I’m on hour 10 of “Awaken Your Psychic Abilities” YouTube music and tones video, and the visions of the future have now been revealed to me. I swat away the next big stock risers. Winning Lotto numbers? Who cares. How to avoid WWIII? I’ll figure that out later. I only have future third eyes for what the 2026 Top 50 Dynasty Baseball Prospect Rankings will look like … and it’s beautiful. My regular rankings are where you should look to make your real team decisions, as this list has nothing to do with me. I am just a mere vessel for the baseball gods Top 8 free here on the Brick Wall. Here is the Predicting the Top 50 2026 Dynasty Baseball Prospects Rankings which doubles as a Bold Predictions article:

1) Leodalis De Vries – SDP, SS, 19.6 – It’s going to be the Chourio, Holliday, Langford conundrum all over again with three legit #1 overall worthy prospects sitting atop the rankings. They will be ordered in every which way possible on all of the different rankings sites out there, and who should be #1 overall will be the dominant off-season debate going into the 2026 season. I will be extremely high on all 3 in my 2026 Top 1,000 Dynasty Rankings, ranking them 23rd, 24th and 25th overall, and will sweat out all off-season if I made the right decision with going De Vries first. I was so far correct about having Chourio first overall out of that above group, so I will stick to my guns with Leo as the top dog, even though most places will have Jenkins or Walcott first. De Vries ability to lift the ball will be the difference maker for me.

2) Walker Jenkins – MIN, OF, 21.1 – Jenkins will continue to be in absolute lock step with Kyle Tucker’s career arc. He actually recently talked about how he viewed 2024 as a down year for him. The only thing he didn’t do in 2024 was hit homers. He will be a man on a mission to hit dingers, and like Tucker, he will hit 20+ homers split between High-A and Double-A. He will rank 1st overall on most mainstream prospect lists.

3) Sebastian Walcott – TEX, SS, 20.1 – I will fight every urge in my body to once again say that I was the first guy on Walcott, and will just bury those feelings deep down as he gets ranked 1st on other lists, while everyone asks me why I hate Walcott so much for only having him 3rd. Such is the life of a prospector. You either die a hero, or live long enough to be the low man on the guy you were actually the high guy on when it mattered. Walcott will continue to show off the charts tools that lap even De Vries and Jenkins, but his game will still be slightly raw compared to theirs, having me leaning him as the 3rd head of the 3 headed monster.

4) Konnor Griffin – PIT, OF, 19.11 – Griffin will have the explosion that everyone who passed on him in first year player drafts feared he would have. The hit tool concerns will be overblown as he maintains an under 25% K% at Single-A, and the power/speed combo will shine with 16 homers and 48 steals in 102 games. He’ll basically be the 2026 version of the 2025 version of Sebastian Walcott. Off the charts tools and a better than expected hit tool.

5) Justin Crawford – PHI, OF, 22.3 – Crawford’s GB% will improve for the 2nd year in a row, coming much closer to the semi reasonable 50% mark, and that will be all he needs for his speed, contact, and raw power to do the rest. He will get a small taste of the majors to close out the season where his groundball rate will spike again, but the raw power, speed, and contact rates will lock in his special talent. It will be Carl Crawford 2.0.

6) Felnin Celesten – SEA, SS, 20.7 – Celesten will finally stay healthy for long enough to establish himself as the truly elite prospect. His explosive athleticism and raw power will dominate the lower minors, which he will combine with a strong plate approach, leading to a 141 wRC+ at Single-A before closing out the season at High-A with a 123 wRC+. The groundball rates will still be high, but they will be closer to the 50% mark than the 60%+ he put in 2024. He’s going to be a hype beast.

7) Roki Sasaki – LAD, RHP, 24.5 – I don’t want to believe it either, but Sasaki will feel elbow soreness in May, hit the IL, and then succumb to Tommy John surgery with an internal brace procedure after throwing 33.2 IP in the majors. He’ll be under the 50 IP threshold, so he’ll be back on prospects lists, even though he shouldn’t have even been on them in the first place. That is just the life of a flamethrowing pitcher. Don’t kill the messenger.

8) Braylon Payne – MIL, OF, 19.7 – Payne will prove his small sample pro debut, and now small sample Spring debut too (140 wRC+ with a 33.3% GB%, 66.7% Pull% and 20%/20% K%/BB% in 5 PA) were not a mirage, and it will become obvious that this is a special talent. The K% and GB% won’t be nearly as bad as feared pre draft, the power will continue to tick up, and the speed will be elite. This will be an unassailable elite prospect.

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

It’s time to turn our attention to the other side of the equation, run prevention. They are a fickle, volatile, injury prone bunch, but those are also the attributes that make it so fun (and easy-ish) to find underrated breakouts all over the place. Top 5 free on the Brick Wall. The Top 500 Prospects Rankings are dropping next week and the full Top 1,000 Dynasty Rankings will drop the week after that. But first, here is the Top 305 2025 Starting Pitcher Dynasty Baseball Rankings (Patreon):

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR THE REST OF THESE RANKS & TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL OFF-SEASON, INCLUDING:
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Dynasty Team Reports on Patreon (free ones listed in parenthesis)

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1) Paul Skenes – PIT, RHP, 22.10 – While this is far from the most impressive part of Skenes game, I’ve just been having a lot of fun diving into the new bat tracking data, and of course Skenes ranks towards the top of those leaderboards as well. The disparity amongst pitcher’s induced swing speed is obviously much less than the disparity between hitters, but I still find it interesting. Skenes had the 8th best swing speed against amongst qualified pitchers at 70.9 MPH. The only qualified starter to induce slower swings was Chris Sale, and Will Vest led of all baseball amongst qualified pitchers. That’s just the cherry on top of his elite profile. He throws a 6 pitch mix, and all of them range from above average to elite. His 94 MPH sinker was the most valuable sinker in baseball with a +18 run value. His 98.8 MPH 4-seamer notched a +6 run value, the curveball notched a +2, the sweeper was at +5, the changeup at +2, and while the slider was his only negative value pitch at -2, that was only because he got unlucky on the pitch with a .229 xwOBA. He combined that filth with plus command which led to a 1.96 ERA and 33.1/6.2 K%/BB% in 133 IP. He’s the easiest #1 dynasty pitcher in the game ranking I’ve ever made since  … 2024. Spencer Strider was a damn easy call last off-season, and he’s a perfect example of the only thing that can go wrong, injuries. Pitchers break, and pitchers who throw upper 90’s seem to break even more. You can’t play scared, and you need good pitchers to win, but it’s why I can’t rank any pitcher higher than around Top 20-ish overall on the Dynasty Rankings. They are just inherently too risky. – 2025 Projection: 15/2.77/0.98/227 in 185 IP

