Hello, all you brave, courageous, adventure-seekers, you’ve found the wrong website. This is fantasy baseball, not fantasy role playing, unless it’s fantasy roll-playing and this is Stratomatic, but that’s still not right. Still, fantasy baseball. Good, now that we got rid of all those people wearing fedoras and shopping from the Indiana Jones collection at Eddie Bauer, we can get down to the bidness. The Auction value bidness? Not quite, but you can find all auction values in Rudy’s rankings — one example, 12-team mixed league auction values. This is a top 100 for 2025 fantasy baseball. Let’s do this!
One word about this top 100 for 2025 fantasy baseball, before I give you another 5,000 words. I’m going to avoid repeating myself from the position rankings in the 2025 fantasy baseball rankings. If you want to know my in-depth feelings about a player, then you need to go to his positional page, i.e., the top 20 1st basemen for 2025 fantasy baseball, the top 20 outfielders for 2025 fantasy baseball, the top 20 Patterns In Queso That Look Like Messages From Another Planet for 2025– Okay, but I almost got you. This post is meant to give you an idea where guys from different positions are in relation to each other. Since this post is only the top 100, there’s more players where this came from. 413 more, to be very exact. Next up, there will be a top 500 that will go past 500, then, after that, there will be a top 7,500 that will go to 8,602, then a top 25,000 that will go to 28,765, then a top 600,000 that will go to 892,121, until we end up with a top kajillion in April that will go to a kajillion and one. Or maybe I’ll stop at the top 500. Yeah, that makes sense. Not to get all biblical on you, but this is the gospel. Print it out and take it to Mt. Sinai and it will say, “Win your 2025 fantasy baseball league, young prematurely balding man.” Projections were done by me and a crack team of 100 monkeys fighting amongst themselves because there were only 99 typewriters. Somebody please buy Ling-Ling his own typewriter!
Razzball Subscriptions are also now open, which include the Fantasy Baseball War Room. I don’t draft without it, neither should you. Anyway, here’s the top 100 for 2025 fantasy baseball:
1. Bobby Witt Jr. – One guy goes 50/50! Another guy hits more homers in the AL than anyone ever and follows that two years later with 58 homers and plays in a Little League park! Which one is ranked first overall? Neither. Sorry, I hate spoilers too, but that’s not a spoiler, you’re reading the rankings. Literally, like, right now. After the top spot has been cursed for four of the last five years, I’m trying to be as conservative as possible with the top spot. Ohtani and Judge have the best chance to be the top guy overall or disappointing slightly, while Bobby Witt Jr. has the best chance to be a top five overall player with the lesser chance of disappointing or being number one. That’s right, I’m telling you to draft a guy number one who has less of a chance to be number one. And things get even dumber from here! 2025 Projections: 112/33/102/.314/37 in 611 ABs
2. Shohei Ohtani – Chipper Jones said Ohtani is generational. I take that to mean he’s the best player of this generation. If that’s true, which I believe it is. Think also about how each progressive generation gets better than the generation before. Hank Aaron was better than Ruth, Bonds was better than Aaron and Ohtani is better than Bonds, so Ohtani is the best baseball player ever. With that in mind, I didn’t rank him number one. I’m dumb or I’m the dumbest ever? 2025 Projections: 107/45/118/.294/20 in 576 ABs, 10-4/2.96/1.08/154 in 123 IP
3. Elly De La Cruz – I’m wild on E! and I hope E! is wild on the basepaths for one more year. When a player is as dynamic as E!, it does feel a little bit that at any point a team can pull on the reins and a 40/40 threat becomes a 30/20 player, but E!’s not there yet with those worries. Be gone, evil thoughts! 2025 Projections: 111/30/72/.267/51 in 602 ABs
4. Aaron Judge – Unlike not ranking Ohtani 1st overall, I don’t have as many questions about how dumb I am by ranking Aaron the Giant here vs. higher. A 7-foot tall guy just has too many moving parts to count on for 150 games every year, and he doesn’t have 50/50 upside. Though, I’d happily take a 50/10 year. 2025 Projections: 104/46/112/.307/10 in 509 ABs
5. Juan Soto – Gave you my Juan Soto fantasy. It was written while bobbing my head to Doechii’s newest album. (It’s excellent, and when I first wrote this in December it was less trite to say it.) 2025 Projections: 93/37/111/.288/11 in 564 ABs
6. Jose Ramirez – Might be the biggest “What does he need to do to get ranked in the top five overall?” and the answer is: Nothing. Lineup around him needs to get much better to even consider it. 2025 Projections: 103/36/111/.276/28 in 604 ABs
7. Gunnar Henderson – A big part of me wanted to rank Gunnar behind Ohtani, because I think Gunnar is actually the 2nd safest guy ranked, but 45/20, 30/50 and 45/10 with a chance for 60 homers beats him. Close though! Honestly, if I was setting which pick I wanted in a draft, the 5th pick doesn’t sound bad at all. This is a clear delineation point, but the top 20 is stacked with hitters. “It’s a good time to be alive,” says a guy with the very narrow focus of only caring about drafting a hitter in the top 20. UPDATE: Dealing with an intercostal strain, so he was dropped a few spots and lost two weeks of projections. 2025 Projections: 111/35/93/.289/17 in 569 ABs
8. Francisco Lindor – I might be misremembering this, but Lindor is the first appearance of a guy who hasn’t been ranked close to this high before, and is 31, which is a bit of a concern, but he’s averaging 30/30/.260 over the last two years, and is now getting Juan Soto behind him (in real baseball, where there’s slightly more crotch scratching), so I think if you’re fading Lindor, you’re just sorta guessing he won’t be good vs. actually having a reason. 2025 Projections: 112/32/93/.276/30 in 603 ABs
9. Kyle Tucker – Already gave you my Kyle Tucker fantasy. It was written while counting my Benjamins (DVDs of Benji movies). 2025 Projections: 106/36/97/.296/23 in 569 ABs
10. Fernando Tatis Jr. – I still fully believe, but if you take me out of the equation (which is sad, why don’t you want me?), Steamer has Fun The Jewels down for a 38/19/.280 season. I’d be giddy to get that giddy up. 2025 Projections: 93/34/96/.281/28 in 586 ABs
11. Corbin Carroll – Last year was a disaster for Carroll — OR WAS IT?! — I baited you, Mr. Reversal. DAMN, I KNEW IT. Carroll went 22/35 last year and had a .258 in the 2nd half. If he does 25/40/.260, is it that different than Elly? Not to answer but to ruminate. 2025 Projections: 117/28/75/.272/48 in 571 ABs
12. Julio Rodriguez – I could bait Mr. Reversal again with JRod asking if last year was really that bad, but let’s just say, can someone hypnotize JRod into thinking the entire 2025 season is September? 2025 Projections: 96/32/101/.272/33 in 605 ABs
13. Mookie Betts – Can’t project him for 155 games and 600+ at-bats, but if there’s one guy who could lead the league in runs and still break 100 RBIs, don’t doubt Mookie Best. 2025 Projections: 107/33/102/.294/17 in 579 ABs
