Posted on by Michael Halpern

Chicago Cubs 2025 Dynasty Baseball Team Report (Top 10 Prospects/Interesting MLB guys/Strategy Talk)

It’s all about the Cubbies on the Brick Wall today! I dive into their Top 11 Prospects, analyze their most interesting young MLB players, and then I jump off the Matt Shaw blurb to talk about how good the little man discount has been to me over the years in the Dynasty Strategy section. Like during the regular season, I will be posting a few articles a month for free here on Imaginary Brick Wall with the vast majority of the content over on the Patreon. This is one of those articles. Here is the Chicago Cubs 2025 Dynasty Baseball Team Report (Top 10 Prospects/Interesting MLB guys/Strategy Talk):

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL OFF-SEASON, INCLUDING:
-A TOP 75 SNEAK PEEK OF THE 2025 TOP 1,000 DYNASTY BASEBALL RANKINGS
-END OF SEASON 2024 TOP 322 PROSPECTS RANKS
-END OF SEASON 2024 438 DYNASTY RANKS
-TOP 57 2025 FYPD RANKS with full scouting reports and prime projections (a Top 100+ is coming later this off-season)
-2025 DEEP DYNASTY POSITIONAL RANKS: Top 78 Catchers
-HALP’S DYNASTY BASEBALL PODCAST: END OF SEASON MAILBAG!
-SPREADSHEETS
-OFF-SEASON CONTENT! – Dynasty Team Reports, Deep Positional Rankings, Predicting Future Prospect Lists, Fall/Winter League Updates, Top 100+ FYPD Ranks, Top 500+ Prospects Ranks, Top 1,000 Dynasty Ranks & so much more!

Previous Dynasty Team Reports on Patreon (free ones listed in parenthesis)

Atlanta Braves—Baltimore Orioles—Cincinnati Reds–Chicago White Sox—Cleveland Guardians—Detroit Tigers—Los Angeles Angels—Miami Marlins—Milwaukee Brewers (free)—Minnesota Twins—New York Mets (free)—Oakland Athletics—Philadelphia Phillies—Pittsburgh Pirates—San Diego Padres—Tampa Bay Rays—Washington Nationals (free)

Hitters 

Pete Crow-Armstrong – CHC, OF, 23.0 – Pete Crow Armstrong’s power has been underrated from the time he was drafted. He was my #1 target in his 2020/21 FYPD class after getting drafted a ridiculous 19th overall, writing in his FYPD blurb, “Armstrong stands out for his plus speed, plus defense, and strong track record of hitting. Power hasn’t been a big part of his game, but he has recently added muscle onto his projectable 6’1” frame, and a 99 MPH exit velocity mark at a 2019 Perfect Game event is damn good. Armstrong is my favorite target in first year player drafts relative to consensus.” I’ve basically named him a target every 3 months since then, even ranking him within my Top 100 overall last off-season at #99. And in 2024, especially the 2nd half of 2024, we started to see the first buds of a breakout that could absolutely explode in 2025. He put up a 88.9/94.0 MPH AVG/FB EV on the season, which shows that power potential I saw 4 years ago wasn’t a mirage. And when it comes with a 17.2 degree launch, an elite 30.0 ft/sec sprint speed, and elite CF defense, you have the makings of an extremely exciting fantasy player. We saw that player in his final 65 games, slashing .267/.317/.457 with 9 homers, 11 steals, and a 21.8/6.9 K%/BB%. I ranked him 67th overall on the Top 75 Sneak Peek of the 2025 Top 1,000 Dynasty Baseball Rankings (Patreon), but the reason why he isn’t ranked even higher is because he still does have some deficiencies in his game. His 70.6 MPH swing is below average, his 41.4% Chase% is extreme, and his 29.9% whiff% is well below average. That isn’t exactly my favorite trifecta of skills, but he’s still so young, I foresee all of those numbers improving. And focusing on what he doesn’t do well is silly when what he does do well is so insanely exciting. Put some respect on this man’s name. His name is Pete Crow Armstrong, not Pete Crow Armweak. – 2025 Projection: 82/18/71/.244/.312/.425/31 Prime Projection: 93/24/74/.259/.331/.446/44

Michael Busch – CHC, 1B, 27.4 – Busch is a mixed bag of things you really want to buy into, and things that make you hesitant to buy in too hard. On the positive side, his 11.2% Barrel%, 89.9/95.4 MPH AVG/FB EV, and 17.2 degree launch makes you think he can truly be a preeminent power hitter in this game. But those numbers only resulted in 21 homers in 152 games last year, and his expected homer totals were right in that area too, so he wasn’t really unlucky there. His below average 70.3 MPH swing it really the thing that makes me hesitant to start projecting perennial 30+ homer seasons. The true top power hitters in the game generally swing a much, much quicker bat, and while that bat speed doesn’t preclude him from hitting 30+, I think it does make mid 20 homer projections more reasonable moving forward, which would make him a good fantasy first baseman, but not a truly great one. And of course the most obvious downside is the swing and miss with a 28.6% K%, leading to a .248 BA and .217 xBA. I’m not expecting his BA to bottom out, but I think the risk is there. Add a star in OBP leagues as his plate approach is excellent with a 11.1% BB% and well above average 23.2% Chase%. 2025 Projection: 77/25/83/.244/.330/.458/2

Pitchers

Ben Brown – CHC, RHP, 25.7 – Brown is one of my top pitcher targets for 2025. I’ve been calling him a target for a few years now in that bucket of pitching prospect that I love to shop in (close to the majors, big stuff, upper minors production, moderate to little hype), and now that he’s proven it in the majors, he becomes a true 5 alarm target. And the best part is, even after he proved it in the majors, he’s still getting majorly underrated. He put up a 3.58 ERA with a 28.8/8.6 K%/BB% in 55.1 IP. A neck injury ended his season in June, but the expectation is for him to have a normal off-season. He throws gas with a 96.4 MPH fastball that was an above average pitch (although the underlying numbers weren’t as good). His curveball was amongst the very best in baseball with a 51% whiff% and .183 xwOBA. He performed better against righties than he did lefties, but even with just two pitches basically, he still put up an above average .304 wOBA vs lefties. He also threw a lesser used changeup, cutter, sinker and sweeper at Triple-A in 2023, so I don’t think he is locked in as a two pitch pitcher. The cutter in particular seems to have promise as a third pitch. Point being, even with two pitches I think he can be a high K, mid rotation starter, and if he can find that effective 3rd+ pitch, there could be an even higher level in here. He’s control over command, but it’s good to see the walk rate stay about average in his MLB debut. He might start the season in the bullpen depending on what Chicago does the rest of the off-season, but I don’t think Chicago has plans to ban him to the bullpen permanently. They used him as a starter last year and he was great, so it would make little sense for them not to give him a full shot in the rotation long term. I’m going after him. 2025 Projection: 8/3.79/1.23/150 in 130 IP

