Ultimate Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide For 2025 – Who To Draft & When

Welcome to The Ultimate Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide for 2025. It’s my personal draft outline for who to draft and when for your 12-team fantasy baseball leagues, encapsulating all of the player rankings we’ve fine tuned across the last six months.

In this guide, I’ll outline who I’m targeting in each round, which positions I’m focusing on getting early in the draft, and those on which to wait. All my favorite players are here in one place for each position, with a round-by-round cheat sheet at the end.

I’ve done this draft outline for years, and last season I added more to this already bloated article, turning it into a proper guide instead of just an outline, and I’ve kept a lot of it the same – think of this year’s guide as more of this year’s edition than a new piece.

Per usual, before we talk about the specific players, we really need to talk about draft philosophy — specifically 12-team standard league draft philosophy, but much of this also applies to other leagues. I’ve adapted many approaches and refined my strategy over the years, and I found it’s incredibly important to outline how you should navigate your draft at a macro level before we determine who should be on our radar at the micro level, round by round.

For additional resources, I want to direct everyone to our Fantasy Baseball Draft Kit For 2025. This is where you’ll get links to all our rankings, research articles, sleepers, busts, player breakdowns, all for free. If you enjoy this and want to support this little company I started in 2014, consider subscribing to PL Pro, granting access to our incredible Discord, an Auction Draft Calculator, our 2025 Player Projections powered by PLV, and our Live Draft Assistant Tool.

We also just launched a Web App version of our Google Sheet Live Draft Assistant tool for PL Pro Members:

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• Lives in browser, no more going through excel spreadsheets
• Points league calculates player values for your personal draft settings
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Draft Strategies

 

There are many tenets of drafting I want to discuss, but if there is one that you take home with you it’s this:

 

You Are Not Drafting A Best Ball Team

 

I’ve hammered this point across articles and podcasts for years now and it’s for good reason. As we prepare for drafts, we’re overwhelmed with different rankings and projections, from a site awarding “most accurate experts” that are determined from their pre-season rankings and how they played through the entire season (Spoiler alert: Those are best ball rankings, not draft rankings!) to a collection of projections that make you feel comfortable grabbing a pitcher because “he’ll give me a 3.80 ERA” or a hitter on your bench that gives you just enough RBI or Runs to make his spot worthwhile.

This is all a lie.

I’m willing to bet that you won’t be rostering at least 30% of the team you drafted by June 1st. Go back and look at your drafts from previous seasons and you’ll quickly see how few picks panned out in the back half of your draft. You should be drafting in a way that not only expects this but plans around it from the start.

Think of yourself, the astute, smart, dashing fantasy manager. Let’s say it’s the 20th round, and you chose to draft Eduardo Rodriguez because the projections say he’s destined for a near 4.00 ERA and 1.25 WHIP this year. But then his first start is against the Dodgers and you can’t start him then. And then he’s holding a 4.00+ ERA in May, are you still holding him? Is it worth it?

The great news for you is that the waiver wire exists. You don’t have to keep rostering Rodriguez and you should have structured your draft with this in mind. This brings us to our next point:

 

Draft Preparing To Use The Waiver Wire

 

The waiver wire is a magical place. It’s where seasons are won, your next favorite player has a cozy abode, and it feels like the most glorious mall in America where you can constantly go shopping. I can hear many of you right now “But Nick, it’s so hard to find someone good on the wire!” and to all of you, I want to show you a pair of charts I’ve already featured many times this off-season:

 

 

And that’s not even including this rag-tag crew containing many pitchers you were able to grab at specific points of the season for legit value:

 

 

The whole goal is to win your league, not leave the draft getting appropriate value for the round you picked them. Grab SPs who are easily identifiable as early drops who also have a ceiling that is far above their draft value. You don’t win leagues being the one who drafted Erick Fedde in 2024, you win them because you took a shot on Reynaldo López instead.

The Frizzle Method is the most important thing I can teach you: take chances, make mistakes, and get messy. In the back half of your drafts, don’t go after boring projection players so you can show your friends that the “draft projects me to win our league.” Those charts expect everyone to have the same players by the end of the year, and we all know that isn’t the case.