14. Yordan Alvarez – Can’t stop imagining Captain Woo Cubano coming through with a 50-homer season, but every time I get those glorious visions, I fall back to earth by looking at his previous years and not seeing one year when he’s hit 40 HRs. He is safe top 25 guy with less upside than my brain keeps telling me he has. 2025 Projections: 91/36/102/.306/3 in 561 ABs
15. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. – What’s funny about fantasy but not haha-funny, is how similar Cake Batter and Captain Woo Cubano are for fantasy. Look at how similar their projections are. The not funny part is how if you were to see one guy bat after the other in an All-Star Game, you’d never think they were similar. Different sides of plate, one is more line drive, one is mammoth power, but they’re kinda samesies. 2025 Projections: 96/32/108/.309/4 in 605 ABs
16. Bryce Harper – Meh, you know Bryce. So, please enjoy:
Bryce Harper as Cher, a thread #believe
— Razzball (@razzball.bsky.social) January 9, 2025 at 9:07 AM
2025 Projections: 89/33/96/.288/9 in 541 ABs
17. Paul Skenes – I’m not drafting him (or any starter this high), but it’s hard to ignore Skenes and what he can do, if that helps. It’s for the greater good not drafting Skenes, but, yes, I do love him and can understand the attraction for Livvy. 2025 Projections: 17-6/2.47/0.97/250 in 192 IP
18. Jarren Duran – This is the part of the top 20, Duran and Chourio, where I’m throwing out all my thoughts from Witt to Bryce which were, “Just be conservative and draft reasonably. Don’t push it. With ‘it’ being upside, which you know since these thoughts are in your own mind.” At this point, I cannot control my excitement. I want Duran and Chourio in every league and it’s partially because of upside and I don’t care. 2025 Projections: 116/23/74/.291/36 in 617 ABs
19. Jackson Chourio – Screaming at the top of my lungs, “Give me Chourio in every league exclamation mark after exclamation mark after exclamation mark!” 2025 Projections: 102/26/84/.284/32 in 589 ABs
20. Jazz Chisholm Jr. – Duran, Chourio and Jazz are 19A, 19B, there’s no 19C, then 19D. Also incredibly sold on going all-in on Jazz in Yankees uni for the whole season. Even if we only get 130 games from him, it’s better than 150 games from Jazz in Miami. Plus, he’s fun. You don’t like fun? Aw, who hurt you? 2025 Projections: 87/29/90/.248/31 in 531 ABs
21. Trea Turner – Treat Urner is not 19E. Treat Urner astounds by walking on his hind legs for four months, then plays dead for two months. 2025 Projections: 91/20/72/.287/22 in 541 ABs
22. Tarik Skubal – No, I am not (continued in next blurb). 2025 Projections: 17-5/2.51/0.94/237 in 202 IP
23. Zack Wheeler – Drafting a starter yet. More in the top 20 starters for 2025 fantasy baseball. Like 4500 words more. Sorry, if I don’t shorten the blurbs in this post, this will be 7,000 words long, which I say while adding more unnecessary words. 2025 Projections: 16-7/2.59/0.98/221 in 198 IP
24. Austin Riley – Here’s to the entire Braves’ lineup bouncing back, except for all the Braves who aren’t on any of my fantasy teams. Check back in two months to see who that is. Thank you. 2025 Projections: 93/35/96/.274/2 in 581 ABs
25. Ronald Acuña Jr. – UPDATE: Announced that he wouldn’t run as much, so I lowered him. 2025 Projections: 73/26/51/.269/24 in 441 ABs
26. Matt Olson – This area of the draft becomes the most problematic, from Treat Urner to ‘drafting 1st starter around pick 50.’ It’s landmine after landmine, at least it seems that way, and mostly because of the Braves hitters who are here. Players have bad seasons, there’s no reason Riley, Olson and Albies can’t bounce back. If you think players are only good coming off good seasons, can I remind you that Albies, Olson and Riley were coming off good seasons last year? 2025 Projections: 94/33/112/.254 in 606 ABs
27. Brent Rooker – As mentioned in the top 20 outfielders, Rooker might not have OF eligibility in your league. That knocks him off about two rounds, but that might have some variance depending on things like two utility spots, etc. 2025 Projections: 86/36/105/.268/10 in 539 ABs
28. Oneil Cruz – I might love Oneil Cruz more than the average person, but–Okay, that previous sentence is like assless chaps because there’s no buts. If I may assuage your feelings of hating me right now for how much I love Oneil Cruz, he can hit 40 homers and has easy 30-steal speed. If you draft hitters who have speed and power, you can only go so wrong. Look at Corbin Carroll, he was in the top 25 overall last year, and had one of the worst 1st halfs of all-time. 2025 Projections: 81/28/86/.257/20 in 556 ABs
29. Ozzie Albies – I’m begging you to just take a moment and think about how you would’ve loved to get Albies at this point in drafts last year. After he went 33/13 in 2023, you would’ve thought I hit my head if I only projected him for…2025 Projections: 91/27/82/.267/15 in 571 ABs
30. Manny Machado – I get the sense people don’t like Machado for… [waves hands vaguely around the room] …reasons. But he was coming off an injury last year and gave more value than this ranking, and he’s had a remarkable fantasy career. He’s going on a decade straight without disappointing. 2025 Projections: 71/31/108/.272/10 in 581 ABs
31. Ketel Marte – It’s gonna be interesting at the end of the year to see if Albies or Ketel are better in 2025, and what that means for 2026, because one was great in 2023, one was great in 2024, and this year is The Definer, as they say in the biz, and the biz is fantasy baseball rankings. Why are you laughing that I called fantasy baseball a business? Stop it. 2025 Projections: 91/25/80/.272/7 in 519 ABs
32. CJ Abrams – I bet CJ Abrams will return this value. To complete this transaction, use the DraftKings code, CJABRAMS-is-INNOCENT! 2025 Projections: 87/20/66/.244/34 in 557 AB
33. Corey Seager – It might not be what you expect, but, because of speed and power being such a valuable combo, Abrams is way safer to return value than Seager. I say it might not feel that way, because I think most people think Seager is a better real-world baseball player, and he might be, but we’re doing fantasy here. 2025 Projections: 76/31/82/.282/2 in 489 ABs
34. Jose Altuve – Fun fact! Before each game, Jose Altuve would repeat to himself into a mirror, ‘Shorty don’t stop, and I am Shorty,’ until the clubhouse attendant moved the mirror six inches higher on the wall. 2025 Projections: 91/22/62/.278/17 in 593 ABs
35. James Wood – Ya know how we are debating ourselves like we’re Debate Club alumni with how badly we don’t want to mess with the previous hitters, but will, because we have to? Ya know, the trepidation we had for Albies, Olson, et al. Well, that’s over for the next few picks. We very Kathleen-Turner-breathy want these guys. 2025 Projections: 89/26/77/.272/25 in 556 ABs
36. Wyatt Langford – I might be misremembering literally everything I know about the Rangers, but I’m counting on Wyatt to do more running and stealing this year. See, I measured Bruce Bochy’s head and the speed at which a thought moves through an average brain, and divided that by the Pitch Clock 12. Also, Wyatt’s insanely fast. 2025 Projections: 86/22/83/.267/26 in 553 ABs