2) Tarik Skubal – DET, LHP, 28.4 – I was all in on Skubal’s 80.1 IP explosion in 2023, ranking him 59th overall on the 2024 Top 1,000, and placing a futures bet on him to lead the league in strikeouts ($10 to win $800). He not only led all of baseball with 228 strikeouts, but he was also the #1 fantasy pitcher in the game with a 2.39 ERA and 30.3/4.6 K%/BB% in 192 IP. His 96.8 MPH fastball was up another tick from last year and was the 4th most valuable 4-seamer in the game. His changeup is elite with a 46.1% whiff%. His 96.6 MPH sinker was the 24th most valuable sinker in baseball. And his slider was above average. Tack on elite control and you have one of the very best pitchers in baseball. It really wouldn’t be crazy at all to have him above Skenes as the top dog. – 2025 Projection: 16/2.82/0.96/220 in 185 IP

3) Garrett Crochet – BOS, LHP, 25.9 – Paul Skenes is the no doubt #1 dynasty pitcher in the game. I’m not arguing that … buuuuuuuuuuuut … what if Crochet is actually better than him? He put up a better K% (35.1% vs. 33.1%), BB% (5.5% vs. 6.2%), Chase% (33.5% vs. 30.9%), and a much better whiff% (33.0% vs. 28.7%). His 97.2 MPH 4-seamer put up a 31.4% whiff% while Skenes’ 98.8 MPH 4-seamer put up a 24.2% whiff%. Crochet’s cutter put up a 32.7% whiff% while Skenes’ sinker notched a 29.3% whiff%. Crochet’s sweeper notched a 42.7% whiff% while Skenes’ sweeper notched a 22.6% whiff% and his curve notched a 33.7% whiff%. They are both beastly athletes. I described the 6’6”, 245 pound Crochet as a WWE Ballerina in my March Mailbag Podcast. With Chicago, he couldn’t touch Skenes in wins, but he’s in Boston now, and just judging who is the better pitcher, I wouldn’t be so sure the answer is Skenes. Now, Skenes dusted him on ERA (3.58 vs. 1.96), and even though their xERA’s were much much closer (2.83 vs. 2.50), I do think that matters. Crochet also has more of a track record of control problems than Skenes does. Like I said, Skenes is the undeniable #1 dynasty pitcher in the game … but maybe … he won’t be at the end of 2025. Crochet ranked 29th overall on the Top 200 Sneak Peek of the 2025 Top 1,000 Dynasty Baseball Rankings. – 2025 Projection: 15/3.03/1.03/230 in 170 IP

4) Logan Gilbert – SEA, RHP, 27.9 – While everyone was focused on George Kirby, waiting for Kirby to turn into a true ace, Gilbert was putting in the work in the shadows, and he emerged as the one to enter true ace territory in 2024. He put up a 3.23 ERA with a 27.4/4.6 K%/BB% in 208.2 IP. He led all of baseball in IP. His 31.7% whiff% is in elite territory for a starter, and his walk rate was in the top 5% of baseball. Elite control, swing and miss, and durability is a Teflon combination. And that isn’t even it. He throws gas with a 96.6 MPH fastball. His splitter is insanely elite with a 50.6% whiff% and .137 xwOBA. His most used pitch is a plus to double plus slider with a 36.8% whiff% and .264 xwOBA. And he has yet another plus secondary in his curve with a 35.4% whiff% and .210 xwOBA. He also throws a useful cutter, giving him a very diverse pitch mix. He straight up doesn’t have a flaw. He has a very very real case to be the top fantasy pitcher and the game, and also possibly the top dynasty pitcher in the game. – 2025 Projection: 15/3.18/0.98/209 in 200 IP

5) Roki Sasaki LAD, RHP, 23.5 – Sasaki and his people pulled whatever back room deals that needed to be pulled and got him coming stateside this season, which is insanely exciting, because there is little doubt that he will be a true ace right from the get go, and possibly the best pitcher in all the land. He’s better than Yamamoto, and you saw Yamamoto’s seamless transition, other than the shoulder injury. But that injury might have pushed LA to a six man rotation, which works just fine for Sasaki. His fastball sits in the upper 90’s and regularly hits over 100 MPH. The splitter is truly elite and the slider is plus. He has prototypical size at a projectable and athletic 6’2”, 187 pounds, and he has plus control/command of his stuff. He’s been so insanely dominant in Japan that he has basically already hit legend status with so many crazy feats, and he’s only 23 years old. He put up a 2.35 ERA with a 28.7/7.1 K%/BB% in 111 IP this year. He was even better in 2023 with a 1.78 ERA and 39.1%/4.9% K%/BB% in 91 IP. As you can see, the biggest and only red flag is injuries, as he has a career high of 129.1 IP. He battled an oblique injury in 2023 and right arm discomfort in 2024. The right arm discomfort is particularly concerning because his stuff was actually down a tick or two this year. It was still beastly, but would any of us be surprised if Tommy John/internal brace surgery was right around the corner? You can’t be too scared off by that, because even if he needs it, he should still return as an ace. He’s so easily the top pick in First Year Player Drafts, and he has a very real argument to be the top dynasty pitcher in the game. – 2025 Projection: 12/3.06/1.04/175 in 150 IP Prime Projection: 16/2.72/0.92/240 in 185 IP

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

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

This post is a collection of strategies and thoughts from my 2025 Dynasty Baseball Team Reports. Some were free and most were on the Patreon. I wanted to collect them in one easy to read post. Also make sure to check out my previous strategy articles if you haven’t read those already, linked to below. Here are my 19 Dynasty Baseball Strategies/Thoughts for 2025 (A Collection from the 2025 Dynasty Baseball Team Reports):

Strategy Articles from Previous Years
11 Dynasty Baseball Rules to Live By from 2019
10 (More) Dynasty Baseball Rules to Live By from 2021
Top 10 Trade Negotiation Techniques (Patreon only)
16 Dynasty Baseball Strategies/Thoughts for 2023 (A Collection from the 2023 Dynasty Baseball Team Reports)
20 Dynasty Baseball Strategies/Thoughts for 2024 (A Collection from the 2024 Dynasty Baseball Team Reports)

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL OFF-SEASON, INCLUDING:
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-TOP 146 2025 FYPD RANKS (+FYPD Target & Strategy Guide)
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-HALP’S DYNASTY BASEBALL PODCAST: END OF SEASON MAILBAG!
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1) 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. 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 on 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, just like Carroll, Matt Shaw fell to a way too low 13th overall in his draft year, and he’s still a bit underrated. 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.