Nick, how am I supposed to know which pitcher’s to pick up and when? Well, don’t worry about that one, just read my daily SP Roundup articles that will come out early in the AM every single day of the season. It’s why I do it and you will be able to get many of these arms — you’ll only need 2-3 to win your league!

Now that we’ve established that you want to pick up arms off the waiver wire, it’s important that you draft accordingly. What this means, is you have to set yourself up for a sturdy floor, then feel comfortable taking chances.

The raw number of “foundational” pitchers I want to draft changes each year based on the pool of players and with a hefty amount of SP depth this season, I find myself drafting SP like this:

• Grab hitters for at least the first five rounds. I’ve extended this to nine rounds and made it work.
• Once pivoting, go hard into SP. Pivot when you feel confident you’ll get at least two of my Top 27 SPs
• Keep going down The List until you have four SPs…maybe five if they fall.
• Go ham once you feel from SP 45 through SP 64.

Once you have those 4-5 arms, take all the fun picks you like, just make sure that we can collectively decide on them early in April — there’s nothing worse than taking a starter late in your draft and realizing he has poor matchups early that make him sit on your bench. You might as well take something that can give you value in those early weeks.

So take your Gavin Williams, Dustin May, Walker Buehler, Drew Rasmussen, Jesús Luzardo etc. Don’t feel like you need a ratio “rock” with your sixth starter — you already have five others! — and you’ll be able to find one of them on the wire if you really want one during the season.

 

This Is For Hitters, Too

 

This plan doesn’t apply just to pitchers. During the season, the two easiest positions to fill in your daily lineups are Outfield (especially in a standard 3 OF league!) and UTIL. That means as you traverse your draft, plan to leave at least one UTIL and one OF spot for the later rounds of the draft. Take a flier on each and plan to search the wire for that one batter who made the changes you like.

Lastly, I want to mention here to play to your personal strength. If you don’t have one, we have all the articles and AMAs to help through the year (come hang out when I’m livestreaming daily!), but if you’re better at finding hitting in-season, great! Draft accordingly to give yourself the ability to fill those holes.

 

Category Targets Are Great Guides, Not Rules

 

To ensure you’re not getting completely lost inside your draft, I highly recommend keeping tabs on the projected stat totals from your starting lineup and drafting players to help fill holes. It’s incredibly obvious, but without a proper target for each stat, the task is daunting and nebulous.

Instead, refer to this table, which is the 80th percentile targets for each 5×5 category in 12-teamers, i.e. the season-long stats required in each category to come in at least 3rd place in your 12-teamers. Huge shoutout to Jeff Erickson who put together both Hitter Targets and Pitcher Targets for 12-teamer NFBC OC leagues in 2023. (Seriously, y’all should have a subscription to Rotowire if you don’t already).

 

 

 

Remember, projections are finicky things and since it’s not a best ball league, you’re end of season stats will be shifting all season long. Keep those targets in mind during the draft and during the year as you make changes to your team. Assess if you’re falling behind in any of them and make moves accordingly.

 

Other Minor Things To Consider

 

I’ll just bullet point now, and it mostly stems from that expectation that you’re going to be changing your team through the season.

• Who cares which team is projected to win the season — Yep, I’m saying it again. You’re not in a best ball league!
• Drafting is about a floor you’re comfortable with early, then taking chances late — you can replace the weak spots on the wire if you fall in the back half of the draft
• Know yourself as a manager — I already mentioned this before, but I want to say it again. Are you better at finding hitting on the wire? Are you willing to make the changes each day for platoon bats? Will you have the time to make constant waiver wire swaps through the season? Draft to cover your weaknesses and open yourself up to take advantage of your strengths: For me, that’s a lot of hitting early (my weakness) and relying on the waiver wire for SP (my strength, shocking, I know).
• When in doubt, draft a closer — Many people say “I’ll just get a closer on the wire” and I like to think I’m the same, but man, it’s annoying. When you’re going through your draft and don’t love any options, drafting a closer always helps. I’ve called closers “the currency of fantasy baseball” as every team can use one more guy for saves. You’ll always improve by grabbing a closer.
• Team construction is huge, especially for roto leagues. Look I don’t like punting categories as it puts too much pressure on winning the other categories. Go for “average” in saves and steals if you want, and reach on ADP if you need that one guy for steals at 2B. Who cares about ADP values, winning your league is way better.