37. Jackson Merrill – Wanna believe in Jackson Merrill more than the other two in this sexy trifecta of outfielders here, but the truth is I trust him the least, while still enough to happily draft him. Yes, it’s a very thin line to trust a guy a lot but, no, not that much. 2025 Projections: 88/27/86/.294/14 in 531 ABs
38. Brenton Doyle – Last year it was Nolan Jones, this year it’s Doyle. Every year we should have one Rockies hitter in the top 50 who will undoubtedly break our heart while Bud Black pees on our grave. It’s a good reminder life isn’t fair. 2025 Projections: 80/25/76/.252/32 in 578 ABs
39. Pete Alonso – Updated the 1st basemen rankings for Alonso, after he re-signed. (Also updated 3rd basemen rankings for Brett Baty. Bye-bye, Baty, as Dick Van Dyke would say.) 2025 Projections: 93/36/109/.247/3 in 591 ABs
40. Josh Naylor – So, I saw his early ADP was around 90 overall and I wasn’t sure if it was a Seymour Skinner situation where it was me seeing that and thinking, “It’s the kids who are wrong,” or if it was me putting on blinders and being way too high on Naylor, so I went back to the Player Rater from last year and this is almost exactly where he was last year in value, so the kids are wrong. 2025 Projections: 81/28/95/.261/7 in 559 ABs
41. Freddie Freeman – I get the feeling that this is the last time we see Freeman in the top 100 overall in the preseason, but, as mentioned in the 1st basemen rankings, the Dodgers’ lineup will fix a lot of issues with counting stats. 2025 Projections: 83/20/86/.277/10 in 536 ABs
42. Rafael Devers – Pretty concerned about Devers. Shoulders are tricky and his 2nd half was one of the worst. If being honest, I’m not sure I’d even draft him at this ranking. 2025 Projections: 95/27/89/.277/5 in 542 ABs
43. Logan Gilbert – There’s barely a first tier of starters to draft from, but I can see it if you’re thirsty, as I say in the top 20 starters, this is the point when the drafting of starters commences. More in next blurb. 2025 Projections: 13-12/2.89/0.96/217 in 204 IP
44. Dylan Cease – At any point here, you have to draft a starter. Like don’t have to have to have to draft Cease, but one of these starters. 2025 Projections: 15-7/3.39/1.09/233 in 193 IP
45. Cole Ragans – There will be a pitchers’ pairing tool out in the next few days to help you draft starters. It’s as easy as doing a clickety-click-clack. What are you doing?! Don’t clackety-click-click! I said clickety-click-clack! You ruined it! 2025 Projections: 14-8/3.36/1.13/226 in 188 IP
46. Framber Valdez – Have already drafted Framber as my number one starter in one league, and I look forward to being in on Framber for the first time in his career so he can wreck me and finally have a bad year. 2025 Projections: 14-9/3.39/1.12/191 in 194 IP
47. Emmanuel Clase – I can say I’m not drafting a closer and people will be like, “But if they’re there, would you?” Sure, if the draft is exactly like this ranking, which it will never be. CJ Abrams’s ADP is 48, Naylor is 95(!), James Wood is 51. More in next blurb. 2025 Projections: 3-1/2.07/0.91/64, 43 saves in 71 IP
48. Josh Hader – Wyatt Langford is 54, Oneil Cruz is 42; do you see what I’m saying? If you get to this spot in the draft, you know what you’re drafting? One of the fifteen guys I have ranked in front of their ADP and not a closer. It’s also why I say I’m unlikely to get Gilbert or Kirby. After you take an outfielder or corner man, you have to draft a starter, because you don’t have one yet. So, how are you drafting Hader? You might draft like this: Wyatt, Oneil, Wood, or a hitter around who I have ranked higher than their ADP, then Cease, Ragans or any other starter, then Josh Naylor at pick 70, if he’s really going at 95 overall, so now you’re at pick 85, you’re really drafting one of these closers? Please stop being daft. 2025 Projections: 5-2/2.38/0.98/102, 36 saves in 70 IP
49. Devin Williams – Here’s what I said this offseason, “Yankees acquired him, and my Malcolm Gladwell-Blink thoughts on it was this is the best trade the Yankees have done in a decade. If they would’ve retained Juan Soto, I might think that deal was worth Michael King, but I can no longer say that. Let me clarify, I love top-notch closers from a real baseball standpoint. No team is winning anything without a lights-out guy pitching the 9th. Guys can step up and be The Guy who don’t have the track record, or just get hot in October, like the Dodgers with Treinen this past postseason. But someone needs to be locking down the final three outs, and no one is better than Devin Williams. For fantasy? Yeah, SAGNOF and eff that. He looks like prime Mo on paper, though. My God, his stats are ridonk.
14.2 K/9, 1.93 ERA — 2022
13.4 K/9, 1.53 ERA — 2023
15.8 K/9, 1.25 ERA — 2024
And who can forget 2021 where he ended the year by punching the wall! Or missed last year’s 1st half with back surgery. Okay, so he has some red flags, but who doesn’t? Edwin Diaz ends every game with a limp-wristed handshake because he’s scared if he celebrates too much he will re-injure himself. Again, I’m not drafting Devin Williams, just laying out to you the good and bad. The good outweighs the bad by a lot. His pitching is truly must-see TV, assuming he hasn’t punched the TV already.” And that’s me quoting me! 2025 Projections: 3-0/1.66/0.95/89, 41 saves in 60 IP
50. Willy Adames – Already gave you my Willy Adames fantasy. It was written all over your face! 2025 Projections: 81/27/92/.238/12 in 581 ABs
51. Cody Bellinger – Already gave you my Cody Bellinger fantasy. It had some real sass! 2025 Projections: 104/26/81/.267/12 in 522 ABs
52. Blake Snell – If you click that Willy Adames fantasy link, it also has my Blake Snell fantasy. 2025 Projections: 11-5/3.34/1.11/166 in 124 IP
53. Michael King – Thought about how his ranking could mean King was my first starter on a team, and then I saw how he was the 16th best starter last year, and, yes, I will take him as my 1st starter. King stay King. 2025 Projections: 12-8/3.38/1.16/207 in 181 IP
54. Garrett Crochet – Already gave you my Garrett Crochet fantasy. It was written while being locked up by Barney Fife. 2025 Projections: 13-9/3.47/1.05/193 in 154 IP
55. Shota Imanaga – I like Yoshinobu, but he’s going twenty spots before Shota in early ADP. Even if you think they’ll both be completely healthy in 2025, which I do, Shota just threw 170-plus innings of a sub-3 ERA with a 9+ K/9, which has to put him ahead. 2025 Projections: 13-6/3.17/1.05/177 in 175 IP
56. Bryce Miller – Pray for my fantasy teams that will be in last place in wins, because I drafted four M’s starters. 2025 Projections: 11-10/3.26/1.01/171 in 184 IP
57. Teoscar Hernandez – About as set-him-and-forget-him of a guy for your fantasy lineup as Ron ever Popeil’d. 21st on the Player Rater last year, and I can’t imagine him being much worse this year. Like I’m a crypto guy on Youtube screaming, “Pure profit!” 2025 Projections: 81/34/94/.261/7 in 576 ABs
58. Lawrence Butler – His name is so interesting to me. Just slight variations and his career path changes. Larry Butler plays in the NBA, Law’rence Butler runs for 150 yards in the NFL, and Lawrence Butler plays baseball. I don’t know why that is true, but it is. Also, it’s true that I want to draft Butler in every league. 2025 Projections: 84/27/67/.269/23 in 581 ABs