Shota Imanaga – CHC, LHP, 31.7 – It’s no secret that I enjoy a good victory lap like Wade Boggs on horseback taking a victory lap around Yankee Stadium after beating the Braves in the 1996 World Series. Like Boggs, I also eat chicken before I write every article, and I also drink 107 beers on a flight before going 2 for 3 with 2 doubles just hours later. Come to think of it, maybe that was CJ Abrams problem. Not that he partied until 8 am, but that he went 0 for 3 right after that. Dude, we all know that if you are going to be a rebel, you better produce. Maybe he did deserve that punishment after all ;). Now where was I? Oh yea, victory lapping. While I do believe in celebrating your hits, I also believe in taking the walk of shame for your misses, and finding lessons in who I consider to be my biggest miss, Shota Imanaga. I had Imanaga pegged as a good, but not great MLB pitcher, giving him a projection of 11/3.91/1.22/175 in 160 IP. He ended up going 15/2.91/1.02/174 in 173.1 IP. I believe where I went wrong was that I overrated fastball velocity, and while to my credit, the 91.7 MPH fastball actually didn’t miss that many bats (17.5% whiff%) or induce weak contact (91.2 MPH EV with .327 xwOBA), it was still a positive value pitch with a 52% usage rate, and it came with elite control, an elite secondary (splitter), a diverse pitch mix, and a history of ace production in the 2nd toughest league in the world. I shouldn’t have let a low 90’s fastball blind me to how good and established the rest of the profile was, and also to the fact that the fastball was still pretty good despite the low velocity. This wasn’t my only miss, but I believe that every other miss I had, my process was good and I don’t regret my take on them. Imanaga is the only one where I’m disappointed in my evaluation, and I will be taking those lessons with me headed into 2025, starting with properly ranking him for next season, which is in the near ace tier. – 2025 Projection: 13/3.28/1.06/182 in 175 IP

Bullpen

Porter Hodge – CHC, Closer, 24.1 – Hodge took over the closer job in late August and he ran with it, locking down 8 saves in his final 13 appearances. He was lights out when he got the call to the bigs in late May, putting up a 1.88 ERA with a 31.7/11.6 K%/BB% in 43 IP. The stuff is most certainly closer stuff with the best sweeper in baseball that put up a +11 Run Value (tied with Anthony Bender) with a 51.8% whiff%. The fastball sits 95.5 MPH and put up very good .298 xwOBA. Below average control is the only thing that can tank him, and while plenty of elite closers have below average control, there is still some risk there as we saw with Camilo Doval and Alexis Diaz last year. The Cubs might sign a vet to give Hodge competition, but as now, he’s the man, and he has the upside to be an impact fantasy closer. 2025 Projection: 4/3.41/1.18/77/29 saves in 63 IP

Chicago Cubs 2025 Top 10 Fantasy Baseball Prospects Rankings

1) Matt Shaw – CHC, 3B/2B/SS, 23.4 – The little man discount never fails. Baseball scouts see a little man, and they immediately shave a few inches of projection right off the top. I don’t mind it, because it consistently creates excellent buying opportunities for the right players (see the Dynasty Strategy Section below for more thoughts on this), and Matt Shaw is definitely one of those right players. He went a little later than he should have in the real MLB Draft, then he went a little later than he should have in Dynasty First Year Player Drafts, and now he’s getting ranked a little later than he should be on prospect lists. He’s an elite prospect that gets ranked like a merely good one. He might only be 5’9”, but his bat packs a true punch, putting up an 89.3 MPH EV with a 14.6 degree launch in 35 games at Triple-A. He smoked 21 homers on the season in 121 games split between Double-A and Triple-A. He’s not a pull machine, but a lot of these lift and pull machines put up some pretty low batting averages, and a profile like Shaw doesn’t need to only pull the ball. He can use his hard hit ability, plus speed (31 steals), and plus contact rates (18.2% K%) to do damage when he goes oppo. He also walks a ton with a 11.9% BB%, making him a likely top of the order bat. Don’t fall into the little man trap, Shaw is going to be a do everything fantasy terror when he gets his shot. I don’t know exactly how the chips are going to fall as to where he ends up on the diamond and when he gets his shot, but it will work itself out one way or the other. Shaw’s been a target for me from before his junior year of college, and he remains a target for me. 2025 Projection: 41/9/45/.256/.318/.419/12 Prime Projection: 96/23/83/.276/.348/.461/26

2) Kevin Alcantara – CHC, OF, 22.8 – The Forgotten Unicorn continues to fly just low enough under the radar to not have the hype explode, while continuing to perform very well and show off his truly special tools. He’s a still projectable 6’6”, 188 pounds with a double plus raw power/speed combo. He put up a 91 MPH EV at Triple-A with a 29.2 ft/sec sprint in the majors. And it’s not like he’s struggled in the minors at all, He’s actually been extremely good his entire career, never putting up a wRC+ under 123 at any stop other than when he was a 16 year old in rookie ball. This year he did it in the upper minors all season as a 21/22 year old, slashing .278/.353/.428 with 14 homers, 14 steals, and a 26.0/9.9 K%/BB% in 111 games split between Double-A and Triple-A. The cherry on top is that he’s a good CF, which could make a potent OF with PCA in center and Alcantara in a corner down the line. He’s not a finished product with hit tool risk and too many groundballs, but his hype should be so much higher than it is. Alcantara makes for a great upside target. 2025 Projection: 22/7/29/.229/.294/.407/6 Prime Projection: 79/23/78/.251/.328/.449/18

3) Cam Smith – CHC, 3B, 22.1 – Selected 14th overall in the 2024 MLB Draft, the 6’3”, 224 pound Smith generates a tremendous amount of power with very little movement in his swing. It is quick, powerful and short to the ball. It is straight up one of the quietest swings from one of the biggest men I’ve ever seen. The swing is geared more for a line drive, all fields approach rather than pull and lift, which is why he didn’t put up the gaudy homer totals as some of his other college hitting brethren with only 16 homers in 66 games in the ACC. But he has the raw power to make that profile work, and the upside is that it can come with a high BA. We saw what this profile can look like at it’s best in his dominant pro debut, slashing .313/.396/.609 with 7 homers, 2 steals, and a 17.9/11.2 K%/BB% in 32 games split between Single-A, High-A, and Double-A. He put up a 122 wRC+ in 5 games at Double-A, so the profile was transferring to the upper minors, and he clearly had no problems ripping dingers to all fields with the wood bat. He very well might have the top hit/power combo in the FYPD class, and it’s why he ranked 7th overall (really 8th overall with Roki now in the top spot) in my End of Season 2025 Top 56 First Year Player Drafts Rankings (full Top 130 coming later this off-season). – 2025 Projection: 12/4/17/.247/.308/.412/1 Prime Projection: 84/24/89/.273/.340/.466/4