 

Positional Eligibility

 

Y’all should know what league you’re playing in. This draft outline will speak to Yahoo’s settings as it is the most lenient of them all (i.e. the broadest of audiences). Here’s a quick table to cover each league’s eligibility settings:

Don’t know if a player I’ve mentioned is eligible in your CBS or ESPN league? My good friend Grey Albright over at Razzball went over every multi-positional player and outlined their games played at each position. It rocks.

Alright, I think that’s enough ranting before the draft outline. I needed to let all of that out as, without the understanding of how I’m playing the regular season, this draft outline doesn’t make sense. You need to be doing both in tandem to win your leagues. You got this.

…fine. One more time

You are not drafting a best ball team.

Okay okay, let’s actually move on now.

 

Who I’m Drafting Round By Round

 

Draft Outline Primer

 

H’ok, the real meat of this article. Let’s go over the details of these picks and why I’m choosing who I am:

• This outline is meant for a redraft, 12-teamer 5×5 Roto or H2H league with 23 rounds. It still applies to most variants, but obviously, it’s not a one-size-fits-all.
• In general, the positional eligibility is from Yahoo. Know your league’s settings and adjust accordingly.
• I have purposefully left some holes because drafts are fluid creatures that need affection and constant attention to nail down just right.
  • I do not repeat names for multiple rounds, instead just listing them for the first round I look for them. It makes for a cleaner sheet.
• Don’t follow this so rigidly that when Elly De La Cruz falls to the seventh round you ignore him, nor do you ignore that you may have to reach an extra round from these targets at times.
• Round targets are based on Fantasy Pros’ ADP, which merges NFBC, Yahoo, and CBS data. They are a rough estimation and should give you a general idea of when you should be looking to grab them.
• There are certain players who have round labels well before or after their ADP. Either I want to reach or I’ve seen them fall consistently and will watch their stock mid-draft.

 

• These aren’t the only players I’m looking to draft, but they are the ones that I’m hoping fall to the right place.
• I can’t list every player at every position for obvious reasons. You should 100% be reading the player ranking articles from Scott Chu, Rick Graham, and myself that provide detailed reasoning for our affection or skepticism. I’m sorry I can’t answer all comments that ask “Why aren’t you considering [Player]?” or “You forgot [This Player]. He wasn’t forgotten, just not someone I found myself taking either because I liked others at that spot or thought he was going too early.
• I highlighted my favorite players for each position in green inside their tables. Keep in mind this isn’t included in the master chart at the bottom as it would complicate things too much.
• “What’s your ideal amount of SPs and Bench bats?” Generally: 10x SP, 2x RP, 1x Hitters in a standard daily league with 4 bench spots, shifting to 8x SP and 3x Hitters after a few weeks. Why? Getting PAs each day is more important than an extra start as the season progresses, but SPs with full-season value are easier to identify in April and require aggressive bench stashing.
• Consider multi-positional eligibility for your final hitters. It’s for Mondays and Thursdays when teams have days off — you want as many PAs as possible and multi-positional players can do wonders. Even a 1-for-4 with a Run and RBI can add up plenty across 25+ weeks.