59. Spencer Steer – When I see Steer being drafted around 120 overall, I realize that a lot of people who pretend to understand fantasy don’t. A 27-year-old, 20/20 guy with a .250 neutral average isn’t a 120 overall pick. Though, if you can wait a few rounds to draft Steer, go for it. For what it’s Cronenworth, our Steamer auction values have him around 100 overall, so appizzarently I am the idiot here. UPDATE: Shoulder issues, see the top 500 for new ranking and projection. 2025 Projections: 71/22/82/.259/26 in 566 ABs
60. Seiya Suzuki – Not to take anything away from Lawrence Butler (not Larry or Law’rence), but(ler) he just went 22/18 in 412 ABs in his 1st major league season; Steer went 23/15 in 2023 and 20/25 in 2024, and Suzuki went 20/6 and 21/16 in the last two years, so I’m fine with how I ranked them, but that Butler’s ADP is 65, Seiya is 85 and Steer is 120 makes no sense. This is me still hung up on Steer being underrated. 2025 Projections: 75/23/81/.281/15 in 519 ABs
61. Christian Walker – Here’s what I said this offseason, “Signed with the Astros. First, Jon Singleton is suspended for hotboxing the batter’s box and now he’s bumped to the bench for a Christian. Y’all and your Puritanical values. Let my man smoke balls and joints! Balls ‘n Joints is also the name of my very bad mechanic. “Looks like you have a…” Long pull off a joint. “…car problem.” So, Christian Walker’s batted ball profile looks better last year vs. the year before (when he was on the surface better), and I trust the Astros as much as any team. Until the Astros make a terrible signing that doesn’t work out, I’m on board. Being for real: You gotta trust something in this lil’ snow globe we call the world. Look at Walker’s HardHit% and only that from 2023 to 2024: 40.4% to 48%. Yeah, last year wasn’t a bad year, and I currently see him being drafted at a nice discount.” And that’s me quoting me! 2025 Projections: 83/34/95/.254/3 in 579 ABs
62. Riley Greene – What’s kinda funny about rankings that isn’t funny, you (me) justify your Butler ranking by saying he’s a top 60-ish guy, then you justify Steer because he’s pretty much the same, then you justify your Seiya ranking with 23/15/.281 projections, then you see Riley Greene with essentially the same projections but seven years younger so more upside and you end up ranking Riley forty spots in front of his ADP. Welcome to my mind! 2025 Projections: 74/27/86/.274/7 in 527 ABs
63. Yoshinobu Yamamoto – I love Yamamoto, and a lot people do, just a hair bit more than me, so I might not roster him anywhere. But I’m open to being surprised! 2025 Projections: 11-5/3.19/1.09/159 in 139 IP
64. Spencer Schwellenbach – Here’s an interesting ADP tidbit. Schwellenbach is being drafted 40 spots after Yoshinobu, but was about 60 spots ahead of him on the Player Rater last year, and should be good for at least 30 more innings, so, well: Interesting. 2025 Projections: 13-7/3.26/1.03/183 in 176 IP
65. Roki Sasaki – Gave you my Roki Sasaki fantasy when he signed. It was written while staring into The Abyss, the movie. 2025 Projections: 12-6/2.92/1.06/181 in 136 IP
66. Anthony Santander – Basically, Teoscar without the same name value. Call him Hydrox Teoscar. 2025 Projections: 84/36/97/.244/3 in 588 ABs
67. Jacob deGrom – …and we’re not drafting starters anymore! I mean, we are, just not this schmohawk. 2025 Projections: 5-3/2.41/0.91/124 in 89 IP
68. Chris Sale – Not this one either. 2025 Projections: 12-6/3.03/1.06/152 in 123 IP
69. Corbin Burnes – Already gave you my Corbin Burnes fantasy. I wrote it while saying, “I’m not drafting him either.” 2025 Projections: 15-8/3.41/1.12/186 in 195 IP
70. Gerrit Cole – Or this one. UPDATE: Needs Tommy John surgery, don’t draft. 2025 Projections: 13-10/3.66/1.17/152 in 148 IP
71. George Kirby – I’m either drafting an outfielder, outfielder, outfielder, Josh Naylor, CJ Abrams, or outfielder in this general area of the draft, but, in theory I would draft Gilbert or Kirby. I’m just being realistic. That’s why when I say stuff like, “I’m not drafting a starter until pick 45-ish but am drafting Gilbert or Kirby,” it’s kind of not true. It’s prolly the one thing that trips so many people up in my rankings, no matter how many times I explain it. More in next blurb. UPDATE: Shoulder inflammation 2025 Projections: 10-8/3.29/1.03/142 in 154 IP
72. Pablo Lopez – Or…you get the idea, right? I talk more about all these guys in the top 40 starters. 2025 Projections: 13-9/3.77/1.17/203 in 188 IP
73. Edwin Diaz – Okay, need to say again something to alleviate your fears when you’re thinking, “If I’m not drafting starters from deGrom through these closers then what the heck am I drafting?” So, once again I am pointing out that I am so much higher on Schwellenbach, Santander, Riley Greene, Walker, just about everyone above this string of pitchers I’m avoiding, so there’s literally no way you get here and you’re between deGrom, et al, and the closers. 2025 Projections: 4-1/2.61/1.02/89, 30 saves in 60 IP
74. Ryan Helsley – Same story, 2nd verse. 2025 Projections: 6-2/2.91/1.08/74, 31 saves in 62 IP
75. Felix Bautista – So, yes, third verse. Also, Bautista is returning from Tommy John surgery, which normally worries me, but A) He’s a closer, so he only needs to throw, what? 20 pitches a game? B) I’m not drafting him anyway. C) There’s no C. 2025 Projections: 3-1/2.89/1.03/91, 27 saves in 58 IP
76. Bryan Reynolds – As the world’s oldest and most ardent supporter of Bryan Reynolds, I just want to say don’t draft him, so there’s more shares for me of the most consistently solid fantasy outfielder who I’ve always loved. 2025 Projections: 84/25/87/.272/10 in 591 ABs
77. Kyle Schwarber – Speaking of old and ardent supporters of a player, I basically invented loving The Schwarbomb. What’s that? What about my post last year about Schwarber being overrated? A ruse for me to get more shares! 2025 Projections: 106/40/105/.231/3 in 581 ABs
78. Marcell Ozuna – Okay, sarcasm aside, we are squarely in the section of the draft where, “I am holding my nose and drafting, but, in reality, I shouldn’t be thinking these guys are stinkers because these guys have been good for a while.” Take Ozuna (not to a bar and then to his car, though), a guy who has back-to-back of 40 and 39 homers and just hit .302. There’s no reason to hold your nose here. 2025 Projections: 86/38/107/.278/1 in 582 ABs
79. Ian Happ – Pretty much perfectly ranked here with Reynolds, Schwarber and Ozuna. Do you love drafting Happ? Prolly not. Should you because he’s been valuable repeatedly? Yes. 2025 Projections: 86/24/69/.247/12 in 571 ABs
80. Mark Vientos – Already gave you my Mark Vientos sleeper. It was written while running a red light. 2025 Projections: 82/34/95/.251/1 in 580 ABs
81. Marcus Semien – Just had a terrible thought, what if Semien, who has 650+ ABs for the last four years, only gets 550 ABs. Semien making me shudder like I’m staying in a Motel Six and thinking about what’s on the bedsheets. 2025 Projections: 92/20/67/.233/10 in 604 ABs
82. Bailey Ober – As mentioned previously, I wait a little while longer than most to draft my 1st starter, but usually draft my 2nd starter a little quicker. Roger that, Ober and out. 2025 Projections: 13-8/3.69/1.09/184 in 176 IP