2) I thought it would be fun to dive into some of the new bat speed data Statcast hooked us up with this season. The first and most obvious thing to jump out is that the top of the rankings are littered with the top power hitters and hard hitting players in baseball, often coming with lots of strikeouts. And the bottom of the rankings are littered with the best contact hitters in baseball, often coming with little to no power. But the real question is if a slow bat automatically eliminates you from hitting for power, and the answer to that is no, there are more than a few exceptions to the rule like Mookie Betts, Isaac Paredes, Marcus Semien, Will Smith, Jose Altuve, Jeimer Candelario, Cody Bellinger, Adley Rutschman, and Ozzie Albies. But as you can see, even with those guys, their power can be kinda variable from year to year. And there are not many of them on the bottom third of that leaderboard. And in fantasy especially where power rules the day, it’s clear that there is a definite advantage to going after guys who swing a fast bat. Some fun names at the top of those rankings to possibly target this season are Oneil Cruz, Garrett Mitchell, Jordan Walker, Jhonkensey Noel, Matt Wallner, Junior Caminero, Jo Adell, Jasson Dominguez, Zack Dezenzo, Tyler Soderstom, Trey Sweeney, Heliot Ramos, Triston Casas, Wilyer Abreu, Lawrence Butler, Hunter Goodman and Addison Barger. And here are some less fun names at the bottom of the rankings where it would seem to indicate a real power breakout might not be so easy: Nolan Schanuel, Jacob Wilson, Brooks Lee, Anthony Volpe (hmmm, uh oh, you better get back to lifting and pulling), Keibert Ruiz, Andrew Benintendi (I only include Benintendi because of course Benintendi is on this list, and of course Bo Bichette has below average bat speed too, who I started to comp to Benintendi’s career arc unfortunately), Bryson Stott, Brice Turang, Jake McCarthy and Andres Gimenez. Of course some of this is a choice. Guys who “swing for the fences” are going to swing faster, hit for more power, and strikeout more. Guys who swing slower are going to make more contact, but not hit for as much power. So I don’t think bat speed is necessarily a completely sticky thing if a player decides to change his approach to hit for more power or contact. We’ll have to keep an eye on this in future years as we continue to build on this data to see how often that happens exactly, and how often it’s successful. Really cool to have this data at our fingertips now.

3) There is no doubt that the renewed efforts of MLB trying to crack down on players lying about their age is very interesting as a baseball fan, and just interesting in general. And there is also no doubt that age is a major factor when evaluating young players, and you see that with teams pulling their offers to some of the players who got caught. But at the end of the day (and the beginning of the day), it’s just not an area that I am looking to dive into and try to parse through. If your gut is telling you a player is older than they claim, feel free to make that gut call and move that player down your rankings, but even if my gut was telling me a player was older, I just couldn’t trust it enough to really act on it. I have to evaluate the player as their official age, and I have to rank them based on their official age as well. That’s just how I’m choosing to play it, and as I wrote in the Eduardo Tait blurb, this isn’t a new thing (remember Danny Almonte?). It’s how I’ve always been playing it, and I don’t think I’ve been burned by it too bad, although I guess I wouldn’t even know if I did. Ignorance is bliss

4) For even the most iron willed dynasty owner, it is a major gut punch when a prospect you love gets the call to the majors, struggles hard, and then gets sent back down to the minors. When it happens to an elite or near elite universally hyped prospect, it’s much easier to stay level headed and hold strong, but when it happens to a good, but not necessarily great prospect it can be much tougher to hold on. Trade value plummets for the non elite guys, and you start to question if their team truly believes in them, thinking they might not get another chance so soon. But let us use Lawrence Butler (and Parker Meadows too) as a lesson to not let a demotion rattle us if we still believe in a player’s skillset. Even elite prospects can struggle in their first taste or two of the majors, so certainly we need to give some grace for non elite ones as well. How to apply that for this season? Well, Ben Rice is staring us right in the face. Rice is not an elite prospect, but he is a relatively well liked one, and he took almost the exact same Butler path in the majors with great underlying numbers (15.6% Barrel%) and poor surface stats (.613 OPS in 173 PA). Admit it, you are questioning how much the Yanks really believe in him and if he will get another chance. I get it, because I am too, but I’m going to use Butler and Meadows as my pillars of strength to not be so quick to give up on Rice. I still like him long term, even with the Goldy signing.

5) While others may shy away or not trust the small sample MLB debut, I love going after it, because it creates a perfect combination of being proven on the MLB level and still being very underrated. Of course we all love the safety of a larger sample, but the larger the sample, the more everyone trusts it, and the more everyone trusts it, the less value there is. Pitchers in particular are great small sample targets. The list of pitchers to get called up, look extremely good in a few starts, and still take months to get the respect they deserve is extremely long. You just have to look at the value you could have gotten on Spencer Schwellenbach earlier in the season when I called him a major target extremely fast. Sean Burke is the target this applies to this off-season. Burke ain’t Schwellenbach, but you get my point. It’s worth it to stick your neck out just a bit to acquire these guys, because the payoff can be huge.

6) 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, so after horseback victory lapping James Wood and half ass victory lapping DJ Herz in the Washington Nationals Team Report, let’s kick off the first Dynasty Thoughts/Strategy section of the off-season by 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.

7) I didn’t plan on releasing my Angels team list on the same day that Fangraphs released their Angels list, but that is just how it fell. I actually love comparing and contrasting all of the different team lists that come out all around the same time. It’s interesting to see how value can change drastically based on a real life list vs. fantasy list. And it’s most interesting to see how each evaluator has their own biases, their own way of evaluating what a player will look like a few years down the line, and their own tools/skills/production which they weigh more or less heavily. In order to get the most value out of an evaluator’s list, it’s important to have some insight into their individual style. I definitely try to make it a point to let you in on that style. And you only have to have been reading me for like 5 minutes (see the Nolan Schanuel blurb) to know my biases, which is power/speed upside for days, hit tool risk be damned. I could give the scouting report on other evaluators and list their biases, but I don’t think that is my place. I will leave that up for you to decipher, and many of those other sources will also be clear about how they value certain things. So when you are looking at different lists, the ordinal number is only one part of the evaluation. Knowing why an evaluator may be higher or lower on a player due to how they lean in their evaluations can give better context into that ranking. I hope I convey that in my write-ups and projections, so regardless of where a player ranks, if you are looking for a certain profile (safety, hit tool, plate approach etc …), you don’t necessarily have to get caught up in a low ranking.

