Early look at Round 1 of 2025 fantasy drafts

This may be my favorite article to write each season. We all enjoy looking ahead, 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 edge to being selected in the opening round of 2025 fantasy baseball drafts.

Shohei Ohtani (UT, Los Angeles Dodgers)

It doesn’t matter that Ohtani is eligible only 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 reclaim 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 skills are undeniable, and even if he slows his baserunning aggressiveness, he’s still a 30-steal player. The icing on the cake is that the Dodgers are annually one of baseball’s highest-scoring teams.

Aaron Judge (OF, New York Yankees)

Judge is undeniably the most powerful player in baseball, having gone deep 18 more times than any other player over the past three seasons. He has also hit .300 during that stretch and annually chips in a few stolen bases. Most importantly, with at least 148 games played in three of the past four seasons, Judge has shed the injury-prone label from his early years in the Majors.

Bobby Witt Jr. (SS, Kansas City Royals)

At age 24, Witt is the best option for those who would like to draft someone who is younger than Ohtani and Judge. The shortstop is a terrific player who seems likely to string together several 30-30-.300 seasons. If there is one drawback, it’s that the Royals lineup is unlikely to score as often as the offenses of the players who precede Witt on this list.

Elly De La Cruz (SS, Cincinnati Reds)

Those in roto leagues should be happy to draft De La Cruz fourth overall, while points-league managers may want to wait a little longer. The speedster dominates the steals category, having finished 2024 with eight more swipes than the second-place finisher. And he’s much more than a one-dimensional player, as he also chipped in 25 home runs and scored 105 times.

Kyle Tucker, (OF, Houston Astros)

If not for a shin contusion that turned out to be a shin fracture, Tucker would have turned in a remarkable season. Don’t believe me? Check out his 2024 stats, extrapolated to 150 games played: 44 HR, 94 RBIs, 108 R, 21 SB, .289 BA.

Tucker has already arrived as one of baseball’s best hitters, and he is well-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 major breakout, boosting his year-over-year OPS 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 prior to the All-Star break and was not a difference-maker in the second half. At midseason, Henderson seemed like a top-three 2025 pick, but now he profiles as someone who should be selected a few spots later than that.

José Ramírez (3B, Cleveland Guardians)

Ramírez enjoyed double-digit improvements in both homers and steals, which enabled him to finish fifth in baseball in both homers and swipes. He joined Ohtani and Witt as the only players to post a 30-100-100-30 stat line. Despite being slightly past his prime (age 32), Ramírez should be a safe source of across-the-board production for at least one more year.

Juan Soto (OF, 2025 Free Agent)

I’m hedging my bets a bit here. If Soto re-signs with the Yankees, he might climb a couple of spots on this list. After all, New York turned out to be a perfect fit for the 25-year-old, as he hit .288 with 41 homers, 109 RBIs and 128 runs scored. The odds are good that, whether Soto chooses New York or another team, he will wind up on one of baseball’s best clubs. But if he somehow took the money from a middle-of-the-pack organization, he could fall to the end of the first round.

Mookie Betts (2B/SS/OF, Los Angeles Dodgers)

Betts has been one of the most consistent fantasy performers in recent years and would have been a top-10 asset in 2024 if he hadn’t missed nearly two months with a fractured hand. The table-setter benefits from hitting in one of baseball’s best lineups, and although he’s unlikely to finish the year as a top-three player, he’s one of the safest sources of five-category production.

Yordan Alvarez (OF, Houston Astros)

After posting an OPS between .959 and 1.019 in each of the past three seasons, Alvarez has proven to be the most consistent elite hitter in baseball. And he finally moved past recurring injuries by playing in 147 games this year. The Astros regularly use Alvarez as their DH, which minimizes his injury risk, but he still plays the outfield enough 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 age 23, he is still heading into the prime of what should be a memorable career. But there is no way to sugarcoat the fact that Rodríguez struggled mightily this year and watched his year-over-year totals decline by 12 homers, 26 runs, 35 RBI and 13 steals. The youngster is too talented to fall far in drafts but hasn’t done enough of late to be a top-10 pick.

Ronald Acuña Jr. (OF, Atlanta Braves)

I included Acuña in this article, but truthfully, no one knows at this point where he will rank in 2025 drafts. The first overall pick in virtually every 2024 draft got off to a mediocre start this year (.716 OPS) before suffering a torn ACL in late May that ended his season. Acuña hopes to be ready for Opening Day, and if that happens, he can 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 riskiest early-round options.