83. William Contreras – El oh el. It’s such a crock that I even rank one catcher in the top 100, because I’d never draft one and I only rank this one 50 spots after his ADP to make sure no one gets confused as to whether I am drafting him or not. I am not. 2025 Projections: 86/20/74/.286/7 in 559 ABs
84. Jordan Westburg – And just like that the 2nd basemen become interesting. See the 2nd basemen rankings for more of that quick turnaround from the Mehs to the Nomnomnoms. 2025 Projections: 74/22/82/.273/12 in 527 ABs
85. Junior Caminero – The past few seasons it’s felt like there’s been some huge risk/reward guys in the top 100. Wyatt Langford and Royce Lewis come to mind last year and both kinda meh’d it up, but Langford less so. This year feels less risky for big upside gambles in the top 100, which is good. You don’t want risk early. I bring this up now, because Caminero might be the biggest Amazon Wish List vs. safe and reliable. 2025 Projections: 82/28/88/.264/7 in 572 ABs
86. Logan Webb – Currently thinking about my claim to fame that no one knows about with Lifetime ADP. Logan Webb, you and I are going to be so rich when we take this theory public. Uh, more public. Uh, I’m gonna be rich, Webb already is. Lifetime ADP: Better than the self-driving car. Don’t know what Lifetime ADP is? Because I’ve only mentioned it 25 times before and I need it to get to 10,000 before it clicks. To read more about it, see Webb’s blurb in the top 40 starters. 2025 Projections: 13-10/3.48/1.12/176 in 202 IP
87. Zac Gallen – It’s absurd that Zac Gallen is going this low, when he’s essentially a number one. If you draft, say, Framber and Gallen as your 1st two starters, you can’t lose! That’s my no money back guarantee! 2025 Projections: 15-7/3.59/1.16/193 in 187 IP
88. Alex Bregman – After signing with the Red Sox, updated in the 3rd basemen rankings. 2025 Projections: 92/25/81/.282/5 in 571 ABs
89. Bryan Woo – ‘Drafting Woo’ sounds like me if I were Tom Cruise in Days of Thunder explaining drafting. [moves sugar packet down thigh] Woo! 2025 Projections: 10-8/3.33/0.97/136 in 154 IP
90. Grayson Rodriguez – Still think that at some point Grayson is going to click into place and become a top five starter for a half decade. Might be this year. UPDATE: Triceps soreness, do not draft 2025 Projections: 15-7/3.51/1.14/189 in 167 IP
91. Sonny Gray – I’m not recommending it, but if you drafted Gallen, Grayson and Sonny Gray and zero other starters, then just streamed, you’d prolly be fine. 2025 Projections: 12-10/3.56/1.13/186 in 164 IP
92. Tanner Bibee – Already gave you my Tanner Bibee sleeper. I wrote it while yelling, “Bring it on!” while watching Bring It On. 2025 Projections: 14-7/3.30/1.10/191 in 180 IP
93. Triston Casas – Moved Casas around a lot like I was an itinerant. Finally landed him here because I think this is realistic for where I would draft him, based on his injury risk. Hopefully he stays healthy and leaves me perfectly happy with the amount I moved Casas, i.e., nomad. (I’m so sorry for that pun; it was avoidable and I just couldn’t.) 2025 Projections: 87/30/91/.251 in 546 ABs
94. Hunter Brown – Came so close to writing a Hunter Brown sleeper in October (when I write my sleeper posts) that when I was posting the pitcher sleepers in January, I was looking for my Hunter Brown sleeper because I thought I did write it. I did not, but I do love him. 2025 Projections: 13-9/3.55/1.24/184 in 172 IP
95. Jack Flaherty – Re-signed with the Tigers, or maybe that’s resigned to re-sign because it was February and no teams wanted a legit ace make it make sense. For those of you who are like, “Yeah, but maybe he’s hurt, so I can understand why he wasn’t signed for a while.” Cool, Scherzer received $15.5 millies and is ancient and hasn’t been healthy in years. 2025 Projections: 12-6/3.02/1.05/161 in 144 IP
96. Robert Suarez – Mentioning this for the 1st time maybe ever, so listen up real good: I am handsome in an offbeat way. Okay, also mentioning: There were nine relievers in the top 100 last year, so around nine is what I tried to rank this year. “Around nine” is 10, nine or eight. It’s also how I come to rank a certain amount per position in the top 100. (And top 200 and top 300 and so on.) More in the next blurb. 2025 Projections: 5-3/2.95/1.04/61, 31 saves in 66 IP
97. Ryan Walker – I go to the Player Rater from the previous year and check how many guys from each position are in the top 100 (and so on) and try to match it. If there were five 2nd basemen (and there were) in the top 100 last year, there needs to be a strong reason to include more or less than five in this top 100. Also, if there’s seven 2nd basemen this year (there is), then I need to remove a guy or two from elsewhere. More in next blurb. 2025 Projections: 5-2/2.89/0.98/82, 28 saves in 67 IP
98. Mason Miller – Shortstops lost two, Jeremy Pena (meh, boring) and Neto (injury) fell out, catchers lost five because I refuse to rank five more catchers in the top 100, starters gained three, and yadda-blabbity-bloo. You get the gist, and now you know why there’s nine closers in the top 100. 2025 Projections: 3-1/2.32/0.94/93, 21 saves in 62 IP
99. Freddy Peralta – FreddyKBB can’t be bad because every time I’ve rostered him he’s been great! (I believe I was Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’d about every year I rostered FreddyKBB, but I can’t be sure.) 2025 Projections: 12-9/3.61/1.15/207 in 177 IP
100. Ezequiel Tovar – Thought to myself ranking Tovar here was such an adult move because he’s likely worth this ranking, even if he’s not that exciting, so to double check I went to look at our Preseason Player Rater to see where Steamer has Tovar ranked and it was exactly at 100 (might’ve changed by time you read this because of injuries, signings, etc.). Anyway, that means I am now an adult. I’m a big boy! 2025 Projections: 92/24/71/.274/10 in 612 ABs
101. Anthony Volpe – Ya know what would be a fun game? Guessing whether I have a player higher or lower than Steamer’s Preseason Ranking. What do you guess with Volpe? I’m higher or lower than them? I was surprised, if that helps. 2025 Projections: 87/20/62/.252/26 in 587 ABs
Are these rankings for standard 5×5 head to head leagues?
I have Aaron Judge – on the wrap around would you go Matt Olson, Manny Machado, Pete Alonso, Michael Harris or Wyatt Langford next? There are all big bats available.
Excuse me what else
Miss reading your clever reviews. What what do you have for us?
Need two more keepers in $260 5/5 Roto for 2025. Who is odd man out?
D. Williams $10, Caminero $10, Machado $20
hey grey this might be a weird question, but i have pick 8 in a 14 man points keeper league (so essentially pick 22 so im going to base my question off it being pick 22) would you accept this deal ? i am giving away pick 22, 78, 134 for pick 39,46,102. appreciate the advice ahead of time
No
In a 5×5 that replaces AG with OBP, would you say Ohtani and Judge are 1 and 2?
we have OBP ranks https://razzball.com/playerrater-preseason-espnmlb12-6X6obp/ but that’s with AVG too, so Ohtani, Judge makes sense
Bregman to Red Sox! (overpay) Pivetta to Padres! (solid deal)
Grey! Thanks to you and your gang for all the insight.
I have Witt as a keeper this year in the 5th rd and have the 2nd pick in the draft, 12 team w DH/UTL spot.
With my 2nd pick…
thanks in advance
Top 500 coming? Wow! Unreal. Always love your Top 100, is it time to relax and draft yet? Let’s go!