8) I find there is a constant push and pull between do I bet on the prospect who has an excellent hit tool, and needs to add power, or the guy who has monster power, but needs to improve the hit tool. Obviously it’s a case by case basis, but I do find prospectors generally end up in one camp or the other. Historically, on real life lists, plate skills used to rule the day, and guys with risky hit tools would get pummeled in the rankings. But even on real life lists, that has started to change over the years, and fantasy lists aren’t the same as real life lists anyway. Upside rules the day in the vast majority of fantasy leagues, whereas safety is much more valuable for a major league team. That is why I always leaned towards the power first, hit tool later profiles, rather than the other way around. But it’s completely reasonable to lean the other way too, and when looking at the top dynasty assets, it’s actually pretty even on where the top breakouts came from. Judge, Ohtani, Witt, Tatis, Elly, Gunnar, Carroll, Yordan are all players who had elevated strikeout rates in the minors to varying degrees and are now elite dynasty assets. Mookie, Jose Ramirez, Lindor, Tucker, Vlad, Soto, Turner, Devers all took the other path of hit tool first. You can argue how cleanly those players fit into those categories, but my point is, there are multiple ways to skin a cat, and there are multiple ways to build a successful dynasty team. My advise is that you can have a lean to one side or the other (like I mentioned, and like you know, I lean power first), but you should still mix and match with different profiles in your minor league system. For one, you never know who a potential trade partner is going to prefer, and it’s also nice to diversify the system a bit with different player types.

9) Does any sport tinker with the ball, the rules, the uniforms, the size of the equipment (bases), etc … more than baseball? I’m not even saying that I hate it. It’s kinda fun honestly that they are willing to try new things out for the betterment of the game, and overall, I think the changes they have made have been a net positive. So while I’m down for it, it makes preparing for every new season a whole lot more complicated. In last year’s Chicago Cubs Team Report Strategy Section, I wrote in part, “Jumping off from the Bellinger blurb, MLB changes the baseball every damn year, and I’m not even 100% sure they are truly in complete control of every change, as my understanding is that they manufacture new balls for every season. The juicier 2023 ball allowed mediocre exit velocity bats to come alive and be impact MLB hitters, but those type of hitters hold more risk coming into 2024 because we can’t be sure how the ball will play until we actually see it.” And right on cure, the ball was less juicy, and Bellinger went from 26 homers in 130 games in 2023 to 18 homers in 130 games in 2024. How will the ball play in 2025? Who the hell knows. I don’t even think MLB knows. Enter Brandon Sproat and Quinn Mathews, who were two big breakouts who saw their numbers drop off a cliff with the MLB ball at Triple-A. Triple-A is the only minor league level to use the MLB ball. The ball isn’t the only change for these young pitchers, so it’s hard to just isolate that one factor. Joining a new team, new league, new city, new home ballpark, and it being the very end of a long season are also complicating factors. My instinct is to not ignore the drop off in production, but also not to put too much weight on it. Sproat and Mathews are still extremely exciting pitching prospects, but I would be lying if I said it wasn’t in the back of my mind. Keeping up with all of the different balls and rule changes is just part of the game now.

10) Not so much a strategy or thought here, but the more I think about it, the more I’m kinda digging Sawyer Gipson Long. He very well might be freely available in many leagues, and you might be able to use an IL spot on him too depending on your league setup. Or just as a free stash in your minors. His MLB debut was no joke. That type of swing and miss is quite rare, even in 20 IP. His 28.5/6.1 K%/BB% in 341 minor league IP is really damn impressive too. He never got the respect he deserved, even from me, and even after that strong debut. I think a lot of people have more or less moved on from him, making it a perfect time to acquire him for nothing or probably almost nothing. If fully healthy, which is obviously a risk, it could be an extremely small gamble for a pretty big payoff.

11) I’ve already patted myself on the back for my futures bet of Tarik Skubal leading the league in strikeouts, and I nailed my Pittsburgh Pirates Wins Over bet, but my Cincinnati Reds Wins Over bet was a disaster the second their entire team started dropping like flies in March, and now is the time for me to take my Walk of Shame on that. Those were literally the only 3 future bets I made (with some Pirates and Reds WS bets sprinkled in just for long shot funsies), so overall it was a good showing, but the plan was to go perfect (at least on the Pirates and Reds wins bet), so I do have a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. If you would have told me that Hunter Greene and Elly would have the years they just had, I would have assumed the Reds were maybe one of the best teams in baseball, but baseball is a team game, and it didn’t play out like that. I could bemoan the injuries/suspensions and make excuses, but that is part of gambling, and a loss is a loss. I was absolutely perfect on these team O/U bets going on 3 years now, but this is a reminder that no matter how much it looks like a lock, anything can happen. Only bet what you can afford to lose. It is for entertainment only.

12) It’s extremely easy to get tunnel vision with pure player evaluation when making decisions in dynasty, but supply and demand should often be the driver of your decisions instead. How I rank players in my FYPD rankings, is the same order you will find them on my overall Top 500+ Prospects Rankings, which is the same order you will find them on my Top 1,000+ Dynasty Baseball Rankings. I try my darndest to give truly actionable rankings/content that fully incorporates how dynasty leagues operate in practice, rather than just in theory, and I know that when that point comes in a dynasty draft (usually around Top 400-ish area) where the supply of MLB starters dries up, especially MLB starters with some upside, it’s a feeding frenzy to grab them before they are gone. That is why Hye-seong Kim slots in high on my FYPD Rankings. Players like Kim who have a path to a full time job, and have some upside, are much more valuable to grab than one of the many, many, many high upside lotto ticket prospects you can grab later on. It’s just simple supply and demand. Kim doesn’t have the upside of many of the bats I have ranked after him on the FYPD rankings, and he definitely may come in and be underwhelming, but I still believe he’s worth taking the shot on at that point in the rankings. And I do personally like his profile too as a hit/speed/defense play. You have to take into account the environment of your league, and what is a bucket of player where the supply is limited (guys with jobs) vs. what is the bucket of player where there is plenty of supply (high upside prospects). This will change league to league though. In shallow leagues, low end MLB starters might be very easy to pick up all season, whereas high upside prospects are only available in a FYPD and they can’t be picked up during the season. That will change the equation for sure. Even in a shallow league though, I still think Kim has the skillset to make an impact. Regardless, you get the point. Make sure you understand what is hard to acquire in your league, and what is easy, and then slant your decision making process to best take advantage of that.

