2025 Fantasy Baseball Week 1 FAAB Insights

It’s been a long, dark winter but we’re finally shoveling our way out of the snow and into the warm sunlit glow of springtime. And that means BASEBALL! The fun and novelty of draft season is behind us and now comes the part where we have to put in the work and grind to keep our teams in the best, most competitive condition possible. It’s time to work the waiver wire.

Hopefully, your drafts went well enough that you don’t need to replace many players in the first few weeks of the season. However, injuries are inevitable. And so are surprising performances from breakout players and guys that weren’t projected to pop off. Maybe they earned an increased opportunity or maybe they just started swinging a hot bat. Either way, this column is meant to help you identify those dudes and make sure they’re in your waterfall of bids each week.

Throughout the season, this column is designed to help guide those in Free Agent Acquisition Budget (FAAB) leagues make the best choices in who to target on the waiver wire. Specifically, we’re focusing on players who are between 20-25% rostered in most 12-team leagues and/or 25-50% rostered in 15-teamers. Every league is different, so we won’t be labeling player bids with any sort of recommended dollar amount but instead will use a four-tier investment rating system, ranging from a minimal spend to a potential difference-maker (or LEAGUE-WINNER, if you will).

Let’s dig in!

 

Investment Rating System

 

This week, only the Cincinnati Reds and Milwaukee Brewers play a full seven-game slate while all 28 other squads are scheduled for just six contests, giving the Reds and Brewers a slight edge when it comes to waiver acquisitions. Over the weekend, the Athletics travel to Coors Field for a three-game series with the Colorado Rockies.

SEVEN GAMES: CIN, MLW

 

Batters

 

Outfielders

 

Ryan O’Hearn ($$): O’Hearn will be in the powerful Orioles lineup against nearly every right-handed starting pitcher, which fares well for the lefty bat. O’Hearn continued a career resurgence in Baltimore with a .264 batting average and 15 home runs in nearly 500 plate appearances a season ago. He’s a high-floor bat with corner infield and outfield eligibility.

Miguel Vargas ($$): Leading off for the Chicago White Sox isn’t glamorous, but someone’s got to do it. Vargas was once a touted Dodgers prospect before he was sent to Chicago. Now he’ll have the opportunity to be the face of a rebuilding (and I use that term very liberally) franchise with the White Sox. They can’t possibly be as bad as they were last year, right?

Tommy Pham ($$): Pham led off for the Pirates in each of the team’s first two games and appears to be a fixture there in front of Bryan Reynolds and Oneil Cruz. As long as he’s able to get on base, he ought to provide runs and likely won’t be a drain on batting average either. He’s worth a look for teams in need of a fifth outfielder.

Wilyer Abreu ($): Two home runs on Opening Day for the Boston Red Sox outfielder earns him a place among the considered outfielders, but it could very well be the peak of his season. Abreu didn’t do much to separate from the replacement-level outfielder last season, though his hard contact rate was slightly above average, not much else popped off the page.

Alan Roden ($): One of the only available left-handed bats in the Toronto Blue Jays‘ clubhouse, Roden started each of the Jays’ first two contests and will likely be used on a regular basis. Roden posted solid numbers at AAA Buffalo in 2024, highlighted by a 2.1% strikeout-minus-walk rate. Time will tell if he’ll prove useful or not, but he should at least see consistent plate appearances to begin the season.

 

 

Infielders

 

Spencer Torkelson (1B – $$$): If you haven’t been listening or reading anything that Scott Chu has put out into the fantasy space over the past few weeks, you probably don’t have Torkelson on your radar. It’s time to change that. The former first-overall draft pick enters 2025 poised to rebound from an unsightly start to his career and will be given regular at-bats in the heart of the Detroit Tigers‘ order. He mashed an Opening Day home run, showcasing the power that earned him top billing coming out of college. Buy now, before the price skyrockets.

Cam Smith (3B – $$): My bid is not going to be high enough to win Cam Smith. I’m not ready to throw that kind of FAAB at a guy who has taken fewer career professional at-bats than games in a regular season. That said, Smith could absolutely burn me. The range of outcomes is wide for this up-and-coming Astro. He mashed the ball in spring training, but he needs to prove it on a nightly basis for me to buy in. If he makes me regret having no exposure across all fantasy formats, then so be it.

Gavin Sheets (1B/OF – $$): Sheets earned consecutive starts for the Padres, serving as their DH against both right-handed and left-handed starters to begin the year. He was in this column pretty frequently last season as one of the only serviceable bats in the White Sox lineup. He’s since escaped Chicago and is surrounded by a much better supporting cast. Corner infield and outfield eligibility make him even more appealing. He’s a guy who could hit a sneaky 25 home runs this season.

Gavin Lux (2B – $): Lux is a player that fantasy managers should be keeping an eye on, particularly how often he features in the Cincinnati Reds‘ starting lineup. The utility man could be a part of a platoon, or a full-time player. We kind of have to wait and see. The move to Cincinnati ought to be beneficial but if his playing time doesn’t increase with the move, I’m not that interested.