A very useful website for fans of Rendon:
https://anthonyrendonthefttracker.com/
Ha
oh my i love this, and you can see him “earning” about 1.30 every second you’re on that page.
no 1.19 per second.
In a dynasty points league start up do you like Vlad Jr., Acuna, JuRod, Tucker or Chourio with my first pick (10 overall) ?
All of them? I guess Tucker
Grey, in 12-team dynasty, i was offered kirby for riley greene. what side you like for a) 2025 and b) long-term?
rest of my roster:
bats – vlad jr, betts, devers, acuna, tatis jr, harris, machado, alonso
arms – kershaw, ohtani (p), mclanahan, g-rod, bibee, flaherty, buehler, bradley, jobe
Kirby
I was encourage to see how you’d answer this: How do you have the time to write all these blurbs while also being the top tier baker and so fantastically good looking?
Haha, why thank you, but my secrets stay with me
The Tigers $15 million signing isnt going to be ready to pitch for ST. Flaherty? No, we gave that much to picture of health Alex Cobb.
Id rather have signed Quantrill for $3.5 million.
was a bizarre signing
Man, I kind of like Quantrill as a last-round flier now. I would have liked him on the Tigers, too. He had some good games for the Rockies
Just lost a closer with the jensen to Angels news. Who do you think is more likely to help in saves for a full season. Kerkering, jon gray, or Foley?
Joyce
Oh I see what you mean, sorry….Foley
I think the joyce response may actually help my team just as much. Do you think I should hold off on dropping him in faab?
I would hold for now
Fantasy baseball season is truly upon us ! The top 100 is my fantasy baseball Mayflower article LFG
Haha LFG!
I am with you on the Merrill skepticism. He was a hell of a find for chunks of time last year, but I am skeptical on lefties, skeptical that 2024 didn’t represent a power ceiling, skeptical of the OBP and skeptical that he does more than 10 or 12 steals.
Lots of skeptical!
I’m vacillating between using a keeper spot on him or Crews going into the season. The consensus is clear but I have a feeling when Crews goes .260/20/40 it will not look so great in retrospect
Gotta go Merrill but I hear ya
Great list and like the aggressiveness on certain guys (Rooker, Cruz)
Can’t wait to see the list from 103-118. Those are the true Grey’s Top 100 since there are about 16 guys for various reasons you are ignoring. Haha
Haha, thanks!
Today in least surprising preseason updates:
https://x.com/SamBlum3/status/1889727827659928009?mx=2
Rendon is having hip surgery. Out for an extended period of time.
Worst FA contract ever? (recall, it was for 7 yrs and $245 million) Gotta be him or Chris Davis’s FA contract.
I’m going with worst contract ever
The Angels have had a few of those. Pujols and Josh Hamilton along with Rendon.
Yup
Yeah but they had to give those contracts to take home the gold. They tried trading for the worst contract – 7 years, $126M to Vernon Wells – but they got no credit for that signing. So they had to pay the Yankees to take his contract, then they tried with the Gary Mathews Jr. signing, but people didn’t know who GMJ was, so with 2 years and 23.5M left, they sent Gary and $21.5M to the Mets to take that contract away. All that effort to acquire the worst contract in baseball and they weren’t getting any credit, it was getting embarrassing.
I had Zimmerman for mine. Rendon jumping to the top bc he probably never plays again.
what’s odd, is when exactly does he pick up all these injuries, as he plays so little it almost can’t be from baseball. another question: exactly what did he do to his body prior to like 5 or whatever years ago such to have k.bryant’s body (and/or what did k.bryant put into his body…)
Great stuff, always look forward to this
I think,
Westburg rank should be higher, he’s a stud who will continue to stud.
Jazz at 21… you are trying to trick me into drafting Jazz. It’s not gonna work. Been there, I quit self-flagellation.
Gunnar and JoRam ahead of Elly. Elly’s steals & runs are wonderful but he hasn’t hit lefties and not enough help in BA, Ribeyes and maybe HRs…
thanks kimosabe
Haha, gotcha
Who do you like better
A. Judge $44 in 10 team AL only roto
or
F. Tatis Jr $38 in 10 team NL only roto
Judge
Hey Grey, has anyone else mentioned a problem about the site taking a very long time to load. It takes around 5 minutes for the home page to load and then another five after you click on an article/tab from the home page or to go anywhere else on the site. To be clear I’m not complaining at all, I’m sure it is probably a problem on my end but just seeing if there is a quick fix to this that I don’t know about. Thanks!
i just tried the homepage and it loaded — do you have ad-free? it’s $10 for the year and should help https://razzball.com/membership-account/subscriptions/?pa=mainmenu
I also have a loading problem. Maybe 20 seconds. And I have ad-free.
Same
ON DIFFERENT COMPUTERS; AND IN DIFFERENT LOCALES.
I had an issue earlier with it too but figured my internet.
Still or nah?
No issue now. I just came back later and loaded normally. Havent had a problem since one time earlier.
Ah cool, maybe was a blip earlier
Elly is a great pick for you. if he’s good you good. if he’s bad you can i told you so one year removed
It’s perfect, really…and anyone reading this in the top 2 who thinks they’re outsmarting me by taking elly, then they give me ohtani or witt
Why do you have Greene ranked 15 spots ahead of Ozuna but all of your projections for Ozuna, minus SB are better? I’m debating which one of these fine fielders to keep. Would love some insight into your thinking. Always a fan.
Greene has upside and Ozuna has down side
Great stuff Grey! Keeper question for you.
10 Team keep forever league. Each team can keep up to 13 with additional keepers for the 1st half leader, 2nd half points increase and overall winner. Sooooo, 133 players being kept. I get an additional keeper. As you can imagine, the top players at pretty much all positions are being kept. I have the 9th pick so my first picks will be 142 and 145. I figure I can try to grab a 2B and then go for pitching.
The categories are as follows:
Batting- R, HR, TB, RBI, SB, OBP and DPT
Pitching- IP, K, QS, ERA, WHIP, K/BB and SVHD
With Lawrence Butler being ranked at 60 overall in the top 100, is he my final keeper? I feel like I have to keep Paredes because, I too, and concerned with Devers and having the corner infield spot. If he goes down, my only available options at 3B are the likes of Ke’Bryan Hayes or Caballero. 1B options are even worse. I was initially leaning to keep Joe Ryan with the final spot but would love your insight.
-Do you agree with these keepers?
-Would you make any changes?
-Who is my final keeper?
C-
1B- Alonso
2B-
3B-Devers
SS- Lindor
2B/SS- Volpe
1b/3B- Paredes
LF- Yordan
CF- Duran
RF- Bellinger
OF- Jackson Merrill
UTIL- Rooker
UTIL-
SP- Kirby, Freddy Peralta and Flaherty.
Keeper options remaining:
Gleyber, Stott, Lawrence Butler, Parker Meadows, Nolan Jones, Josh Lowe, Jhonk, Jake Cronenworth, Steven Kwan
Gausman, Joe Ryan, Bowden Francis and Ryan Pepiot
Butler
Grey, need a trade opinion in a points keeper league, limit of 5 keeps per team with a round value where each guy is kept. I’ve got Skenes (13th round) James Wood (15th) Wyatt Langford (14th) and CJ Abrams (13th). My 5th keeper right now is Schwellenbach (15th). I’ve got a couple guys after Schwellenbach and was offered a pick in the 6th round for him. I know you are high on him this year, but would you trade him and gain a pick and then keep a guy I still have on roster like Edwin Diaz who has a 13th round value or Cristopher Sanchez in the 15th? Trying to determine if getting a mid round pick makes up the value going from Schwellenbach to like Diaz.