13) Evaluating Angel Genoa reminded me of a question I got asked on my August Top 327 Prospects Rankings Update from Zach Alexander. He asked, “Do you ever feel pressure to rank guys highly that are rising on everyone else’s rankings?” And I thought my answer could give at least some insight into my thinking on a guy like Genoa, who I don’t particularly love, but is also getting a lot of real life list love: “The short answer is yes, partially because trade value is a huge factor in dynasty when it comes to prospects especially, and arguably is more important than holding prospects, or at least equally important. So if someone is getting tons of hype that isn’t my favorite type of profile to go after, I might not rank him as the high guy, but they still deserve a solid ranking. And also partially because I’m human and if a ton of sources I respect love a guy, there might be something there that I’m undervaluing. But overall, I 100% make an effort to rank with a mind of my own and that is something I’ve done from my very first ranking. And something I constantly preach which is to have a mind of your own and value prospects with a mind of your own especially. I have no issue being low on guys (like Gabriel Moreno when he was getting elite mainstream love), and especially love being high on underrated, underhyped guys. Hitting on underrated, under ranked studs is definitely my favorite part of the game (like Mark Vientos).” … and beyond just ranking, this is also how I play the game. I won’t reach for a guy getting lots of real life love, but if they drop far enough, I know that I should be able to get solid trade return on them down the line. So even if I like another prospect more than them, I still might pull the trigger for trade value alone.

14) Low upside college bats are by far the least interesting bucket of player in first year player drafts for me. College bats are old enough where you can’t project very much upside on a player who has yet to show it. Even with hit tool first, lower upside high school bats you can dream of a possible power breakout in their age 19/20/21 year old season. With college bats, those seasons are already behind them, and the big power breakout didn’t come. Not to say it’s impossible to find untapped upside in your mid to late 20’s, we certainly see it often, but it’s not something to bet on when you are trying to strike gold. I always pack the back third of my FYPD Rankings with the mystery that is high priced international signings, and if your minor league system is deep enough, which it likely is if you are wading deep into the FYPD waters, why not take a shot on pure upside. Go for the high school bat or international prospect, even in deep leagues. You don’t need nine million prospects. It’s okay for a bunch of them to bust to clear out your system and then restock with the next group of lotto tickets. Because hitting on one of those lotto tickets, like Jesus Made, can be a franchise changer. Hitting on Griff O’Ferrall might not even leave a dent on your team.

15) After what Garrett Crochet and Reynaldo Lopez did this year (and Michael King too really), I foresee a feeding frenzy on relief to starter transitions during draft season in March. And since we live in a copy cat world, MLB teams might be more apt to make that transition with some of their leading candidates in the bullpen. Even with the increased attention that is likely coming their way, it will almost certainly still be an excellent category to find value in. Crochet and Lopez paid off humongously this year. Jose Soriano is still sliding under the radar as a very successful transition. Jordan Hicks and AJ Puk were two other popular transition picks who didn’t pay off, although Hicks still put together a solid year, and Puk just went back to being an elite high leverage reliever. Not the worst outcomes. Even with a pushed up price, it is worth going after these guys. I already named Aaron Ashby a major target in the Milwaukee Team Report, and a recent Jeff Zimmerman article just quoted Milwaukee brass as saying they still view him as a possible starter. That is huge. Adrian Morejon is another great candidate, and unlike Ashby, he has a path to a rotation spot out of Spring. It was already announced that Clay Holmes will make the transition, and I’m in for it. I will keep an eye out for more of these targets, but the best candidates become obvious pretty early on in Spring Training. Don’t underrate these guys when we find out who they are even if they feel pricier than last year’s candidates. There is enough value on that bone.

16) One of my main goals when naming targets is to find potentially core dynasty baseball assets at reasonable or cheap prices. I lumped Henry Davis in a “target tier” with Jordan Westburg and Parker Meadows last off-season. Westburg was the big hit there, Davis was the big miss, and Meadows landed somewhere in between. All of them should have come relatively cheap or at a reasonable price in your dynasty league. The goal isn’t for 100% of them to hit. That would be unrealistic. The goal is to hit on enough of them, and then the ones that don’t hit, you move on from and take a stab at another potential breakout. Now I know a lot of this is in theory. In practice, every league is different. I managed to scoop Westburg for free in my 12 teamer, and now he’s a core piece. In my 18 teamer, I had to trade 3 years of Bryan Woo for 7 years of Henry Davis where I desperately needed a catcher, and well, I’m kicking myself for that deal. Giving up Woo wasn’t “cheap,” and I still desperately need a catcher. As I mentioned in the Davis blurb, I don’t regret my process or take on Davis, but the lesson I’m taking away from his miss, is to make sure you really are acquiring these “underrated” young targets at the right price. If you start to reach too high, it eliminates a lot of the value you are hoping to get from them in the first place, and if they do bust, it hurts more than it should have.

17) I find that rostering steals only types creates more problems than they solve. For one, you only need to win the category by one steal, so blowing other teams out in steals doesn’t help you at all. And because you don’t want to overdo it with steals, it forces you into player acquisition choices (draft and trades) that might not really be optimal long term decisions. I already target balanced power/speed combos first and foremost, so I’m generally building a team that will compete in steals without rostering a steals only guy. They would really be overkill, so it’s not someone I would want to start often anyway. And in points leagues and leagues that have 6+ hitting categories, these types of players have even less value. So it’s not that I don’t think a prospect like Chandler Simpson or Enrique Bradfield can be valuable if they get playing time, it’s that I don’t think their value fits into my team building strategy. If you build differently, or you inadvertently ended up with a team that is extremely power heavy, then they might make more sense for your squad.