4) Cade Horton – CHC, RHP, 23.7 – Horton’s season ended after just 34.1 IP with a lat strain, and let’s hope that lat strain is what led to his terrible run at Triple-A. He put up a 7.50 ERA with a 27.2/13.6 K%/BB% in 18 IP. The fastball was down to 94.1 MPH. The good news is that the secondaries (changeup, curve, slider) still missed a ton of bats and induced weak contact, and he also pitched much better at Double-A with a 1.10 ERA and 29.0/3.2 K%/BB% in 16.1 IP. We can give him a pass for his performance at Triple-A due to the injury, but Tommy John surgery knocked out his entire 2021 season, so injuries are starting to become a concern. He’s never pitched more than 88.1 IP in a season, so it’s a question if he can truly put up a full starter’s workload year after year, and also what level of stuff he can hold over those innings. His value took a hit this year, but it would be too risk averse to completely tank his value. I’m holding relatively strong. 2025 Projection: 4/4.13/1.32/74 in 80 IP Prime Projection: 11/3.68/1.19/163 in 150 IP

5) Moises Ballesteros – CHC, C, 21.5 – Ballesteros is a below average defensive catcher which makes it unclear if he will end up sticking behind the plate. He’s only 21 years old, so maybe he’ll improve, and maybe Chicago will be fine with his below average defense because they are not strong at catcher in both the majors and the minors. Even if Ballesteros moves off catcher to 1B/DH, he definitely has the bat to clear that high bar. He posseses one of the best hit/power combos in the minors, slashing .289/.354/.471 with 19 homers, 1 steal, and a 18.3/8.9 K%/BB% in 124 games split between Double-A (154 wRC+) and Triple-A (106 wRC+). And keep in mind he did that as a 20 year old. He started to lift and pull the ball more at Triple-A, which spiked his K rate a bit, but we’ll take that tradeoff for more dingers. Lack of defensive value can certainly end up a real issue if his bat ends up more above average than great, but Chicago has every incentive for him to stick behind the plate, so I’m leaning he gets a real shot there. He ranked 15th overall on the 2025 Deep Dynasty Baseball Positional Rankings: Top 78 Catchers (Patreon). – 2025 Projection: 33/9/39/.258/.307/.420/1 Prime Projection: 73/24/84/.275/.332/.457/2

6) Owen Caissie – CHC, OF, 22.9 – Caissie is a super easy evaluation as a low BA, high OBP slugger, but he really doesn’t hit as many homers as you would think with 19 homers in 127 games at Triple-A. His 33.4% FB% is on the low side for a slugger, which is what is holding down the homer totals. It’s helping his BA, hitting .278, but with a 28.4% K% (which is a career best), he’s not going to hit for a high BA in the majors regardless. There could be a scenario where the strikeout rate is hovering around 30% in the majors with a launch that really isn’t all that high, which could result is some pretty mediocre numbers. I mainly bring this up because it’s the most interesting thing about projecting his future value, but when you pan out for the big picture, he’s a powerful and athletic 6’3”, 190 pounds with current plus power and possibly more coming down the line. He’ll also chip in with steals, nabbing 11 bags. And add two stars in OBP leagues with a 12.9% BB%. I don’t want to lose the forest through the trees by slicing and dicing the numbers too much, so I’m still projecting his as a low BA, high OBP slugger no matter how you slice it. There is a short term logjam for playing time, but long term I don’t see many roadblocks. 2025 Projection: 19/6/25/.227/.303/.420/2 Prime Projection: 78/28/91/.246/.335/.480/7

7) James Triantos – CHC, 2B, 22.2 – Triantos ran a ton in 2024, stealing 47 bags in 115 games split between Double-A and Triple-A. I’m leading with that because it gives his profile an upside boost which he needed for fantasy. The contact rates have consistently ranged from plus to elite throughout his minor league career, putting up an 11.1 K% this season, but both the game power and raw power are well below average. He put up a 85.9 MPH EV at Triple-A with a 2 degree launch. He doesn’t walk much with a 5.6% BB%, which isn’t great for his chances to hit at the top of the lineup, and he’s not really an asset on defense as a solid 2B. The hit/speed combo is certainly good enough to make him a good fantasy prospect, but lack of impact, OBP and defense keeps him as more of a Top 150 prospect for me. 2025 Projection: 19/2/11/.260/.303/.365/7 Prime Projection: 81/11/52/.282/.328/.408/26

8) Alexander Canario – CHC, OF, 24.11 – I was always visually amazed when watching Canario swing, writing, “he swings the bat like it’s a bazooka with an extreme all or nothing approach,” in last year’s Top 1,000 writeup, and now with bat speed tracking, we saw Canario put up an eye poppingly elite 78 MPH swing. It was in a small sample (40 swings), but that was 4th best in all of baseball. My eyes certainly weren’t deceiving me, and it’s what keeps Canario interesting to me for fantasy. He’s going to rip dingers if he gets playing time, like he did at Triple-A with 18 homers and a 16.8% Barrel% in 64 games. He also keeps producing in the majors in small samples (despite an extremely high K%) with a 148 wRC+ in 17 PA in 2023 and a 128 wRC+ in 28 PA in 2024. The swing is on the long side and he strikes out a ton (30.4% K% at Triple-A), so the batting average is a major risk, and it may prevent him from ever really truly locking down a full time job, but that power upside is big enough to crack this list. 2025 Projection: 28/10/37/.223/.301/.438/2 Prime Projection: 64/25/78/.235/.314/.469/6

9) Jefferson Rojas – CHC, SS, 19.11 – I was a bit lower on Rojas than consensus last off-season, because I just didn’t see big enough tools to get really excited about him for fantasy, and that played out in 2024 with a mediocre season. He hit 6 homers with 21 steals (in 29 attempts) and a 88 wRC+ in 96 games at High-A. We have to grade on a curve because he was young for the level, and the 15.3% K% was excellent, so it’s not like it was a terrible year or anything, it just displayed that he’s a better real life prospect than a fantasy one. He can play SS and he gets the ball on the ball, which gives him a very high floor, but the power/speed combo projects to be moderate at best. He’s a solid fantasy prospect, but not a truly coveted one at the moment. ETA: 2027 Prime Projection: 78/17/71/.273/.326/.421/15

10) Jonathon Long – CHI, 1B, 23.2 – I’m a hawk for great pro debuts coming right out of the draft, and Long’s great pro debut in 2023 certainly got my attention. Despite getting picked 266th overall as a college bat (he signed for slot value, so there were no complicating signing bonus factors), I messed around and placed Long on my Top 1,000 Rankings, writing in part, “Long makes for an interesting late round target in deeper leagues … He has a very quick and powerful swing that looks relatively legit to me, and he hits the ball hard. Obviously don’t expect a league winner, but I think he’s a real prospect.” He then went out and proved in 2024 that he is most certainly a legit prospect, to say the least. He slashed .340/.455/.528 with 7 homers and a 16.5/17.5 K%/BB% in 46 games after getting the call to Double-A. He then went to the AFL and obliterated the league with a 1.088 OPS and 6 homers in 18 games. He’s still a mostly 1B prospect (he can play some 3B too) whose reasonable projection is more of a good bat than a great one, so he’s still more of a deeper league guy, but he most certainly backed up that great pro debut. He’s a close to the majors bat who can make a fantasy impact if he can work his way into the lineup. ETA: 2026 Prime Projection: 68/20/76/.257/.326/.441/1