No, keep Spencer
I also was offered Caminero (15th round keep) and a 4th round pick for Langford. I’m also definitely debating that one
Sounds fair, I’d keep Langford
Well, you know me, and you know I’m going to disagree with something, so I just can’t go with Ohtani anywhere but #1. And you are right in, he is the greatest baseball player ever.
But, what I’m actually here to comment on is 2 other rankings. I really love your aggressive rankings of Elly and Gunnar. I think you are totally correct on them and that many other analysts are missing the mark.
You have the highest ranking of those 2 players that I have seen. Very well done!
You always do a great job with these rankings, and I want to make sure to say that.
Thanks! Appreciate it…that’s fair on Ohtani, can’t argue it
I doubt Ohtani lives up to the number one pick….labrum surgery will sap the power and TJ he won’t have the control he used to. Pitching ups the risk of injury….idk how people are taking him number one.
You sound like all the people who let Ohtani fall to me at 12 last year.
Please continue to pass, I want more shares.
Did you have him when he had his first TJ? You’re lucky he didn’t pitch last year is all. He will underwhelm. I called Acuna not reproducing his 40/70 season. Last year. Ohtani will not go 5050 this year. That ship has sailed. Most are saying Chris Sale won’t replicate last year. I’m saying Ohtani won’t. Dude had Labrum surgery.how many guys are the same hitter after that?Witt on the other hand will go 4040
are you seriously showing up right after massive, often historically good seasons to claim some sort of predictive power for just saying the players that do that won’t do that crazy well again the year after? and doing that as if it’s some sort of soothsayer powers? why not go mention how that guy that got hit by lightning should be safe the rest of his life, or why all those that didn’t already win the jackpot in lottery should for sure buy more tickets now, since that guy that won the last one surely can’t win it again?
ok sure, let’s say ohtani has an off pitching year, and instead of top 10ish SP he ends up say 38th SP. also we’ll give back some of his hitting too (for sure historical seasons often don’t immediately replicate), so instead of hitter 1 or 2 he’s only 10th. you still get the 10th hitter with the 38th SP, that’s still the best player. which is why it’s so funny every year ohtani pitches/hits and somehow people (including grey) has him ranked anything but 1st. i’m sure rudy’s laughed about this every year since he put out his first good pitching season. at a certain point it’s not just not looking at the math (player rater), and not believing your eyes (this was grey’s crutch years ago, “he’s a unicorn so who could’ve seen that coming”), it’s just about trying to be like pete carroll and really show everybody who’s the smartest guy in the room against your own interests. can’t just take what’s obviously there.
Last year, for the first time that I can remember, your drafting a closer philosophy had changed to include a closer in the 60-64 range. I did it. It felt dirty. And I missed with Doval. But it’s just a guessing game of which closer bombs/injury vs who returns value.
Are you back to looking at the first closer at 120 ish range? Then SAGNOF.
Thanks again.
I’m falling back to 120 range…We tried something last year, it didn’t work in 4/5ths of the leagues and now we’re done with that
It makes perfect sense to me! Especially if that means hitters like Naylor, Vientos, Doyle, Bellinger and others can be had in that range.
Yup!
Grey is once again a sagnof believer! I told you we’d win you back.
I’m back baby!
No, that would be, Grey is once again feeling SAGNOFy
Love it all! And listened to the 2nd base podcast last night on the way home.
I would vote for you in 2027! Let’s get those days off!
“Matt McLain not Matt Mcline” was my favorite quote!
Volpe 26 behind you on Player Rater! And he’s going 50 spots later on Yahoo ADP!
Thanks Grey for all your time!
Haha, thanks! Volpe, baby!
GOAT post of the year!
Thanks!
When is Top 500 eta?
tomorrow
RCLs signup?
Monday
Grey, i need your amazing advice. 12 team league, 9 keeper league. 10 pitchers; 13 hitters.
What 9 would you keep of these:
Frn: Lindor
Michael Harris RD 13
Jackson Chourio rd 19
Fernando Tatis rd 10
E. Tovar rd 11
Josh Naylor rd 9
Mark Vientos rd 18
Lawrence Butler rd 17
Luis Garcia Jr rd 14
G Rodriquez (SP) rd 16
George Kirby (SP)rd 15
Bryce Miller (SP)rd 16
in past, i been burnt by keeping pitchers. so just wanted to get your thoughts.
Not Garcia Jr., Tovar and Grayson
Gonna have to fix your rankings now:
Pirates’ Spencer Horwitz Out Six To Eight Weeks Following Wrist Surgery. Horwitz’s surgery was to address “chronic symptoms,” the Pirates announced.
A guy traded twice and no medical staff picked up on it?
Luckily, the Pirates have a lot of guys that can fill in for him…like…um…hmm…
If it was chronic why wait until the start of spring training. I guess he tried rehabbing but c’mon man
Ha, yeah
Valdez….Gonzalez…..platoon. Billy Cook
Haha, amazing
You guys are missing the obvious, Vogelbach. He just got hired as hitting special assistant. Sign him to a player contract on a discount. I think I have a coupon the Pirates can use for 10% off.
A hitting instructor/player
Maybe they let Nick York play First instead of Outfield
Can’t say his name without sounding like Alicia Keys
Grey! Great stuff as always. Been digging into the podcast the last few days and learning even more. Thanks for your analysis!
Keeper question for you in 10 team standard root, gotta pick 4.
Gunnar, Tildaddy, Allahson, Chourio, Albies, Oneil Cruz.
Thanks! Not Albies or Olson
Crap! I an excited to see a bunch of my targets, but also realizing some of my sneaky guys are not so sneaky.
Your Flaherty blurb included the Scherzer comparison, which I was discussing with my friend at work. Wouldnt it also make sense for TOR to get younger guy after jettisoning Kikuchi and DET to get Scherzer as a vet to mentor young guys? Same salaries .. I guess making too much sense is dumb.
“Already gave you my Garrett Crochet fantasy. It was written while being locked up by Barney Fife.” *unzips pants* Go on……
Why is Taijuan Walker not on the list? IS THIS NOT RAZZBALL?!?!
HAHAHA, wait, unzips pants, what? Hahahaha
Thanks for all your work Grey! Need some keeper advice if you have a moment.
It’s a 10 team H2h points league with 25 man rosters and you can keep up to 25 guys indefinitely with positional limits
I can keep up to 9 of these 13:
Skenes, Crochet, Greene, Imanaga, Bibee, Glassnow, Gore, Ryan, Mclanahan, Alcantara, Jackson Job, Kumar Rocker, and Bubba Chandler
And up to 6 of:
Munoz, Erceg, Puk, Tyler Ferguson, Tyler Holton, Brant Hurter, and Felix Bautista.
Strikeouts worth 3 and outs worth 1 (so a K is +4 points), Saves are 5, wins are 5, holds are 4, losses are -5, blown saves -5 (so a blown save is typically between -5 and -15 for the day depending how many outs and strikeouts the guy guy got)
Who’s getting cut from the sp?
Keep or trash the RPs to get back in the draft earlier for a 2b / c / util / (maybe an upside bench bat)?
Just bats (8) and SP keepers (7 to 9 of them) puts me around pick 155-175 jumping back in.
