It’s that time of the year once again. As the cold of winter starts to creep in and we inch closer to the holidays, it’s time to dust off the spreadsheets and rankings and sit close to the warm glow of a new fantasy baseball draft.
Starting on Monday, the Rotoworld baseball staff and a couple of friends from the industry got together to start our first mock draft for the 2025 season. Since it’s a slow draft, I’ll have the luxury of checking in every couple of rounds to see how things are shaking out and provide analysis on each squad.
Here’s the fine group of fantasy managers that we have participating in this one along with the draft order:
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Matthew Pouliot (Rotoworld)
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Christopher Crawford (Rotoworld)
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Scott Pianowski (Yahoo Sports)
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Dave Shovein (Rotoworld)
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Vlad Sedler (FTN Fantasy)
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Eric Samulski (Rotoworld)
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Steve Gardner (USA Today)
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James Schiano (Rotoworld)
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Nick Shlain (Rotoworld)
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D.J. Short (Rotoworld)
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Jorge Montanez (Rotoworld)
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George Bissell (Rotoworld)
It’s a 20-round draft. We’ll start one catcher, one at each infield position plus a corner infielder and a middle infielder, three outfielders, one utility spot on offense and nine pitchers. Scoring is standard 5×5 roto.
With that, let’s get to it!
Round 1
1.01 (1): Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers – UTIL/P1.02 (2): Bobby Witt Jr., Royals – SS1.03 (3): Aaron Judge, Yankees – OF1.04 (4): Elly De La Cruz, Reds – SS1.05 (5): Kyle Tucker, Astros – OF1.06 (6): Gunnar Henderson, Orioles – SS1.07 (7): Jose Ramirez, Guardians – 3B1.08 (8): Juan Soto, Mets – OF1.09 (9): Fernando Tatis Jr., Padres – OF1.10 (10): Mookie Betts, Dodgers – SS/OF1.11 (11): Francisco Lindor, Mets – SS1.12 (12): Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Blue Jays – 1B
As you would probably expect with a group like this, there were no real surprises in the opening round. Shohei Ohtani has emerged as the favorite to be the top overall selection in most fantasy drafts in 2025 following his historic 2025 campaign with Royals’ superstar Bobby Witt Jr. close behind him.
Aaron Judge and Elly De La Cruz have separated themselves a tiny bit as the third and fourth overall options so far through the slow draft season, and that’s exactly how they went here. I was the one to pull the trigger on the Reds’ phenom at four after giving strong consideration to Jose Ramirez. The extra stolen bases were just too much to give up in that spot in exchange for RBI.
The industry as a whole has the next four players grouped pretty close together, and while they were shuffled a bit from the current landscape of ADP, the top eight as a whole remained true to what was expected. Vlad pulled up Kyle Tucker to the top of that group while one of our resident Mets’ fans couldn’t contain his excitement in nabbing Juan Soto at pick eight on the day that he inked his mega 15-year, $765 million contract.
We closed out the first round with four studly hitters who are no stranger to the top two rounds of fantasy drafts. By current ADP, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Francisco Lindor were the two lowest names pulled in the round, but they checked in at picks 15 and 16 respectively in ADP so it’s not like there was any reaching going on.
I was a bit surprised to see zero starting pitchers go in the first round, as I anticipated someone would make a splash by going up to get Paul Skenes or Tarik Skubal, but instead we had all twelve teams begin with strong anchor bats. Nine of those bats should be strong contributors in the stolen base department. Judge and Soto should provide something there. It looks like George is the only manager that’s taking a bat without any speed to begin his build.
Round 2
2.01 (13): Julio Rodriguez, Mariners – OF2.02 (14): Yordan Alvarez, Astros – OF2.03 (15): Tarik Skubal, Tigers – SP2.04 (16): Corbin Carroll, Diamondbacks – OF2.05 (17): Paul Skenes, Pirates – SP2.06 (18): Zack Wheeler, Phillies – SP2.07 (19): Bryce Harper, Phillies – 1B2.08 (20): Jackson Chourio, Brewers – OF2.09 (21): Freddie Freeman, Dodgers – 1B2.10 (22): Trea Turner, Phillies – SS2.11 (23): Jarren Duran, Red Sox – OF2.12 (24): Austin Riley, Braves – 3B
Starting the second round, George paired his Guerrero Jr. pick with Julio Rodriguez, picking up that speed that he was lacking in the first round. That’s a strong start across the board on the offensive side. Jorge followed by grabbing Yordan Alvarez to pair with Francisco Lindor. Another team with a masher and a five-category stud to start on offense. Not a bad way to go.
At pick 15 we finally see our first starting pitcher come off the board, and it’s reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal to D.J.’s squad. Early ADP actually has Skenes slightly ahead of Skubal, but Skubal is easily the top overall pitcher on my board and the one that I would have gone with first. I think the volume of innings that he’s going to provide over Skenes will be beneficial.
Nick followed with Corbin Carroll to pair with Fernando Tatis Jr., giving him a fearsome duo of five-category contributors in the outfield. James then plucked Skenes at pick 17 to go with his earlier selection of Soto. As long as he stays healthy, there’s really no reason to doubt that we’re going to see anything other than elite numbers from the reigning National League Rookie of the Year in his sophomore campaign. Though I noted I expect Skubal to throw more innings, that doesn’t mean that Skenes still won’t be able to compete with him in strikeouts.
After no pitchers went in the first round, we saw three go in the first five picks in the second round as Steve grabbed Zack Wheeler to go with his earlier selection of Jose Ramirez. Eric followed with Bryce Harper, giving him a very strong power base along with Gunnar Henderson while also adding unconventional speed at first base.
Vlad continued to stockpile young five-category studs in the outfield by adding Jackson Chourio to his Kyle Tucker. Can’t find any fault with that pick. When the draft got back to me at pick 20, I strongly considered a pair of long-time first-round locks in Freddie Freeman and Trea Turner. Personally, I didn’t think either of them should be on the board at this stage, and anticipate that both will creep toward the backend of the first round before March. Since I already had plus-plus speed with De La Cruz and locked up my shortstop position, Freeman was the easy pick. I also think that his skillset compliments De La Cruz very well as he’ll help to pick up the slack in batting average and RBI while filling a difficult position at first base.
Scott must have been thinking along the same lines that I was, as he quickly snagged Turner to team up with Aaron Judge. Chris then followed with 2024 breakout star Jarren Duran, giving him a ridiculously strong base in power and speed when paired with Bobby Witt Jr. The second round finished with Matthew grabbing Austin Riley to go with the 100+ HR/SB that he had already locked in with Ohtani to start the draft.
Thanks for following along thus far. Be sure to check back regularly, as I’ll continue to update every couple of rounds as we continue to progress. Happy drafting!