11) Brandon Birdsell – CHC, RHP, 25.0 – Birdsell is certainly in the bucket of pitching prospect I like to shop in that I talked about in the Ben Brown blurb, but his profile reminds me a bit of Adam Mazur’s, who burned me this season, so I’m going to stay restrained in my expectations for Birdsell. Like Mazur, he has plus control of a 95 MPH fastball that doesn’t have a great movement profile, although Birdsell’s fastball missed considerably more bats at Triple-A than Mazur’s did. And like Mazur he has an above average slider as his best secondary to go along with a starter’s pitch mix. It all resulted in a 3.91 ERA with a 23.5/5.4 K%/BB% in 135.2 IP split between Double-A and Triple-A. Like Mazur, I’m leaning towards more of a #4 starter as a reasonable upside projection for Birdsell. The deeper the league, the more value he has. 2025 Projection: 2/4.36/1.34/56 in 70 IP Prime Projection: 9/4.07/1.25/138 in 150 IP

Dynasty Baseball Thought/Strategy of the Day (which may or may not be related to the team I’m covering that day)

Jumping off from the Matt Shaw blurb, the little man discount has been one of the most profitable discounts over the years in Dynasty Baseball. I get it, because when you are watching a prospect, the ones who are massive human beings with insane tools are so very easy to identify and drool over. And I sure as hell love those unicorns as well (see my Kevin Alcantara blurb), but that doesn’t mean you should discount the truly electric little guys. Sure, if the EV data doesn’t back them up, discount away, but when the EV data does back them up, there is no reason to be so skeptical. Little man Corbin Carroll (5’10”) was my 3rd ranked FYPD prospect in his draft year because his EV data was impressive, and he still dropped to 16th overall in the draft (Shaw dropped to 13th overall). I remember when Carson Cistulli, formerly of Fangraphs, was extolling the virtues of the 5’9” Mookie Betts from before I was writing when nobody else was. The 5’9” Jose Ramirez was a target of mine when I was just playing the game of dynasty, not writing yet, and sure I didn’t keep him after his lackluster 2015 season, missing out the beginning of his breakout in 2016, but clearly I was onto something. And no, throwing Ramirez back into the player pool before his breakout definitely doesn’t still eat at me almost 10 years later. Definitely not ;). Back to current day, Jett Williams is another worthy little man discount pick, as is Slade Caldwell in this year’s first year player draft. It’s the gift that keeps on giving, and until the right little men start getting valued correctly, I’ll keep on scooping those little cuties up at that discounted price.

Previous Dynasty Team Reports on Patreon (free ones listed in parenthesis)

Atlanta Braves—Baltimore Orioles—Cincinnati Reds–Chicago White Sox—Cleveland Guardians—Detroit Tigers—Los Angeles Angels—Miami Marlins—Milwaukee Brewers (free)—Minnesota Twins—New York Mets (free)—Oakland Athletics—Philadelphia Phillies—Pittsburgh Pirates—San Diego Padres—Tampa Bay Rays—Washington Nationals (free)

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL OFF-SEASON, INCLUDING:
-A TOP 75 SNEAK PEEK OF THE 2025 TOP 1,000 DYNASTY BASEBALL RANKINGS
-END OF SEASON 2024 TOP 322 PROSPECTS RANKS
-END OF SEASON 2024 438 DYNASTY RANKS
-TOP 57 2025 FYPD RANKS with full scouting reports and prime projections (a Top 100+ is coming later this off-season)
-2025 DEEP DYNASTY POSITIONAL RANKS: Top 78 Catchers
-HALP’S DYNASTY BASEBALL PODCAST: END OF SEASON MAILBAG!
-SPREADSHEETS
-OFF-SEASON CONTENT! – Dynasty Team Reports (Top 10 Prospects/Interesting MLB guys/Strategy Talk) , Deep Positional Rankings, Predicting Future Prospect Lists, Fall/Winter League Updates, Top 100+ FYPD Ranks, Top 500+ Prospects Ranks, Top 1,000 Dynasty Ranks & so much more!

By Michael Halpern (@MichaelCHalpern)
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com
Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@DynastyHalp)
Blue Sky: Dynasty Halp (@ImaginaryBrickWall)

Posted on by Michael Halpern

2025 Positional Dynasty Baseball Rankings: Top 78 Catchers (Patreon)

The Dynasty Baseball Positional Rankings have arrived, and we kick off the festivities on Patreon with catchers (top 5 free here on the Brick Wall). Nobody wants to pay up for one, but when you are getting terrible production during the season, you start to maybe question that strategy a bit (I know I have in my 18 teamer). I’ll run through everyone from the elite studs, to the diamonds in the rough, to even just down to the rough in the rough at the very back of the rankings. Even 30 teamers need some love. Here is the 2025 Positional Dynasty Baseball Rankings: Top 78 Catchers:

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR THE REST OF THESE RANKINGS & TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL OFF-SEASON, INCLUDING:
-A TOP 75 SNEAK PEEK OF THE 2025 TOP 1,000 DYNASTY BASEBALL RANKINGS
-END OF SEASON 2024 TOP 322 PROSPECTS RANKS
-END OF SEASON 2024 438 DYNASTY RANKS
-TOP 57 2025 FYPD RANKS with full scouting reports and prime projections (a Top 100+ is coming later this off-season)
-2025 DEEP DYNASTY POSITIONAL RANKS: Top 78 Catchers
-HALP’S DYNASTY BASEBALL PODCAST: END OF SEASON MAILBAG!
-SPREADSHEETS
-OFF-SEASON CONTENT! – Dynasty Team Reports (Top 10 Prospects/Interesting MLB guys/Strategy Talk) , Deep Positional Rankings, Predicting Future Prospect Lists, Fall/Winter League Updates, Top 100+ FYPD Ranks, Top 500+ Prospects Ranks, Top 1,000 Dynasty Ranks & so much more!