Hitter Keepers for context (3 utility slots):
Alonso, Abrams, JoRam, Royce, Kwan, Merril, Lawrence Butler, Dylan Crews
5 IL slots to use at any given time so guys like Glassman and Royce are a little easier to roster.
Generally I don’t even roster a catcher and lean into 9sp 6rp setups
This is a killer lineup. Skenes seems like the piece to try to trade before the season starts. Folks love SP1. I’d try to trade him for Judge or Carrol. Someone in the top 10 at a scarce position like CF.
Maybe go all in on trading starters. Package Greene and Glassnow for a top 2B? Ketel Marte
I did consider it but I’m kinda hoping to grab a 2b in the draft, I’ll definitely mull it over, the guy with marte needs pitching and has other good 2b options
Thanks! I had judge until last season but in the h2h format he seems to dry up in the last few weeks when the points matter most from my experience. Carrol is a solid recommendation though I might go for it
Chandler, Kumar, Gore, Jobe
You don’t need to keep the RPs, but I guess Bautista and Munoz if you have room
Thanks grey! Surprised to see gore on the chopping block based on your rankings but excited for the season to see how the guys bounce back from injury. You’re the best in the biz sir I appreciate the comments!
No problem!
Top of the morning to you Sir. 12 team league with 14 keep forever. standard h2h stats.
My confirmed keepers are as follows:
J. Ramirez
Lindor
JRod
Jarren Duran
Ketel Marte
Olson
Abrams
Burnes
Cease
Bryce Miller
4 spots available. Who would you pick out of the following?
Yelich
Pasquantino
Nola
McClanahan
Ohtani (Pitcher only)
Raisel Iglesias
Jhoan Duran
Ober
I typically don’t keep closers as they are easily replaceable in drafts and throughout the season.
Not Grey, my 2 cents:
Yelich – hurt
Pasquantino
Nola
McClanahan
Ohtani (Pitcher only) – hurt with prior arm injuries
Raisel Iglesias – RP who you normally dont keep
Jhoan Duran – RP who you normally dont keep
Ober
Pas, Nola, McClan, Ober
Ohtani, Ober, Vinnie and I guess McClanahan
Thanks for the help.
No problem
if the hot gymnast’s boyfriend drops to pick 22 i might take him. my pick 9 in our 15 teamer is actually pretty interesting. will be a good player at 9. leaning carroll if he’s there just because i haven’t yet owned him and he seems fun. or tatis. not sure about tucker. team change guys sometimes have a dip? i dunno. gut wants to pass.
my next pick at 22 is rife with possibility. adp says jazz and acuna are there with duran being right in the mix and i’m thrilled. but if our draft follows your top 21 it’s jazz except because it a razz draft the likely faller is skenes. if i don’t go skenes the next option is trea and i feel like i can get close to turner ptoduction later on. and i do not you know i’m with you on the pitching philosophy but in this one particular inflection point i think skenes might be the pick gor me. already have a riley share. maybe matt olson?
actually now that it’s not 430 i realize i’m pick 22 which is even worse. if it follows the above then it’s turner or skubal. deathly afraid of skubal.
He’ll be gone is my guess…22 thru 40 is a landmine field Princess Di wouldn’t even traverse
Is your kid still playing fantasy? You co-managing? Corbin and Acuna or Jazz sounds so good to me, Skenes will be gone…Corbin and Olson sounds great too tbh
he is out on the two leagues i’m in with you but we’ll have two nfc 15 auctions together. he’s more in than ever…he took a hit from the fantasy football crack pipe this year and it’s all over. great parenting…huge question mark?
no way acuna gets to 22 in this league i’m guessing. corbin and olson is my lean also. makes a solid pairing
Haha, that’s awesome! Get him hooked! Haha
Corbin/Olson sounds so good…I’m gonna end up with something like Elly/Riley and have the worst team ever
guys often have a 1/3 to full season dip on
(-) changing teams esp if conferences (like here)
(-) right after signing large long term contracts (this one is more likely just regression, as when DO guys tend to sign large long term contracts: right after career years)
but that dip statistically speaking is often only like 15%, obv in the case of coming off career years that seems huge a good bit of the time if you obtain the player yourself right after that career season.
Grey!!!!
So good, unbearably good!
Rodney Dangerfield quote of the day for February 12, 2025
I tell you, don’t get no respect at all. I told my psychiatrist, I told him, Doc, I keep thinking I’m ugly. He told me to lie on the couch, face down.
Cheers,
Ante
Thanks!
Is position eligibility the only reason so many bats projected for lesser stats are ranked above Schwarber?
No, because Schwarber has a much lower floor with AVG
Grey,
10 team, 6×5 including ops, keep 7 and keeper value is tied to the round they were drafted in. The dude with Mookie is still thinking about my offer of Lindor for Mookie but said he’d trade me Abrams for him. So for now my 7 keepers are
R1 Riley/Lindor
R3 Langford
R6 Olson
R7 JRam
R9 Kirby
R22 Tucker
R24 Acuña
Another owner just offered me my JRam (r7) and Holliday (r2 but not keeping) for his Judge (r3). If I accept, I throw back Langford. Keep JRam and Langford or Judge and then trade Lindor/Riley for Abrams? Thanks!
Judge and keep Lindor and Riley
Thanks! lol I wish I could keep both Lindor and Riley. But since they’re both round 1 guys I can only keep 1. I’ll have to trade one for Abrams who’s a round 20 guy.
I see, can you trade Riley for Abrams?
Yes, Riley or Lindor can be moved for Abrams. I know you have Lindor ahead of Riley by a decent margin in your rankings 8 vs 25, but with my league having OPS as a cat, I looked at Rudy’s 6×6 OPS rankings and they’re a little closer there $27 vs $25.
I do think Lindor is better for this year but Riley better for future years. So Lindor’s age and back are giving me pause on which to move for Abrams.
Haha that and I’m waiting for the Judge owner to respond to my text and officially accept his offer.
I’d move Riley for CJ
Ok cool. Thanks!
No problem
Grey, thanks for the early rankings- these are great! Have a keeper question. I have four definites based on our league rules and keeper values:
Ohtani (Hitter)
Skubal
Oneil Cruz
Crochet
Can keep a fifth player and options are ok including Santander, Bryce Miller, Westburg, Luis Garcia Jr and Mason Miller. All things being equal, any preferences here?
Thanks and excited for the season!
It’s between Santander and Westburg, that order for me…unless Santander goes somewhere terrible like Detroit
If neto wouldn’t have gotten injured, where do you think you would have ranked him? i have him my dynasty league for $5 and am probably going to keep him and put him on my IL even though i have gunnar.
Around 100
Hey Grey! Thanks for making this all available early. Never too soon to start prepping! So I can keep Teoscar at pick 31. Factoring in other likely keepers ahead of him on the list, that’s right around where he is ranked. Your thoughts on keeping players right at value?
I like Teoscar a lot, I’d hold him if he fits with your keepers
Thanks, sound advice. Stay safe out in LA!!
Thanks!
Grey,
I’m so glad to hear that you and your family are doing well!! Thank you so much for all of your continued hard work; your rankings are the perfect way to kick off the new year!! Let’s go!!
Of course! No problem!
Love this! Thanks Grey!
On a separate note, looks like Hoffman has failed a couple of physicals recently (Braves and Orioles) which prompted a lesser deal with more incentives with the BJays. Methinks me Lothario will be bump’n him down the ranks in the landmark case of…
Hope not!
…but maybe
nice–always look forward to this.
hope yo are OK in the fire situation
Thanks! I’m good