16 Dynasty Fantasy Baseball Players To Target For 2025

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Image credit: Sandy Alcantara (Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images)

While a ranked list of the top 500 dynasty baseball players for 2025 can certainly be a useful tool, the sheer volume of available options can be a little daunting. Whether you’re new to the game and preparing to start from scratch in a start-up league or a veteran manager looking to refresh your roster heading into the upcoming season, it can be especially helpful to have a curated list of players to target.

With that in mind, Geoff Pontes and Dylan White have put together a list of 16 players they’ll be targeting heading into the 2025 season.

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Check out the full list below, which includes a mix of up-and-coming prospects, aging stars, value-add big leaguers and bounce-back candidates across all positions.

Roki Sasaki, SP, Dodgers

Using historical translations of Japanese baseball performance to their major league equivalencies, Sasaki’s sublime 2023 performance as a 21-year-old was essentially Jacob deGrom. His 2024 performance, while a step back, was still reminiscent of Hunter Brown. Assuming that he is not nursing an arm injury and both seasons are within natural variance for his true talent, blending the two seasons with the most recent one weighted more suggests a 1.12 WHIP and 3.17 ERA with a strikeout-minus-walk rate of 19%, which is essentially 2024 Max Fried or Cole Ragans as a 23-year-old. Putting it all together, it seems like a reasonable floor for Sasaki is Dodgers rotation-mate Tyler Glasnow, with a ceiling of being a top five pitcher in baseball annually. It goes without saying that Sasaki should be your first pick in an FYPD and probably a top 25 selection in a dynasty startup. [Dylan]

Shane McClanahan, SP, Rays 

After missing the entire 2024 season following Tommy John surgery, the lefty should return to the Rays rotation in 2025. Prior to his injury, McClanahan was establishing himself as one of the top lefthanded starters in the game, as he posted a 2.85 ERA with a 28.4% strikeout rate and 7.6% walk rate. Between 2022 and the time of McClanahan’s injury in August 2023, his 21.3% strikeout to walk rate ranked 10th in all of baseball. The pitchers that rank ahead of him over that period would all be considered aces. Entering his age-28 season coming off an injury, there’s some risk that McClanahan’s stuff doesn’t fully return or he struggles to recapture his command. Steamer has confidence in a return to form for McClanahan, however, as they project him for 161 innings in 2025 with a 3.31 ERA and 180 total strikeouts. [Geoff]

Spencer Schwellenbach, SP, Braves

After only 110 innings of professional baseball under his belt, Atlanta’s second-round pick from 2021 made his major league debut and proceeded to throw 123.2 innings with a 3.35 ERA (all ERA estimators were within 0.07 runs of his ERA). With his combination of pinpoint control—his walk rate was in the 95th percentile in MLB—and ability to elicit a 96th percentile chase rate from a six-pitch arsenal, Schwellenbach shows very few flaws in his profile except maybe mediocre strikeout rates. With a 96 mph four-seamer, an above-average slider and a splitter that has only a .187 wOBA against it, the 24-year-old should be a stalwart in the middle of the Braves rotation for years, putting up ERAs in the mid 3s with low WHIPs due to his command. [Dylan]

Sandy Alcantara, SP, Marlins

2025 feels like the year of the bounce-back for starters coming off of injury. Both of my targets had Tommy John surgery in 2023 and missed all of 2024. Like McClanahan before him, Alcantara was one of the best pitchers in the game prior to the procedure. He returned to the mound last fall, throwing live batting practice in September. Alcantara had a down year in 2023 after an outstanding Cy Young Award-winning season in 2022. While he’s not a strikeout machine, Alcantara generates lots of groundballs, goes deep into starts and will rack up strikeouts based on his ability to get deeper into outings. Streamer projects 189 innings out of Alcantara in 2025, and even 170 innings at his current price would be a value. [Geoff]

Edgar Quero, C, White Sox

In 402 plate appearances across Double-A and Triple-A, Quero hit .280/.366/.463 with 16 home runs as a 21-year-old. The Cuban backstop should put up high average and on-base numbers with 15 to 20 home runs, which makes him a better-than-average fantasy catcher as soon as 2025. He should join the White Sox by mid-season and join a talented catching group at the top of the White Sox system alongside Kyle Teel and current starter Korey Lee. [Dylan]

Francisco Alvarez, C, Mets

It’s clear that the thumb injury impacted Alvarez’s production in 2024, as he hit just .237/.307/.403 over 100 games. Entering 2025 at age 23, Alvarez has a combination of power and on-base ability that should continue to improve in the coming years. After a bad 2024, his value hasn’t been this low in years. Now is a great time to buy back in, as his dip in barrel rate and hard-hit rate were most likely tied to the lingering impact of his hand ailment. [Geoff]

Luis Rengifo, 3B, Angels

In his last 600 plate appearances, the Angel infielder has a .297/.353/.470 slash line (128 wRC+) with 20 home runs and 26 stolen bases. Just to put that into perspective, in his last 600 PAs, Manny Machado has a .281/.327/.477 triple slash (124 wRC+) with 27 home runs and 11 stolen bases. He’s coming off two straight injury-riddled seasons, but has dual-eligibility and will just turn 28-years old before the upcoming season. [Dylan]

Dalton Rushing, C, Dodgers

It will be interesting to see which position group Rushing ranks in entering 2026. In the final month of 2024, Rushing saw the majority of his time defensively in left field. The bat has never been a question for Rushing but where his ultimate defensive home is has been. Over his 37 games in Triple-A, Rushing caught six times, leaving the door open that he’ll maintain catcher eligibility in the coming years. Rushing hit .271/.384/.512 with 26 home runs, a 20.5% strikeout rate and a 12.7% walk rate. There are outstanding underlying metrics to support Rushing’s production. For example, his contact quality is excellent, and he posted a sparkling .417 xwOBAcon in 2024. It’s not all power either, as he shows above-average plate skills across the board. [Geoff]