Previous Dynasty Team Reports (free ones listed in parenthesis)

Atlanta Braves—Baltimore Orioles—Cincinnati Reds–Chicago White Sox—Cleveland Guardians—Detroit Tigers—Los Angeles Angels—Miami Marlins—Milwaukee Brewers (free)—Minnesota Twins—New York Mets (free)—Oakland Athletics—Philadelphia Phillies—Pittsburgh Pirates—San Diego Padres—Tampa Bay Rays—Washington Nationals (free)

Tier 1

1) William Contreras – MIL, C, 27.3 – Contreras is coming off back to back seasons finishing as the #1 catcher in fantasy. He’s smack dab in the middle of his prime at 27 years old. There isn’t much of an argument for anybody else to hold down the #1 dynasty catcher in the game spot. He smashes the ball with a career high 92.8 MPH EV that is in the top 6% of the league, and his 118.1 MPH Max EV was the 4th hardest hit ball all season. He has a good feel to hit and a plus plate approach (20.5/11.5 K%/BB%). And he also nabbed 9 bags this year, which is a really, really nice little bonus to get from your catcher. The only quibble with his profile is that he hits it on the ground a lot with a 54.5% GB%, which definitely limits his homer upside, but he hits the ball hard enough where he can still hit plenty of dingers, as evidenced by him knocking out 23 this year. – 2025 Projection: 88/22/84/.279/.360/.460/6

2) Adley Rutschman – BAL, C, 27.2 – It was announced that Baltimore is moving the left field fences back in after moving them out and making them taller before the 2022 season. Gotta love baseball where teams can just be like, yea, we are going to make our field smaller, or bigger, or whatever they hell they want. How fun if in football teams can just be like, so we’re going to make out homefield 150 yards next year. Or 75 yards. Or if in basketball they can just make the rim 11 feet high. It’s genuinely a cool thing that everything isn’t so cookie cutter. And I respect Baltimore for realizing they overcorrected their fences originally and figuring out a happy medium. The Orioles had the 9th worst park for righty homers in 2024, so hopefully that number rises closer to the middle of the pack or higher. And with Adley Rutschman being a switch hitter who put up an 18.8 degree launch with a 42.1% Pull%, this is only going to help his lackluster homer totals. This is a nice bump for his fantasy value, which was starting to get quite boring. He hit .250 with 19 homers and 1 steal in 148 games. His OBP league owners were upset too with his 9.1% BB% (13.4% in 2023) and .318 OBP. He makes a ton of contact (17.1% whiff%), but he does it with a slow swing (69 MPH which is well below average), so he really hasn’t done a ton of damage with an almost dead average Barrel% in his career. Moving the fences in is perfect for him, and while it might not be an explosion, 23 homers would be better than 19, along with the added BA, RBI and Runs that come with it. Everything seems setup for him to have a relatively big age 27 year old season. 2025 Projection: 76/23/83/.265/.341/.445/2

3) Yainer Diaz – HOU, C, 26.7 – Diaz’ launch went in the wrong direction in 2024, dropping from 11.5 to 8.5 degrees, and it tanked his Barrel% from 12.2% to 7.6%. He went from hitting 23 homers with a .538 SLG to 16 homers with a .441 SLG. He still hit the ball tremendously hard with a 90.2/94.5 MPH AVG/FB EV, and his contact rates hit a career best with a 17.3% K%, so he was still an excellent offense player, finishing as the 4th best catcher in fantasy. Lowering the launch and improving the contact rates also resulted in a career best .299 BA with a .295 xBA to back it up. He’s a really good offensive catcher no matter where the launch lands, but for fantasy, it would be nice if he could bring that back up to 2023 levels, or even higher. He has a terrible plate approach with a 3.9% BB% and 42.6% Chase%, so certainly take a star away here for OBP leagues, but he’s clearly proven he can make the profile work while he’s in his physical prime. 2025 Projection: 71/19/85/.287/.319/.461/1

Tier 2

4) Samuel Basallo – BAL, C/1B, 20.7 – Basallo didn’t quite obliterate the upper minors like he did the lower minors, slashing .278/.341/.449 with 19 homers, 10 steals, and a 21.1/8.6 K%/BB% in 127 games, but when you take into account that he was 19 years old for the vast majority of the season, it gets a lot more impressive. He was also much better at Double-A with a 134 wRC+ in 106 games than he was at Triple-A (62 wRC+ with a 31.4% K% in 21 games), so I think we can give him a pass for an adjustment period with a new team, coaches, teammates, league, home park etc … Even at Triple-A, the sweet lefty swinging, 6’4” Basallo put up a 91.1 MPH EV. He’s always put up solid contact rates in the minors, but the spike at Triple-A could also be an indicator that we shouldn’t expect the highest BA at least early in his career. He puts the ball on the ground a decent amount, but with his type of double plus power, he’s launch proof. I don’t know where he fits in defensively with Adley behind the plate, and plenty of competition at 1B (Mayo and Mountcastle), but long term there seems to be plenty of room for all of them. He’s a special power bat. – 2025 Projection: 28/9/35/.241/.300/.430/2 Prime Projection: 84/30/97/.268/.337/.505/6

5) Francisco Alvarez – NYM, C, 23.4 – Alvarez just went through an almost textbook sophomore slump season. He followed up his 25 homer rookie year in 123 games with a disappointing sophomore campaign, jacking out only 11 in 113 games, including the playoffs. The underlying stats back up the mediocre numbers with a 12.8% Barrel% in 2023 vs. a 6.7% in 2024, but the sophomore slump isn’t about getting unlucky, it’s about the game of adjustments. And even with the down power year, he actually put up a better wRC+ this year (102) than he did last year (97), so it was also about Alvarez working on becoming a more complete hitter himself. This is just the normal ebb and flow of a young player’s career, and with Alvarez going through those growing pains as a 21-22 year old on the major league level, I’m not even the slightest bit concerned. His power can’t be held down for long with a 114.8 MPH Max EV which was in the top 5% of the league, and his 88.8/94.2 MPH AVG/FB EV was still really good. He also made some incremental improvements to the contact rates, bringing the whiff% under 30% to 29.6%, to go along with a his solid 28.9% Chase%. Alvarez is still right on track to be one of the top hitting catchers in the game for the next decade. I’m smelling a big year 3 where he really puts it all together. – 2025 Projection: 68/25/82/.246/.323/.458/2

By Michael Halpern (@MichaelCHalpern)
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com
Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@DynastyHalp)
Blue Sky: Dynasty Halp (@ImaginaryBrickWall)

Posted on by Michael Halpern

A Top 75 Sneak Peek of the 2025 Top 1,000 Dynasty Baseball Rankings (Patreon)

It’s 2025 Top 1,000 Sneak Peek Week over on the Patreon, and the Top 75 Sneak Peek just hit moments ago. Full analysis, 2025 projections, and prime projections for every player. Top 15 free here on the Brick Wall. And I can’t wait to kick off the deep Positional Rankings next week with Catchers. The off-season content is just heating up, and baseball season will be back before you know it. Here is A Top 75 Sneak Peek of the 2025 Top 1,000 Dynasty Baseball Rankings:

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Atlanta Braves—Baltimore Orioles—Cincinnati Reds–Chicago White Sox—Cleveland Guardians—Detroit Tigers—Miami Marlins—Milwaukee Brewers (free)—Minnesota Twins—New York Mets (free)—Oakland Athletics—Philadelphia Phillies—Pittsburgh Pirates—San Diego Padres—Tampa Bay Rays—Washington Nationals (free)