18) Man, I wish I had the Marlins in my dynasty leagues, giving up nearly elite upside starters (Jesus Luzardo) for light hitting speedsters (Caba and Body). I thought Caba was getting a bit overrated (certainly for fantasy), and obviously Philly didn’t view him as untouchable either. If you can pull the same sell high move for Caba that Philly just did, I would jump on it. As all dynasty owners know too well, I bet you there is another team out there going, “they sold Luzardo for that? My offer was 3 times better than that!!” hah. Also, hasn’t Miami acquired enough of these guys with Xavier Edwards, Otto Lopez, Jared Serna, Max Acosta, Javier Sanoja, Vidal Brujan, and more. I mean, how many of them do you need? How about targeting some impact. I get they have more value in real life, but still. I’m probably being overly harsh as it’s not like Caba and Boyd are devoid of upside,  but they have 6 total homers in 314 career games between the two of them. As for Luzardo, he was already one of my favorite bounce back targets in 2025, and I like him even more now that a good team was willing to trade for him.

19) I find it fitting to close this 2025 Collection out with what I wrote the day after Thanksgiving in the Kansas City Royals Team Report: “Considering it’s Thanksgiving break, I thought it would be fitting to use this section to give a MONSTER thank you to each and every one of you. When I started Imaginary Brick Wall back in December 2015, I had absolutely zero expectations, other than I wanted to write about what I loved, and hoped that I would attract readers that had those same passions. I wrote (and podcasted) for free for 5 years, and while I only got a few hundred views when I first started, even that was insanely cool to me. In my book, that meant I could officially call myself a writer! I again had zero expectations when I started the Patreon in 2021, and I can’t put my gratitude into words to see how many people wanted to support my work. It truly means so much to me, and I never take it for granted. I pour my passion and heart into every single piece of content I put out, and I will continue to do that until the day I hang up the keyboard, which will hopefully be never. I want to write until the day I leave this Earth, and thank you so much for allowing me to do that.”

Strategy Articles from Previous Years
11 Dynasty Baseball Rules to Live By from 2019
10 (More) Dynasty Baseball Rules to Live By from 2021
Top 10 Trade Negotiation Techniques (Patreon only)
16 Dynasty Baseball Strategies/Thoughts for 2023 (A Collection from the 2023 Dynasty Baseball Team Reports)
20 Dynasty Baseball Strategies/Thoughts for 2024 (A Collection from the 2024 Dynasty Baseball Team Reports)

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL OFF-SEASON, INCLUDING:
-A TOP 200 SNEAK PEEK OF THE 2025 TOP 1,000 DYNASTY BASEBALL RANKS (full Top 1,000 coming soon)
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By Michael Halpern (@MichaelCHalpern)
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com
Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@DynastyHalp)
Blue Sky: Dynasty Halp (@ImaginaryBrickWall)

It’s fitting that the rankings of the Golden Children of the baseball world, shortstops, fall on the same week as the hyped up New Year’s Eve. Both get juiced up in the rankings, and while they can often end up underwhelming, when they hit, they hit big. I went 154 deep on the the Patreon with the Top 5 free on the Brick Wall down below. Top 78 Catchers, Top 83 1B, Top 98 2B, and Top 109 3B are already completed. Here is the Top 154 2025 Shortstop Dynasty Baseball Rankings (Patreon):

1) 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 to the moon. 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

2) 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

3) 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

4) Francisco Lindor – NYM, SS, 31.4 – Lindor gutted it out with a back injury to close out the season and into playoffs, requiring extra injections to get back on the field, and while I respect the hell out of his heart (130 wRC+ in 13 playoff games), I do hope it’s something that doesn’t come back to bite him early in 2025. Sometimes things like that can throw off your normal off-season routine, creating an uphill battle all season. While it’s something to think about, it would be much too cautious to plan on Lindor being anything other than a stud next year. After going 31/31 in 2023, he followed that up in 2024 with a 33/29 season. His 137 wRC+, 13.6% Barrel% and .382 xwOBA were all career highs. As long as the back isn’t an issue, I don’t see why he wouldn’t go 30/30 again. If the back is an issue, there is a chance he doesn’t run quite as much. 2025 Projection: 103/31/94/.268/.340/.485/26

5) Oneil Cruz – PIT, OF/SS, 26.6 – Saying that Cruz’ 95.5 MPH EV is elite would be an understatement. It is in all time great territory, trailing only Judge and Ohtani, two all time greats. His 78.6 MPH swing speed is also super elite, trailing only Giancarlo Stanton’s 81.2 MPH swing (Stanton laps the field, with nobody even close to him). And he also has double plus speed with a 28.8 ft/sec sprint speed. This is an extremely special talent. Yes, there is hit tool risk with a 34.1% whiff% and 30.1% K%, but I really don’t think it’s as risky at it seems. He hit .259 this year with a .266 xBA, and in 1,009 career PA he has a .250 BA. He can clearly thrive with the elevated swing and miss. He put together a strong year in 2024 with 21 homers and 22 steals in 23 attempts in 146 games, but he is merely just scratching the surface of what he’s capable of. He was a major target coming into the year, and he turned into an elite dynasty asset. Make sure you treat him like one this off-season. He ranked 24th overall on the Top 25 Sneak Peek of the 2025 Top 1,000 Dynasty Baseball Rankings which is free on the Brick Wall (full Top 135 Sneak Peek is on Patreon).  – 2025 Projection: 84/27/92/.255/.328/.474/26

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR THE REST OF THESE RANKS & TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL OFF-SEASON, INCLUDING:
-A TOP 135 SNEAK PEEK OF THE 2025 TOP 1,000 DYNASTY BASEBALL RANKS
-2025 DEEP DYNASTY POSITIONAL RANKS: Top 78 Catchers–Top 83 1B–Top 98 2B–Top 109 3B–Top 154 SS
-END OF SEASON 2024 TOP 322 PROSPECTS RANKS
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-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!

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

Atlanta Braves—Baltimore Orioles—Boston Red Sox (free)—Cincinnati Reds–Chicago Cubs (free)—Chicago White Sox—Cleveland Guardians—Detroit Tigers—Kansas City Royals—Los Angeles Angels—Miami Marlins—Milwaukee Brewers (free)—Minnesota Twins—New York Mets (free)—New York Yankees (free)—Oakland Athletics—Philadelphia Phillies—Pittsburgh Pirates—San Diego Padres—Tampa Bay Rays—Texas Rangers—Toronto Blue Jays—Washington Nationals (free)

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

Sneak Peek Season is upon us as I continue to build out my Top 1,000 2025 Dynasty Baseball Rankings over on the Patreon. Top 25 free here on the Brick Wall with analysis, 2025 projections, and prime projections for every player. The Patreon is cooking with these Sneak Peeks, Deep Dynasty Positional Rankings, Team Reports, and so much more coming. But first, here is A Top 135 Sneak Peek of the 2025 Top 1,000 Dynasty Baseball Rankings (Patreon):