Ben Rice (1B – $): Rice will likely serve as a strong-side platoon bat in the New York Yankees lineup, and nearly any left-handed hitter in that ballpark can find the short porch (looking at you, Austin Wells). Rice becomes exponentially more interesting for fantasy purposes if he is (or becomes) catcher-eligible. Coming up the minor league ranks as a catcher, the Yankees might deploy him behind the plate if they’re looking to keep his bat in the lineup. But with a .171 average in nearly 200 plate appearances last year, that might not be the case.

Jacob Wilson (SS – $): Wilson is a classic contact-first bat, molded in the same way as David Fletcher once was. Not a lot of power and not a ton of speed, but he will likely be batting ninth with the opportunity to get on base in front of the Athletics’ best bats. And with Zack Gelof starting the year on the injured list, it guarantees his playing time to begin the year as well. It’s not glamorous, but he fits a specific need.

 

 

Catchers/UT

 

Patrick Bailey ($$): Bailey is the Rodney Dangerfield of MLB, every year it seems like he gets no respect during draft season. He’s going to be behind the plate for the Giants nearly every day, and his bat is completely serviceable in two-catcher leagues.

Drake Baldwin ($$): For those who drafted early, Baldwin may have gone completely unnoticed. With Sean Murphy hampered with an injury, Baldwin is the de facto starting catcher in Atlanta. It appears he’ll receive regular at-bats at least until Murphy is ready to go, and his minor league performances showed some promise.

Hunter Goodman ($$): Goodman earned the Opening Day start for the Colorado Rockies behind the dish and could get some non-catching starts in the outfield as well. The bat plays, especially in Coors Field, and the extra plate appearances could go a long way in separating him from the rest of the replacement-level guys in two-catcher leagues.

 

Pitchers

 

Starting Pitchers

 

Jack Leiter ($$$): Leiter looked just fine in his 2025 debut, going five strong innings and allowing just one earned run against the Boston Red Sox on Friday night. He generated 12 swinging strikes on just over 80 pitches (14.6%), an improvement from last season’s average swinging-strike rate (13.6%), though it yielded just four strikeouts. Leiter could be a solid addition as an SP5 or SP6, even though his next projected start comes at Cincinnati. Maybe he gets a lucky rainout and is bumped back to the next series, against the Rays at home.

Richard Fitts ($$$): Not sure if you caught this over the past couple of weeks, but Nick Pollack believes in Richards Fitts. Ranked 49th in the most recent iteration of The List, Fitts will start on Sunday afternoon against the Rangers for his first action of the season. If he succeeds, the price will go up certainly. The velocity (96) is appealing, as is the slider (which PLV loves, by the way). If he Fitts, we bids. Yeah, we got to workshop that.

Erick Fedde ($$): Fedde was sneaky good last year, helping managers maintain solid ratios with a 3.30 ERA and 1.16 WHIP over 177 innings pitched. Propped up by a cutter-sinker-sweeper pitch mix, Fedde remains underrated entering 2025. Slated to face the Los Angeles Angels early this coming week, if Fedde can maintain his consistency and keep the Angels bats guessing, he could be a solid addition not only for that start but moving forward through the early parts of the season as well.

Sean Burke ($$): The Chicago White Sox selected Burke as the Opening Day starter and he didn’t disappoint, posting a quality start with six shutout innings. His performance wasn’t as impressive as it looked in the box score, but it was good enough to garner some waiver looks as he faces an injury-riddled Detroit offense this coming week.

Chris Paddack ($): There was a time when Paddack looked to be one of the up-and-coming stars in the league, relying heavily on a fastball and changeup combination that confounded opposing bats. Those times have passed, but his final spring training outing was extremely promising with seven strikeouts against a fully loaded Red Sox roster. Scheduled to face the White Sox on Monday and then the Astros on Sunday of next week, Paddack is appealing as a streaming option.

 

Relief Pitchers

 

Luke Jackson ($$$): I’ve got good news and bad news and good news for those considering Jackson as a relief option. The good news is that he was sent out in the ninth inning for the Rangers on Opening Day. The bad news is that he gave up a three-run home run in the ninth and took the loss on Opening Day. The good news is that he went right back out in the ninth on Friday night and earned a save with a clean inning. It appears Bruce Bochy has faith in the reliever and after a lot of speculation in spring training, the Rangers have a defined closer.

Justin Slaten ($$): It appears like Slaten is the ninth-inning guy in Boston this year. On Opening Day, Aroldis Chapman was used in the eighth – granted it was against the heart of the Texas Rangers order, including two lefties – before giving way to Slaten in the ninth. Manager Joey Cora has stuck with just one guy (Kenley Jansen) each of the last two years, without mixing it up very much. Keep an eye on things in the Boston bullpen. Rick Graham and the Reliever Ranks team are an excellent resource for this vital information on a daily basis.

Colin Holderman ($): This is a speculative add, but Pittsburgh Pirates closer David Bednar has been less-than-inspiring in both of his first two outings. On Opening Day, he allowed two hits and an earned run for a loss in the bottom of the ninth. On Friday, he allowed a two-run home run but held on by the skin of his teeth for a save. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if Bednar was the first closer to lose his job this season and Holderman is likely next in line, currently serving as the eighth-inning guy. Full disclosure, Holderman wasn’t great on Opening Day either.