1) Shohei Ohtani – LAD, RHP/DH, 30.9 – If you own Shohei Ohtani, there is a very, very high likelihood that your team is in win now mode, and if your team is in win now mode, I can’t imagine there is single solitary scenario where you would feel good about trading him straight up for any player in the game, age be damned. He just went .310/54/59 as a hitter only, finishing as the #1 fantasy player in the game by a country mile (shouldn’t the expression be a city mile? Try driving a mile in New York City, it will take you about 30 minutes. In the country? 50 seconds). And now in 2025 he is expected to be fully healthy to get back on the mound after undergoing an internal brace procedure, or whatever super secret elbow surgery he underwent. His arm was healthy enough to even hear murmurs he could have pitched this post-season. And when healthy, he is a true ace with a 3.01 ERA and 31.2/8.9 K%/BB% in 481.2 career IP. It’s his 2nd major elbow surgery in 5 years, but I’m not betting against a super human talent like Ohtani, and he always has elite hitting to fall back on even if he can’t return to full health. Considering what he did this year while recovering from surgery, it’s pretty clear you barely need elbows to hit. Sure he’s 30 years old, but that is far from ancient. One complicating factor did pop up during the World Series with him hurting his left shoulder, ultimately requiring surgery in early November. It’s not his pitching shoulder, but you do need shoulders to hit, and there are already rumors he isn’t going to run as much in 2025. He was so far out ahead of the pack in a daily moves league that I don’t think this changes his #1 status, but it definitely makes it less of a no brainer. His injuries are starting to pile up – 2025 Projection: 110/43/107/.288/.376/.579/25 // 9/3.37/1.16/158 in 130 IP

2) Bobby Witt Jr. – KCR, SS, 24.10 – In leagues where Ohtani can’t be used as both a pitcher and hitter (weekly leagues or leagues where Ohtani is split into two players), age does start to become more of a factor, so in those leagues, Bobby Witt Jr. would be crowned the #1 dynasty player in the game. Coming off his rookie season in 2022, he improved in almost every facet of the game in 2023, and then he once again improved in every facet of the game in 2024. Someone tell Bobby that development isn’t linear, because his development is a straight line. He put up career bests in Barrel% (14.3%), EV (92.7 MPH), Max EV (116.9 MPH), xwOBA (.413), K% (15%), and BB% (8.0%). His 74.7 MPH bat speed is elite, which makes his contact rates even more impressive, because that bat speed/contact combo is in even more rarified air. He’s also the fastest man in baseball by a good margin with a 30.5 ft/sec sprint. It all resulted in a .332/32/31 season, and seeing how he’s only gotten better every single season, there might just be another level in here. 40/40 here we come. – 2025 Projection: 118/35/104/.315/.379/.555/39

3) Elly De La Cruz – CIN, SS, 23.3 – Risk? What risk? I laugh in the face risk, ranking Elly 9th overall last off-season, and finishing his blurb by writing, “I always say, ‘if you can’t take risks in fantasy, where can you take risks,’ and I’m not even sure Elly is as risky as people think. I’m all in.” That not so risky risk paid off in a huge way in 2024 with Elly going .259/25/67. Those 67 steals led the league by a large margin, lapping most of the field. He’s one of, if not the most electric player in the game at 6’5” with an elite 75.2 MPH swing (his lefty swing is super elite, while his righty swing is more near elite) and 30.0/sec sprint speed. He crushes the ball with a 91.8 MPH EV, he brought his launch up as expected to a respectable 9.7 degrees, he brought his chase down to an above average 26.9%, and he kept his strikeout rate in a reasonable enough range (31.3%) to let the insane talent shine. And this is just the beginning. If he can continue to improve his plate skills and raise that launch, which I wouldn’t see why that isn’t the expectation at just 23 years old, I shutter to think about what kind of numbers are possible. – 2025 Projection: 110/31/89/.267/.348/.515/59

4) Gunnar Henderson – BAL, SS, 23.9 – Henderson massively improved on basically the only three weaknesses of his game in 2024, which easily propelled him into a Top 5 dynasty asset. He put up a .829 OPS vs. lefties in 2024 after a notching a lowly .618 OPS in 2023. I never let Gunnar’s struggles vs. lefties hold his ranking back, even when it was a major point of contention in is his prospect years, and I think it’s something to keep in mind when evaluating lefty hitting prospects. You often don’t get that many reps against lefties, so you often see that skill develop over time when they get into the majors. Don’t let it scare you off. He also improved his base stealing, nabbing 21 bags in 25 attempts after stealing only 10 bags in 2023. Granted this one was more a fantasy skill than a real life skill, as he was an excellent base runner overall in both years. And finally, he improved his hit tool, putting up a 22.1% K%, 24.4% whiff%, and a .281 BA. He combined all of those improvements while continuing to smash the ball with a 92.8 MPH EV, leading to 37 homers. He still doesn’t steal quite enough to pop him over Witt or Elly, but he is right there with those guys, and if steals are devalued in your league, like in points or 6+ hitting category leagues, Gunnar would slid in ahead of Elly. – 2025 Projection: 116/35/99/.280/.370/.535/18

Shadow4) Shohei Ohtani – LAD, DH only/Weekly Leagues, 30.9 – This is where I would rank Ohtani in weekly lineup leagues or as a hitter only. Without the pitching to put him over the top, the age does come into play here a bit. – 2025 Projection: 120/48/114/.293/.381/.610/40 // 10/3.28/1.13/170 in 140 IP

5) Juan Soto – NYY, OF, 26.5 – A Cohen vs. Steinbrenner New York Showdown is brewing this off-season for the services of Juan Soto, and you can just see Boras licking his chops. He is going to bathe in the spotlight with god knows what crazy demands getting leaked left and right. A 30 year, $1 billon dollar contract with $900 million deferred? Somebody has to be the first billion dollar player, and we don’t seem far off from it. A 1 year, $100 million contact? Why not? It’s about to get wild up in here after Soto put up the best non shortened season in his career, which I perfectly predicted in last year’s Top 1,000, writing, “This is a contract year for Soto, and Scott Boras is his agent. He hasn’t really had that crazy career year yet. 2020 looked like it could have been that year with 13 homers and 202 wRC+ in 49 games, but it was a shortened season. What I’m trying to say is, the Baseball Gods owe him one, and his move from one of the very worst ballparks for lefty homers to one of the very best only adds fuel to that fire (I’m expecting him to start pulling the ball just a bit more).” Well, the Baseball Gods pay their debts, and Soto exploded with a career high 41 homers and 180 wRC+ that was third in all of baseball behind only Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani. He has the supernatural plate skills to change his hitting approach depending on ballpark, which I was betting on, and he delivered on that with a career high by far 45.1% Pull% (38.9% in 2023). He actually hit 1 more homer on the road than he did at home, so even if he leaves Yankee Stadium, I’m expecting him to keep the new approach. His 19.7% Barrel%, 94.2 MPH EV, and 57% Hard Hit% were all career highs. The only thing he doesn’t do is steal bases with only 7 steals, and that is what keeps him just a smidge behind Witt, Elly and Gunnar. – 2025 Projection: 123/37/110/.292/.420/.545/9