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR THE REST OF THESE RANKINGS & TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL OFF-SEASON, INCLUDING:
-A TOP 135 SNEAK PEEK OF THE 2025 TOP 1,000 DYNASTY BASEBALL RANKS
-2025 DEEP DYNASTY POSITIONAL RANKS: Top 78 Catchers–Top 83 1B
-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+ coming soon)
-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 Cubs (free)—Chicago White Sox—Cleveland Guardians—Detroit Tigers—Kansas City Royals—Los Angeles Angels—Miami Marlins—Milwaukee Brewers (free)—Minnesota Twins—New York Mets (free)—New York Yankees (free)—Oakland Athletics—Philadelphia Phillies—Pittsburgh Pirates—San Diego Padres—Tampa Bay Rays—Texas Rangers—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: 105/40/101/.283/.371/.562/25 // 9/3.41/1.19/142 in 120 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

5) Juan Soto – NYM, OF, 26.5 – Soto didn’t give the Yanks even the slightest bit of deference, going to the highest bidder in the New York Mets, signing for 15 years and $765 million (the Yanks reportedly offered 16 years for $760 million). He’s just a subway ride away from his new digs … or more accurately, just a chauffeured ride away … or probably even more accurately, just a helicopter ride away. For a super elite hitter like Soto, ballpark doesn’t really matter, but the most interesting part of this move is how much he changed his hitting profile for Yankee Stadium’s short porch.  He put up a career high by far 45.1% Pull% (38.9% in 2023), and it led to a career high 41 homers. The Yanks were the 3rd best park for lefty homers last year, while the Mets were 10th worst. Will Soto continue to pull the ball that much? Or will he decide to go back to his career norms? My guess is that he keeps on pulling it, because he actually hit one more homer on the road than he did at home. It seems Yankee Stadium gave him the push to unlock more homer power regardless of ballpark, and I don’t see why he would want to go back. His 19.7% Barrel%, 94.2 MPH EV, and 57% Hard Hit% were all career highs. His Statcast expected homer totals were 46 for Yankee Stadium and the exact same 46 for Citi Field, again underscoring that he is ballpark proof. 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: 118/35/105/.289/.418/.539/9

Shadow5) 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. And it’s hard not to have that shoulder surgery in the back of your mind too. – 2025 Projection: 2025 Projection: 105/40/101/.283/.371/.562/25

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) 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

9) 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

10) 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 also expected to miss about a third of the season in 2025. 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: 71/23/63/.272/.363/.524/20

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

16) Yordan Alvarez – HOU, OF, 27.9 – Yordan had to go ahead and put his surgically repaired knees back in our mind right at the end of 2024, tweaking his knee after sliding into 2nd base on September 22nd, which ended his regular season. He returned for the playoffs, so it’s not a big deal, but any knee injury is going to have our minds racing, thinking about if they are going to become a concern as he starts to age. The good news is that he’s only 27 years old, so I wouldn’t worry about it quite yet. He’s as consistent as they come with beastly season after beastly season. He slashed .308/.392/.567 with 35 homers, a career high 6 steals, and a 15.0/10.9 K%/BB% in 147 games. There are zero concerns about him over the short term, but I do think the knees are something to at least keep in the back of your mind down the line. – 2025 Projection: 91/35/100/.303/.405/.579/3

17) Vladimir Guerrero Jr. – TOR, 1B, 25.6 – We can finally put the “Vlad has only had a great year in a minor league ballpark” narrative to rest. His 165 wRC+ this year was almost identical to the 166 mark he put up in 2021. Granted he hit 48 homers in the minor league park and only 30 this year, but still. His underlying numbers were screaming that he was legitimately elite despite the relatively mediocre surface stats in 2023, so his big year really isn’t that surprising. I don’t have a fancy bat speed + contact rate stat to give you, but if I did, Vlad, Yordan, and Soto would be the cream of the crop. Vlad swung a 75.9 MPH bat with a 13.8/10.3 K%/BB%. And he crushes the ball with a 93.8 MPH EV. The 7.4 degree launch is still subduing the homer power a bit, and he doesn’t run much with only 2 steals, so I wouldn’t quite call him a truly elite dynasty asset, but he’s not far off. – 2025 Projection: 99/32/109/.308/.383/.528/4

18) Jose Ramirez – CLE, 3B, 32.6 – Ramirez had the quietest 39/41 season of all time. Barely heard about it. The pomp and circumstance around Ohtani was too loud for anyone else to get their fair due. Or maybe it’s because he doesn’t play in a large market that Ramriez’ entire spectacular career doesn’t really get the respect he deserves. He’s only 5’9”. He doesn’t smash the ball like the true giants of the game. He doesn’t have elite speed. He doesn’t swing the fastest bat. He’s an everyman who quietly goes about his business with elite season after elite season. He does it with elite contact skills (12% K%), elite lift (19.6 degree launch) and elite pull ability (52.8% Pull%). He also hits the ball plenty hard with an 89.2 MPH EV. The only question is how long can he do it for at 32 years old. He obviously showed zero signs of slowing down in 2024, and like I mentioned in the Aaron Judge blurb, 33 years old is really the first year I start to seriously consider selling elite players like this. I’m not going to dock him for his age too much. He’s an elite win now piece. – 2025 Projection: 102/33/106/.280/.344/.520/33

19) Paul Skenes – PIT, RHP, 22.10 – While this is far from the most impressive part of Skenes game, I’ve just been having a lot of fun diving into the new bat tracking data, and of course Skenes ranks towards the top of those leaderboards as well. The disparity amongst pitcher’s induced swing speed is obviously much less than the disparity between hitters, but I still find it interesting. Skenes had the 8th best swing speed against amongst qualified pitchers at 70.9 MPH. The only qualified starter to induce slower swings was Chris Sale, and Will Vest led of all baseball amongst qualified pitchers. That’s just the cherry on top of his elite profile. He throws a 6 pitch mix, and all of them range from above average to elite. His 94 MPH sinker was the most valuable sinker in baseball with a +18 run value. His 98.8 MPH 4-seamer notched a +6 run value, the curveball notched a +2, the sweeper was at +5, the changeup at +2, and while the slider was his only negative value pitch at -2, that was only because he got unlucky on the pitch with a .229 xwOBA. He combined that filth with plus command which led to a 1.96 ERA and 33.1/6.2 K%/BB% in 133 IP. He’s the easiest #1 dynasty pitcher in the game ranking I’ve ever made since  … 2024. Spencer Strider was a damn easy call last off-season, and he’s a perfect example of the only thing that can go wrong, injuries. Pitchers break, and pitchers who throw upper 90’s seem to break even more. You can’t play scared, and you need good pitchers to win, but it’s why I can’t rank any pitcher higher than around Top 20-ish overall on the Dynasty Rankings. They are just inherently too risky. – 2025 Projection: 15/2.77/0.98/227 in 185 IP