 

Draft Trends I’ve Seen

 

I’ve done a ton of mocks this pre-season, testing strategies from different positions, and I’m going to bring in more bullet points to go over the general approach I have in drafts:

• The trend you’ll see is that I elect to wait on grabbing starting pitchers. This isn’t for everyone and I understand if you want to be a little more aggressive than I am.
  • I’m a huge believer that you should be drafting with the mindset of three to four SPs that you trust through the year, then your final four SPs are options that you’re okay dropping if they don’t pan out.
  • Also, hitting is far more valuable in the first two rounds than SP as the value gap between the top vs. middling hitters and top vs. middling pitchers is monstrous.
• Draft position always matters and you should learn to adapt based on your draft slot. For example, drafting in the back-half allows for Francisco Lindor or Freddie Freeman, while early in the draft suggests more Ketel Marte with a stud OF in the first. That dramatically shifts your positional focus and who your targets should be inside the top 10 rounds. Have a plan for each position.
• Closers are dumb, and I hate them. You’re better off solidifying your offense than feeling OK with a stat that makes up only 10% of your week-to-week and isn’t even a guarantee. Check out Alex Fast’s We’ve Drafted Saves Wrong Again and you’ll understand.
• The final eight rounds or so will be shooting for upside starters and bats. There are so many to choose from. I have specific guys I like. You probably have different ones, and that’s cool. Get your guys.

Alright, I think you understand the flow. Get tons of offense early, shift a focus to SP somewhere between rounds 5-9, and find the flow after round 10 for your needs.

Now let’s focus on the specific players to target during your drafts by position and later round-by-round.

 

Why Don’t You Have [Player] Listed?!

 

I’m addressing this a second time because I’m wagering you skipped a lot of this article. This is my personal outline of players who I’m targeting. It means there are many I skipped over because they aren’t a good value in my personal view (I’m not a fan of Gunnar Henderson, for example) or is not the position I want to target at that time (early SP and RP, for example).

 

 

 

Second Basemen

 

For detailed analysis on Second Basemen, check out Scott Chu’s Positional Rankings for 2024 Fantasy Baseball.

 

Third Basemen

 

For detailed analysis on Third Basemen, check out Scott Chu’s Positional Rankings for 2024 Fantasy Baseball.

 

Shortstops

 

For detailed analysis on Shortstops, check out Scott Chu’s Positional Rankings for 2024 Fantasy Baseball.

 

Outfielders

 

For detailed analysis on Outfielders, check out Scott Chu’s Positional Rankings for 2024 Fantasy Baseball.

 

Catchers

 

For detailed analysis on Catchers, check out Scott Chu’s Positional Rankings for 2024 Fantasy Baseball.

 

Relief Pitchers

 

For detailed analysis on Relief Pitchers, check out Rick Graham’s Closer Rankings for 2024 Fantasy Baseball.

 

 

Starting Pitchers

 

Now for my favorite part – Starting Pitchers. I’ve shared my thoughts aplenty across the last six months and when it comes to my evaluations vs. the ADP, here are the major takeaways:

• Grab hitters for at least the first five rounds. I’ve extended this to nine rounds and made it work.
• Once pivoting, go hard into SP. Pivot when you feel confident you’ll get at least two of my Top 27 SPs
• Keep going down The List until you have four SPs…maybe five if they fall.
• Go ham once you feel from SP 45 through SP 64.

Follow along easily with my My Latest Top 100 SP Starting Pitcher Rankings – Updated March 12th

Look, if it’s your game to get SP early, then go ahead. Do your thing. This is the way I recommend doing 12-team drafts that gives you the most value leaving your draft and opens the door for the most possibilities in-season.

I’ve written so many words about these pitchers over the last six months and if you’re curious as to why these pitchers have been selected, read the Top 100 SP Rankings above and if you really want a novel, read the 75,000 words I wrote covering the Top 400 Starting Pitchers – Updated February 8th

 

 

All Targets Round By Round Cheat Sheet

 

I made this handy chart for you to reference through your draft:

And here is one giant table of all players by round and position listed.

Bonus For PL+ and PL Pro Members

 

PL+ and PL Pro members get access directly to the Excel sheet that I will be updating moving forward given player injuries and news. You can find it in pinned inside the #fantasy-help channel.

Get 15% off PL Pro Yearly with promo code DRAFTGUIDE25 – Sign up here

Good luck! Here’s to a fun 2025 season ahead.

 

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