2.22 FIP in 14 innings this season, striking out 15 batters and scattering five walks, five hits and two earned runs.

Per Spotrac, Zack Littell is a free agent after the season, and Tampa Bay does have a history of trading away controllable starters. Though it remains to be seen what they’ll do at the trade deadline this year or during the winter.

Either way, now’s the time to add Joe Boyle to your dynasty roster if you have the roster space. He might not contribute consistently to a winning fantasy team now, but he has notable upside if he can stick in Tampa Bay’s rotation long-term.

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.