6) Corbin Carroll – ARI, OF, 24.7 – Back when Carroll was in the throes of his awful start, I made a decree by Fantasy Law to not sell low in one of my Dynasty Baseball Rundowns, writing, “‘The captain goes down with the ship.’ That’s just Maritime Law. Now, I’m no sailor, but as the world’s foremost expert on Fantasy Law, there are some players that you are required to go down with the ship for, and Corbin Carroll is most certainly one of those players. I’ve seen a ton of panic and sell low offers for Carroll, but all of the warning signs could be flashing red, the sirens could be blaring, and you are still legally obligated to not sell low on an established elite dynasty asset like Carroll.” He continued to struggle for a bit after writing that, but before long, he did indeed turn that ship around, slashing .258/.351/.577 with 20 homers, 20 steals, and a 10.6/11.3 K%/BB% in his final 71 games. He smashed the ball with a 91.3 MPH EV and 14.6 degree launch over that time. I would say any lingering concern over his shoulder injury can be put to rest, cementing Carroll as a truly elite dynasty asset with standout contact, approach, power, and speed. He’s the total package. Don’t be scared off by the poor first half. – 2025 Projection: 119/28/84/.270/.357/.519/42

7) Kyle Tucker – HOU, OF, 28.2 – A fractured shin knocked Tucker out for half the season, but he put up a 1.041 OPS in 18 games after returning, so there is zero concern about the injury long term. I guess the one area of his game where maybe you can get a little nervous about is stolen bases. He only stole one bag in those 18 games, and he put up a career low 26.0 ft/sec sprint, which is in the bottom 18% of the league. He’s never been fast but he’s always been an excellent base stealer, so I’m not sure I’m extra worried about it, but he does kinda feel like the type of player who may not steal as much as he gets into his 30’s. He’s not there yet at only 28, but it might be something to keep in mind. Steals aside, he does feel like the type of player who will rake deep into his 30’s. He only played in 78 games, but it was the best year of his career with a 180 wRC+ that came on the back of a career high by far 16.5% BB% (11.9% in 2023). He also hit 23 homers with 11 steals, and if you double that over a full season pace, that is 46 homers with 22 steals if my math is correct … carry the 1. He’s been one of the most consistently great players of his generation. Almost too consistent as he semes to get taken for granted. – 2025 Projection: 102/34/109/.285/.378/.533/24

8) Ronald Acuna Jr. – ATL, OF, 27.3 – Acuna tore his right ACL in 2021 and now he’s torn his left ACL in 2024. Since that first torn ACL, he’s been in the process of slowing down with a 29.4 ft/sec sprint in 2021, a 28.5 ft/sec sprint in 2022, a 28.0 ft/sec sprint in 2023 and finally a 27.7 ft/sec sprint in 2024. And now coming off this 2nd ACL tear, I don’t think there is any question at all that Acuna is not going to be the athlete he was in his prime. Even with the lowest sprint speed of his career, he still stole 16 bases in 49 games, which is about a 48 steal pace, so I don’t think he is all of a sudden going to stop running, but let’s see how he looks coming off this 2nd major knee injury. He was also in the midst of the worst season of his career before going down with the injury. He hit only 4 homers with a .716 OPS. He was definitely getting unlucky as he was crushing the ball with a 92.2 MPH EV, but even his .348 xwOBA was a career low by far. He wasn’t able to maintain any of the contact gains from 2023 with his K% jumping back up to 23.9% (11.4% in 2023). After the first ACL tear, Acuna’s first year back wasn’t particularly great with 15 homers and a 115 wRC+ in 119 games in 2022, so keep that in mind for 2025. He had a historic season in 2023 of course, so the hope is that he can do the same eventually after this one, but this one will be his 2nd, and it’s hard for me to completely ignore it. He’s expected to be ready for Opening Day, and Acuna is the type of talent you want to keep betting on no matter what the circumstances are, but I’m definitely a little concerned. – 2025 Projection: 108/33/90/.277/.368/.536/31

9) Aaron Judge – NYY, OF, 32.11 – In pure win now mode, I can see ranking Judge 2nd overall, but with him turning 33 years old just one month into the 2025 season, age starts to move a little more to the forefront of my mind. 33 years old is generally the number for me when I maybe start to explore sell opportunities if I want to rebuild or retool, so while I’m not saying to sell Judge, it’s the reason why he isn’t ranked even higher coming off his massive season. His 218 wRC+ was the best in baseball by a massive margin. The only players to put up a higher wRC+ in a season are Barry Bonds (3x), Babe Ruth (3x), Ted Williams (2x), and Roger Hornsby (1x). I mean, do I need to say more? No. No I don’t. – 2025 Projection: 112/50/128/.293/.422/.661/10

10) Fernando Tatis Jr. – SDP, OF, 26.3 – Tatis proved without a shadow of a doubt that he is not going to fade into mediocrity after his relatively down 2023 season coming off the PED suspension and multiple surgeries (not that I had much doubt, ranking him 6th overall last off-season). He demolished the ball with a 93.5 MPH EV, 14.5% Barrel%, .393 xwOBA, and a 55.1% Hard Hit% which was in the top 1% of baseball. Not only were his power metrics in prime form, but his 21.9% K% was a career best. He missed over two months with a stress reaction in his leg, which I guess you can add to his “injury risk” pile, but he was fine when he returned in September, and he went nuclear in the playoffs too with 4 homers in 7 games. It all resulted in 25 homers with a .280 BA in 109 games (including the playoffs). That is about a 35 homer pace over a full season. The one area where the injuries did seem to take their toll was on the bases. He only stole 11 bases on 14 attempts and his sprint speed tanked to 28.4 ft/sec (29.3 in 2023). Maybe you can blame the leg injury, but he wasn’t running much before that injury, and I’m not sure how you can blame the wrist/shoulder injuries for him getting slower, especially since he was fine in 2023. How much he’s going to run in the future is the wild card in this profile, and that question, along with some continued injury risk, is enough to nudge him just outside of the of that Top 5-ish area into the Top 10 area. – 2025 Projection: 96/33/89/.283/.348/.529/18

11) Julio Rodriguez – SEA, OF, 24.3 – The Slow Start King is going to give his dynasty owners a massive coronary event if he gets off to yet another slow start in 2025. He seriously needs to figure something out this off-season. Treat Spring Training like it’s the regular season? Ramp up earlier? I don’t know the answer because I don’t know what his off-season routine is, but he needs to do something differently. He put up a .616 OPS in his first 87 games before exploding after that, slashing .318/.371/.543 with 13 homers, 7 steals, and a 23.3/6.5 K%/BB% in his final 56 games. He’s far too talented to be too scared off by the slow starts. His 76.3 MPH swing is the 9th fastest in baseball. He crushes the ball with a 91.7 MPH EV and he has elite speed with a 29.6 ft/sec sprint. The one area of his game which is preventing him from joining the true elites, especially as a real life hitter, are his plate skills. It’s yet to improve at all in his 3 years in the majors with a 30.9% whiff% and 37.4% Chase% (25.4/6.2 K%/BB%). He can thrive in fantasy especially even without that improving at all, but if that can take a step forward, we may not have seen the best of Julio yet. – 2025 Projection: 100/31/100/.281/.342/.490/32