Kristian Campbell, 2B, Red Sox

It’s not rocket science to target our 2024 minor league player of the year in dynasty leagues. But it’s possible that he’s still underrated. With his scintillating final months in the upper levels, Campbell projects to his .260/.350 on a 15-to-20 home run and 15-to-18 stolen base pace as a 22-year-old rookie who has yet to make his debut in the major leagues. At 27 years old, he should therefore project for 20/20, hitting .280/.360. Add in the fact that Fenway and Boston’s high octane lineup will boost his production, and you have an extremely valuable dynasty asset in nearly all formats. [Dylan]

Bo Bichette, SS, Blue Jays

Heading into the second half of 2023, Bichette was cruising. He had two consecutive seasons as a top five shortstop in fantasy and looked well on his way to a third. Then, unfortunately, a string of injuries occurred over the next season and a half, returning little profit for his fantasy managers. First, Bichette dealt with a calf injury that stripped him of more than two months of the season. He returned only to fracture his right middle finger. Bichette is entering his age-27 season and, with some nagging injuries and bad luck behind him, he could return to his 2022 form, as he has advanced bat-to-ball skills that don’t seem to be regressing. I believe some of Bichette’s struggles were due to nagging injuries, and it resulted in worsened batted-ball results. I’m buying the dip on Bichette. [Geoff]

Jesus Made, SS Brewers

Made is another target who, despite the recent industry fanfare he’s received, might still be under-priced. In our Brewers Top 10, Ben Badler put a 60 hit, 60 power and 60 run on him, and, despite not even landing stateside yet, he ranked as the system’s No. 1 prospect. His performance in the DSL, although excellent, actually undersold his tools and metrics. His approach is excellent, as he hunts for pitches upon which to inflict damage with his excellent bat speed and power in his hands. If he can stay lean, which will allow him to stick at shortstop, he has a chance to develop into a fantasy monster like Francisco Lindor or Jose Reyes. The fact that he is still so far away has kept the price affordable, but don’t be afraid to target aggressively. If you missed on Jackson Chourio in a dynasty league, you’ve been offered a second chance. [Dylan]

Carlos Correa, SS, Twins

At some point, Correa went from one of the most overrated players in dynasty to one of its most underrated. Correa missed time with injuries in 2024, but when he was on the field, he produced. Correa hit .310/.388/.517 with 14 home runs over 86 games. While it’s a fool’s errand to project him for anything more than 130 games, it’s baked into the price. If Correa can replicate those sort of numbers and stay relatively healthy over the next few seasons, he could see a nice value surge in the second half of his career. Correa had his numbers floated by a .343 BABIP, but he did see a dramatic uptick in all of his contact and swing decision metrics, with no dip in his exit velocity data. At his current price, there’s a good chance he outperforms his ADP or trade cost. [Geoff]

Kerry Carpenter, OF, Tigers

Over three partial seasons in the major leagues spanning 868 plate appearances, Carpenter has a 136 wRC+ with 44 home runs—roughly 30 home runs for every 600 plate appearances—while slashing .276/.338/.512. Against only righthanded pitchers during that time, he has the 10th-best wRC+ for hitters with a minimum of 700 plate appearances, ahead of Rafael Devers, Mookie Betts, Bryce Harper, Ronald Acuna Jr. and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Heading into his age-27 season, Carpenter is set to deliver 25+ home runs per season in the middle of an improved Tigers lineup over the next few years. It’s a very similar fantasy profile to Anthony Santander but three years younger. [Dylan]

Colton Cowser, OF, Orioles

While the on-base numbers didn’t translate like we had hoped initially, he did provide strong counting stats and 24 home runs. As he heads into his age-25 season, I’m beting on Cowser taking another step forward in 2025. He has a well-rounded offensive skill set, and I believe we could see a bump in home runs, batting average and on-base percentage in 2025. Cowser has a long leash, had a good rookie season and has a few more years until he enters his prime. I believe Cowser could be one of the biggest returns on investment at the draft table. [Geoff]

Emmanuel Rodriguez, OF, Twins

Now in Triple-A, Rodriguez is on the cusp of debuting in the major leagues in 2025. Rodriguez has been in the public prospect consciousness for so long, that it seems easy to forget that he’ll only just turn 22 in February. His extreme lack of chasing pitches out of the zone has been well documented—and will lead to high OBPs in the majors—but, although Rodriguez’s swing rate is one of the lowest marks in the minor leagues at only 31%, he actually swings at pitches in the heart of the strike zone at nearly a league average rate, implying that he may just not be getting anything to hit. And why would any pitcher throw strikes to someone who had a 110 mph 90th percentile exit velocity in 2024 and, as a 20-year-old in 2023, had a 108 mph? A solid center fielder now who will likely get pushed to a corner, Rodriguez has battled injuries the last few years, and his contact rate is below average, translating to near 30% strikeout rates in the major leagues. In an on-base percentage league though, he should consistently get on base at an above average clip, nearing .370 at peak. In batting average leagues, tread a little more carefully if you can’t stomach potential .230 to .240 batting averages. But in OBP leagues, invest with confidence. [Dylan]

Ian Happ, OF, Cubs

An underrated asset in dynasty, Happ isn’t valued by managers in a way that’s in line with his production. Happ has had 20+ home runs in three of the last four seasons and has produced double-digit steals the last two years. He also has produced counting stats in bunches, as he’s had 80+ RBIs and 80+ runs in back to back seasons. Happ is heading into his age-30 season and still has a few years left of his peak. [Geoff]

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