20) Bryce Harper – PHI, 1B, 32.5 – You can find some things here and there which maybe can look like small red flags in hindsight if Harper does start to decline, like a nearly career worst in xwOBA (.361), Barrel% (10.6%), and sprint speed (27.4 ft/sec), but I think that is simply slicing and dicing the numbers too much when it comes to a proven stud like Harper. And none of those marks were too bad or too far off from career norms. His 145 wRC+ was a 3 year high and slightly better than his 142 career wRC+. He crushes the ball with a 91.1 MPH EV and he has a strong plate approach with a 21.9/12.0 K%/BB%. It doesn’t seem like we can count on more than a handful of steals anymore (7 steals), but he strikes me as the type who could rake well into his late 30’s. I wouldn’t be thinking about selling Harper off quite yet. – 2025 Projection: 98/33/99/.287/.382/.520/10

21) Mookie Betts – LAD, 2B/OF, 32.6 – Betts is the leader of the Slow Bat Speed Kings with a 69 MPH swing that is 442nd “best” in baseball (minimum 50 swings). But he proves swinging an electric bat isn’t the only path to success. He had another great season which was only interrupted by a fractured hand in mid June, slashing .289/.372/.491 with 19 homers, 16 steals, and a 11.0/11.8 K%/BB% in 116 games. He has 4 dingers in 11 post season games and counting. The 11% K% tied a career best, and his 16 steals tied for a 6 year best. The 26.7 ft/sec sprint was a career low and in the bottom 30% of the league, so while there certainly seems to be some physical decline, it hasn’t impacted his stats quite yet. Like I’ve been saying with elite players like this, 33 years old is when I start to think about selling, so I’m running it back in 2025 with Mookie. 2025 Projection: 110/32/100/.290/.370/.525/18

22) Francisco Lindor – NYM, SS, 31.4 – Lindor gutted it out with a back injury to close out the season and into playoffs, requiring extra injections to get back on the field, and while I respect the hell out of his heart (130 wRC+ in 13 playoff games), I do hope it’s something that doesn’t come back to bite him early in 2025. Sometimes things like that can throw off your normal off-season routine, creating an uphill battle all season. While it’s something to think about, it would be much too cautious to plan on Lindor being anything other than a stud next year. After going 31/31 in 2023, he followed that up in 2024 with a 33/29 season. His 137 wRC+, 13.6% Barrel% and .382 xwOBA were all career highs. As long as the back isn’t an issue, I don’t see why he wouldn’t go 30/30 again. If the back is an issue, there is a chance he doesn’t run quite as much. 2025 Projection: 103/31/94/.268/.340/.485/26

23) Jarren Duran – BOS, OF, 28.7 – Duran’s hit tool and plate approach have improved every year of his 4 year career, and considering how electric of a player he is, that is all he need to go nuclear. He slashed .285/.342/.492 with 21 homers, 34 steals and a 21.8/7.3 K%/BB% in 160 games. He has elite speed with a 29.6 ft/sec sprint, he hits the ball very hard with a 90.8 MPH EV, and he has plus bat speed with a 73.6 MPH swing. There is absolutely nothing in the underlying numbers to say this year was a fluke, and with how he’s improved every year of his career (48 wRC+ in 2021, 77 wRC+ in 2022, 120 wRC+ in 2023, 129 wRC+ in 2024), who is to say he can’t do it again in 2025. I’m all in. 2025 Projection: 101/23/83/.280/.341/.476/33

24) Oneil Cruz – PIT, OF/SS, 26.6 – Saying that Cruz’ 95.5 MPH EV is elite would be an understatement. It is in all time great territory, trailing only Judge and Ohtani, two all time greats. His 78.6 MPH swing speed is also super elite, trailing only Giancarlo Stanton’s 81.2 MPH swing (Stanton laps the field, with nobody even close to him). And he also has double plus speed with a 28.8 ft/sec sprint speed. This is an extremely special talent. Yes, there is hit tool risk with a 34.1% whiff% and 30.1% K%, but I really don’t think it’s as risky at it seems. He hit .259 this year with a .266 xBA, and in 1,009 career PA he has a .250 BA. He can clearly thrive with the elevated swing and miss. He put together a strong year in 2024 with 21 homers and 22 steals in 23 attempts in 146 games, but he is merely just scratching the surface of what he’s capable of. He was a major target coming into the year, and he turned into an elite dynasty asset. Make sure you treat him like one this off-season. – 2025 Projection: 84/27/92/.255/.328/.474/26

25) CJ Abrams – WAS, SS, 24.6 – Washington sent Abrams to his room at the end of the season like an unruly teenager to think about what he’s done after partying at a casino until 8 AM when he had a 1 PM game. Maybe he was exhibiting this type of behavior all season and it was a long time coming. But maybe this is also what a normal 23/24 year old does, and at that point of the season, the Nationals were so far out of it. I say give the kid a break, but either way, I’m not letting it impact his considerable dynasty value. His power has been slowly but surely ticking up with a 90.9 MPH FB/LD EV in 2022, followed by a 92.6 MPH FB/LD EV in 2023, and finally putting up a very respectable 93.6 MPH FB/LD EV in 2024. It resulted in his first 20 homer season in 138 games, and at a still wiry 6’2” with a 15.1 degree launch, this is just the beginning of his power ascension as he enters his mid 20’s. He wasn’t as good on the bases this year as he was in 2023 (31 for 43), but he finished the season 17 for 19 on steal attempts in his final 52 games, so I think that was just a small sample aberration. And really his biggest demerit is that the plate skills haven’t shown any improvement since he broke into the majors with a 21.3/6.6 K%/BB% and 35.4% Chase%. He can be an easy top 50 dynasty asset even if the plate approach never improves, putting up several 20/30 seasons, but if he wants to take the next step into elite status, he needs to improve in that area. And entering his age 24 year old season, I don’t see why we shouldn’t expect improvement there. Abrams is just getting started. – 2025 Projection: 89/23/76/.263/.329/.450/35

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