Rolling In The Deep: Looking (Way) Ahead

In honor of the actual break in the middle of the Major League Baseball season, I thought I’d take my own little break from scouring the bottom of the free agent barrel for some deep league morsels, and take more of a general look towards the fantasy baseball future. Instead of concentrating on the second half of 2025, however, I’m looking at the current landscape and using it to predict a handful of players who I’m already thinking I may be targeting heading into next season. These aren’t necessarily guys who are already creeping up my “must have for next year” list like Brent Rooker and Bryan Woo were doing late last summer (it wasn’t all good times with that list, as I also got way too invested in Luis Garcia). They’re more like players that I think are currently undervalued given their recent play, and who I’m guessing may continue to be at least somewhat undervalued come draft season. Obviously, lots could change this, as an ugly second half will likely scare me off, and a stellar one may inflate the player’s price to a point where I’ll be less inclined to buy in by spring of 2026. (When it comes to the latter, the best example I can think of for last year’s version of this is Mark Vientos. By the end of last year, I thought I’d have him on every team in 2025, but — thankfully, based on his performance so far this year — his price was so much higher than I’d expected it to be come draft day that I only grabbed a share or two).

Michael Busch. Busch was one of my top targets this season, yet I still managed to give up on him too soon in one of my RCLs. I think I’ll blame that one on my own poor scouting of the tiniest sample size 2-game series in Japan that I watched at 3 a.m. my time? But no matter what I blame it on, it was a dumb decision that I don’t know why I made after being so high on the guy for months heading into my drafts. I also benched Busch in a couple of my draft and hold leagues during weeks where he ended up having more production than most of the rest of my team combined. Not ideal. Anyhow, I guess what I’m hoping is that others remember some of the bad times with Busch next year as well, and that this helps deflate his price a bit. I don’t think anyone can expect the Cubs to have the same level of offensive output next year that they’ve accomplished so far this season, but I’m prepared to invest in Busch again even if he has some drop-off in the second half of 2026. (And I suppose drop off should be expected, given that he currently sits at an impressive #3 amongst all first basemen on the Razzball player rater). This is Busch’s age 27 year, so someday we’ll see if it also ends up being his peak MLB season, but looking ahead, I’m already envisioning him on multiple teams for me next year if the price is as reasonable as I hope it’ll be.

Spencer Torkelson. I may not be quite as high on Torkelson for next year as I already am on Busch, but I’m still putting him on my early potential targets for 2026 list. He, too, has been even better than I’d realized this year, checking in as the #5 first baseman on the player rater, fueled largely by his 21 homers. His current .234 average (and lifetime .224 average) is enough of a concern that I’m going to pay close attention to him in the second half, as he’s someone who I haven’t actually watched play much this year and I want to get a better idea of how he’s been looking at the plate with my own eyes. I’m thinking that even if he has an excellent second half in terms of power, enough folks may still be feeling the burn of his disastrous 2023 to suppress his price next year… and let’s all remember that he’s still just 25.

Kyle Stowers. The fact that Stowers is “only” 81% owned in CBS leagues is what already has me thinking he may get underdrafted next year. I mean, it’s hard for me to believe that, regardless of format, one in five leagues couldn’t use an All Star outfielder that put together a first half where he hit .293 with 19 homers, 54 RBI, and chipped in 4 steals while he was at it. If playing for the Marlins keeps guys even a little more under the radar in the fantasy world, I’m more than happy to take advantage of it. Like Busch, Stowers is 27, so also like Busch, it’s quite possible that the first half of 2025 will be his career peak in terms of production. Let’s keep in mind, though, that Stowers was a legitimate prospect when the Orioles traded him, and that he’s not just a guy that the Marlins grabbed off waivers to save money when he’d been discarded by another team. So far this year, Stowers has done a very effective job of convincing me that the Orioles made a huge mistake not only in letting him go, but by not giving him a legit chance before they did.

Brandon Lowe. Yes, I’m already thinking about targeting a player who is always hurt, and is hurt as we speak, with an oblique issue that will likely keep him out of action for an extended time, no less. Lowe is one of those guys who I’d have to have just the right roster construction to gamble on in a deep league, but who might make a lot of sense in standard mixed leagues, or any league that you have him backed up properly on your roster. In a shallow league like an RCL, he would have made an ideal play this season, as if you’d stuck him at your second base spot and forgot about it for the first half, you’d have a very helpful .272 average out of the position so far to go with 19 home runs. At this point, you can IL if not drop him completely, find a second baseman for the second half (or stream the rest of the season). Perhaps in doing so, you could pick up some of the steals you missed by drafting a second baseman who doesn’t run, if you hadn’t already accounted for that via the rest of your active roster. By the end of the year, you should have a pretty stellar set of stats out of the position, and I’m already thinking that a similar scenario could be in play for 2026.

Ronny Mauricio. Mauricio may be the player I’m most likely to change my mind about by next year, but I’ve had a renewed interest in him after watching quite a few Mets games over the last month or so. It’s hard to say how much further along Mauricio would be now if he hadn’t torn his ACL, but who knows? Maybe the timing will end up working out for him in the long run. I say this mostly because of the report coming out from New York that Mauricio is working closely with Juan Soto in an attempt to improve his plate discipline, and to make better choices in terms of which pitches to go after and which to lay off of. This doesn’t necessarily seem like something one player can easily teach another quickly, but I’m intrigued enough by Mauricio’s interest in improving his approach that he’s on my watch list. Among Mauricio, Vientos, and Brett Baty, the Mets have given us some major fantasy teases in the infield the last couple of seasons, so I want to be ready to believe in case one of them finally takes it to the next level for the long term. It seems like they should all be more motivated than ever as we approach the trade deadline with the Mets trying to figure out who they need to add, and which of the players currently on their team belong where, as they try to prove they’ve put a championship-caliber team together this year.

Noelvi Marte. Like the Mets, the Reds have had a cluster of talented young infielders fighting to successfully establish themselves as the major league level for a couple of years now, with lots of arrested development due to things like injury, inconsistent play, and, in Marte’s case, a suspension. But while Christian Encarnacion-Strand has been sent to the minors for more seasoning and Matt McLain has been wildly inconsistent and at times not looked like a major leaguer himself, Marte has been relatively quietly putting up some very impressive hitting numbers. His average is at .284, and he already has 6 homers and 5 steals in just 28 games played. It seems like forever ago that Marte came over in the Luis Castillo trade, yet Marte is still only 23 years old. We’ll see what the second half brings and if it’s enough for his price to absolutely skyrocket next year, but I’m thinking it may land at a place where I’ll be interested in investing in multiple 2026 shares.

Hope you all enjoyed the break, and are ready to dive back into two and a half more months of baseball!