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This may be my favorite article to write each season. We all like to look toward the future, and the first round of fantasy baseball drafts is the most exciting part of the process. Here are the 12 men who have the early advantage of being selected in the first round of the 2025 fantasy baseball drafts.
Shohei Ohtani (UT, Los Angeles Dodgers)
Never mind that Ohtani is only eligible as a utility player. It doesn’t matter that he’s on the wrong side of 30. It doesn’t matter that he’s going to claim the responsibility of pitching next season. Ohtani is baseball’s first 50-50 player (54-59 to be exact), and that’s all you need to know when picking first overall in 2025.
His power abilities are undeniable, and even if he reduces his baserunning aggression, he is still a 30-steal player. The icing on the cake is that the Dodgers are annually one of the highest scoring teams in baseball.
Aaron Judge (OF, New York Yankees)
Judge is without a doubt the most powerful player in baseball, having made 18 more safeties than any other player over the past three seasons. He has also hit .300 during that stretch and contributes a few stolen bases annually. Most importantly, with at least 148 games played in three of the last four seasons, Judge has shed the injury-prone label from his early years in the majors.
Bobby Witt Jr. (SS, Kansas City Royals)
At 24 years old, Witt is the best option for those who want to recruit someone younger than Ohtani and Judge. The shortstop is a fantastic player who seems likely to string together several 30-30-.300 seasons. If there’s a downside, it’s that the Royals’ lineup is unlikely to score as frequently as the offenses of the players preceding Witt on this list.
Elly De La Cruz (SS, Cincinnati Reds)
Those in roto leagues should be happy to select De La Cruz fourth overall, while managers in points leagues may want to wait a little longer. The speedster dominates the steals category, having finished 2024 with eight more steals than the second-place finisher. And he’s much more than a one-dimensional player, as he also hit 25 home runs and scored 105 times.
Kyle Tucker (OF, Houston Astros)
If not for a shin bruise that turned out to be a shinbone fracture, Tucker would have had a remarkable season. Don’t you believe me? Check out his 2024 stats, extrapolated to 150 games played: 44 HR, 94 RBI, 108 R, 21 SB, .289 BA.
Tucker already arrived as one of the best hitters in baseball and is supported by a quality Astros lineup.
Gunnar Henderson (SS, Baltimore Orioles)
The glass-half-full assessment of Henderson’s 2024 season is that he enjoyed a breakthrough, increasing his OPS year-over-year by 79 points and making significant improvements in all five standard fantasy categories. The glass-half-empty assessment is that the 23-year-old produced 28 of his 37 home runs and 14 of his 21 steals before the All-Star break and didn’t make a difference in the second half. At midseason, Henderson looked like a top-three pick in 2025, but now he’s shaping up to be someone who should be selected a few spots later.
José Ramírez (3B, Cleveland Guardians)
Ramirez enjoyed double-digit improvements in both home runs and steals, allowing him to finish fifth in baseball in both home runs and steals. He joined Ohtani and Witt as the only players to post a stat line of 30-100-100-30. Despite being a little past his prime (age 32), Ramirez should be a sure source of overall production for at least another year.
Juan Soto (OF, Free Agent 2025)
I’m hedging my bets a little here. If Soto re-signs with the Yankees, he could move up a couple spots on this list. After all, New York turned out to be the perfect fit for the 25-year-old, as he hit .288 with 41 home runs, 109 RBIs and 128 runs scored. Odds are good that whether Soto chooses New York or another team, he will end up with one of the best clubs in baseball. But if he somehow took money from a mid-tier organization, he could fall to the bottom of the first round.
Mookie Betts (2B/SS/OF, Los Angeles Dodgers)
Betts has been one of the most consistent fantasy players in recent years and would have been a top-10 asset in 2024 had he not missed nearly two months with a broken hand. The setter benefits from hitting in one of the best lineups in baseball, and while he’s unlikely to finish the year among the top three players, he’s one of the surest sources of five-category production.
Yordan Álvarez (OF, Houston Astros)
After posting an OPS between .959 and 1.019 in each of the last three seasons, Alvarez has proven to be the most consistent elite hitter in baseball. And he finally overcame recurring injuries by playing in 147 games this year. The Astros regularly use Alvarez as their designated hitter, minimizing his risk of injury, but he still plays enough in the outfield to retain that eligibility.
Julio Rodríguez (OF, Seattle Mariners)
Rodríguez may be the most polarizing option in the first round. He was a top-three pick in most 2024 drafts and, at 23, is still heading toward the top of what should be a memorable career. But there’s no way to sugarcoat the fact that Rodriguez struggled mightily this year and saw his year-over-year totals decline by 12 home runs, 26 runs, 35 RBI and 13 steals. The youngster is too talented to fall far in drafts, but he hasn’t done enough lately to be a top 10 pick.
Ronald Acuña Jr. (OF, Atlanta Braves)
I included Acuña in this article, but honestly, no one knows at this point where he will rank in the 2025 drafts. The first overall pick in virtually every 2024 draft was off to a mediocre start this year (.716 OPS) before suffer a torn ACL in late May that ended his season. Acuña hopes to be ready for Opening Day, and if that happens, he could be considered in the first round. But given the nature of his injury and the importance of speed to his fantasy profile, Acuña will be among the riskier options in the early rounds.