12) James Wood – WAS, OF, 22.7 – I don’t need to do any deep victory lap philosophizing when it comes to if James Wood is a hit for me (see the Washington Nationals Dynasty Team Report for more thoughts on victory lapping in dynasty), because I can say without a shadow of a doubt that I can victory lap the hell out of James Wood. I named him a major First Year Player Draft Target in his draft year, and then I ranked him all the way up at 68th overall in the 2024 Top 1,000 Dynasty Baseball Rankings. I couldn’t help but buy into that beastly power/speed combo from a 6’7” frame, and the swing was always short enough to bet on the hit tool ending up good enough. And that is exactly how it played out in his rookie year with an elite 92.8/96.9 MPH AVG/FB EV, a plus 28.7 ft/sec sprint, a well above average 21% Chase%, and a not in the true danger zone 29.6% whiff%. It resulted in 9 homers, 14 steals, a .264 BA and a 120 wRC+ in 79 games. The 2.4 degree launch subdued the homer power a bit, but he hits the ball so hard that he’s launch proof, and that number is certainly coming up in the future. He’s basically Elly De La Cruz with better plate skills and half as many steals. Do not even think about valuing Wood as anything but a near elite dynasty asset this off-season. – 2025 Projection: 89/24/87/.251/.346/.474/26 Prime Projection: 105/32/105/.268/.364/.518/28

13) Jackson Chourio – MIL, OF, 21.1 – I spent most of my waking hours last off-season agonizing over who to place as the #1 prospect in baseball between Chourio, Holliday and Langford. And honestly, it wasn’t only waking hours, I was dreaming of a Chourio 20/20 rookie season in my sleep. I trusted the voices I was getting from the baseball gods, placing Chourio first overall on my prospect rankings, and projecting his 2024 stat line for 21 homers, 22 steals, 75 RBI, a .320 OBP and a .469 SLG in my 2024 Top 1,000 Rankings. And as we know, he ended up outdoing Langford by a solid amount and Holliday by a city mile, hitting 21 homers with 25 steals, 79 RBI, a .327 OBP and a .464 SLG. Damn, it’s almost like I really did see his future stat line in my dreams (and yes, I’m not mentioning batting average or runs because I didn’t nail those ha). He hit the ball very hard with a 89.7 MPH EV, he had elite speed with a 29.7 ft/sec sprint, and he had a slightly above average 21.1% K%. And all of those numbers include his rough first 2 months of the season. If you just look at his last 4 months, which is reasonable considering he was a 20 year old rookie just finding his MLB sea legs, his numbers get even more impressive, slashing .305/.360/.527 with 16 homers, 15 steals, and a 18.4/7.3 K%/BB% in his final 97 games. There is some room for improvement with his plate approach (below average 31.9% Chase%) and launch (7.6 degrees), but neither of those are too bad to begin with, and he has the profile to make that work even if he can’t improve it. But he’ll barely be 21 years old next season, so I don’t see why we wouldn’t expect all areas of his game to improve. Wood vs. Chourio is a coin flip for me, but I gave the edge to Wood because he hits the ball harder and chases less. – 2025 Projection: 93/26/89/.285/.339/.488/28

14) Wyatt Langford – TEX, OF, 23.5 – Langford’s surface stats don’t jump off the page with a .253 BA, .740 OPS, 16 homers, and 19 steals in 134 games, but his underlying skills were jumping off the page all season, and it finally showed in September. He went bonkos to close out the season, slashing .289/.372/.579 with 9 homers, 7 steals, and a 19.0/10.2 K%/BB% in his final 32 games. Even if you pull it back to June 3rd, he had a .804 OPS with 15 homers and 18 steals in his final 98 games. And like I mentioned, the underlying skills are super impressive. He hits the ball very hard with a 9.3% Barrel% and 89.6 MPH EV (91.3 MPH EV in those final 32 games). He lifts it with a 16.6 degree launch, he has elite speed with a 29.8 ft/sec sprint, he has above average contact rates (22.9% whiff% and 20.6% K%), and he has an above average plate approach (23% Chase% with a 9.2% BB%). The cherry on top is that his 74.5 MPH swing is nearly elite, and it’s a short swing too with 7 foot length. That swing speed/length combo is special. Only Heliot Ramos swings a faster bat with a shorter swing. He’s going to explode in 2025. – 2025 Projection: 89/26/93/.274/.352/.481/24

15) Jackson Merrill – SDP, OF, 21.11 – Merrill’s ability to raise his launch angle considerably, while not losing even a smidge of contact prowess, is nothing short of incredible. He went from putting up a 59.9% GB% with a 19.2% K% at Single-A in 2022 to putting up a 35.9% GB% with a 17% K% in the majors in 2024. Justin Crawford better be blowing up his celly round the clock to get some pointers on how he did it. It resulted in Merrill having one of, if the not the best rookie season in baseball, slashing .292/.326/.500 with 24 homers, 16 steals, and a 17.0/4.9 K%/BB% in 156 games. The underlying numbers back it all up with a 11.3% Barrel%, 90.4 MPH EV, and a .376 xwOBA. The only area of his game to quibble with is that he’s never walked a ton, and he chased a lot with a 34.4% Chase%. He’s also never been a huge base stealer in his career, but I don’t think him stealing 20+ bags is out of the question at all. He’s an easy elite dynasty asset, and he’s in a tier with James Wood, Jackson Chourio, Paul Skenes, and Wyatt Langford as the top rookies in the game. – 2025 Projection: 86/25/92/.288/.336/.492/19

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR THE REST OF THESE RANKINGS & TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL OFF-SEASON, INCLUDING:
-A TOP 75 SNEAK PEEK OF THE 2025 TOP 1,000 DYNASTY BASEBALL RANKINGS
-END OF SEASON 2024 TOP 322 PROSPECTS RANKS
-END OF SEASON 2024 438 DYNASTY RANKS
-TOP 57 2025 FYPD RANKS with full scouting reports and prime projections (a Top 100+ is coming later this off-season)
-HALP’S DYNASTY BASEBALL PODCAST: END OF SEASON MAILBAG!
-SPREADSHEETS
-OFF-SEASON CONTENT! – Dynasty Team Reports (Top 10 Prospects/Interesting MLB guys/Strategy Talk) , Deep Positional Rankings, Predicting Future Prospect Lists, Fall/Winter League Updates, Top 100+ FYPD Ranks, Top 500+ Prospects Ranks, Top 1,000 Dynasty Ranks & so much more!

Previous Dynasty Team Reports on Patreon

Atlanta Braves—Baltimore Orioles—Cincinnati Reds–Chicago White Sox—Cleveland Guardians—Detroit Tigers—Miami Marlins—Milwaukee Brewers (free)—Minnesota Twins—New York Mets (free)—Oakland Athletics—Philadelphia Phillies—Pittsburgh Pirates—San Diego Padres—Tampa Bay Rays—Washington Nationals (free)

By Michael Halpern (@MichaelCHalpern)
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com
Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@DynastyHalp)