The Ultimate 2025 Fantasy Baseball Guide

If you’re a fantasy baseball enthusiast and want to improve your game and dominate your leagues, you’ve come to the right place! FTN’s comprehensive Fantasy Baseball Guide has everything you need to become a better fantasy baseball manager. Oh, and we’ll also help you win your league.

2025 Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide

A Message from the Gut, Vlad Sedler

Welcome to the 2025 fantasy baseball season. It’s time to roll up our sleeves!

March is the height of fantasy baseball excitement when spring training is in full swing and we are drafting our most important teams. A close second is now — the holiday season in December is when MLB free agents are signing with new teams, fantasy baseball diehards are drafting up a storm at NFBC and the rest of you are only starting to dip your toes into baseball draft prep and player research. December also happens when we release our annual Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide! 

This 2025 edition is our fourth annual, and it’s the ultimate labor of love for me. I have pushed myself to the limit over the last month, but it’s all worth it as I have never been prouder of a product in my fantasy career. 

I’m thrilled to share with you that the entire FTN Fantasy Baseball team is back for 2025 and we’ve assembled a fine-tuned draft strategy guide to kickstart your prep. I curated the content plan, and the team executed it exquisitely! 

Let me introduce (or re-introduce) you to our team!

The 2025 FTN Fantasy Baseball Team

• Vlad Sedler — Head of Baseball Content, Rankings, Projections
• Eric Cross — Lead Prospects Analyst, focus on dynasty format and prospects
• Mike Mager — Lead High Stakes Analyst, focus on NFBC, auctions and in-season player drops
• Lucas Biery — Lead Strategy Analyst, focus on draft and weekly in-season strategies
• Rob Orr — Writer/Analyst, focus on bullpens and analytics
• Adam Young — Writer/Analyst/Editor, focus on game theory and H2H Points formats
• Todd Whitestone — Writer/Analyst, focus on the NFBC Main Event and FAAB
• Jake Kucheck — Writer/Analyst, focus on prospects and spring training
• Daniel Kelley — Editor in Chief, creative baseball content writer
• Jenny Butler — Lead Data Analyst, in-season projections and data
• MLBDream — Head of Betting Content, FTN Fantasy MLB
• Russ Prentice — Lead Data Analyst, pre-season projections and data
• Jason Anthony — Co-Host of the FTN Fantasy Baseball podcast

I also invited eight renowned fantasy baseball guest analysts and writers to contribute to the FTN Draft Guide this year. Six are featured in our first content splash — this Dec. 17 release. I’ll save the surprise of the other two analysts for later. 

• Brendan Tuma — Head of MLB Info: Underdog Fantasy; Writer: Baseball America & Substack
• Justin Mason — Writer: FanGraphs & Fantasy Pros; Host: Sleeper & The Bust; Creator: TGFBI 
• Joe Orrico — Writer/Host/Producer: Fangraphs & Fantasy Pros; Host: 90 Feet from Home
• Sara Sanchez — Writer: Bleed Cubbie Blue, Pitcher List, Baseball HQ, Host: Fantasy Feud
• Corbin Young — Writer: BaseballHQ & RotoBaller; 2023 FSWA Baseball Writer of the Year
• Thomas Nestico — ‘TJ Stats’ Patreon & Substack; superb baseball modeler & metrics-maker
• Guest Analyst #7 — Announced in January 2025
• Guest Analyst # 8 — Announced in January 2025

Opening Day 2025 is still three months away, but research season is full speed ahead, and it’s never too early to start preparing for the upcoming fantasy baseball season. Even three months is not enough time for many of us as there’s so much to dig into — player profiles, offseason injuries, the new player pool and how the market has set ADP, analytical deep-dives, game theory, roster construction and more. 

Now is the time to get our feet wet and dig into our processes and biases. It doesn’t matter how long we’ve been at this, there are always improvements to make in our craft. 

The assortment of content within the 2025 FTN Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide is only the beginning. Starting in the new year, there will be multitudes of strategy articles, projections, rankings for all format types, easily digestible and helpful data tables, podcasts, live-streamed drafts and custom tools at your disposal. There will be something new every day throughout January, February and March leading up to Opening Day. You’ll see plenty of my work in the weeks to come. Continue scrolling and you’ll see everything FTN Fantasy Baseball will offer, from the New Year until the end of the regular season.

I’d like to thank several dedicated folks behind the scenes here at FTN who have helped make everything sizzle: Marshall Gershon (operations), Daniel Kelley (editorial), Frank Brank and Russ Prentice (data/analytics/modeling), the infamous ‘Fox’ (graphics), MLBDream, Tony Querio, Krissy Gately and Jake Silverman (marketing and media), and of course to Mike Randle, Jeff Ratcliffe and Perry Gershon. As you can see, it takes more than a village! Oh, and a second shoutout to Fox, because the cover art is truly a thing of beauty.

In addition to our industry-best projections (with VDP$ values), rankings for NFBC and Underdog updated weekly and several tools to help you research and draft, we are introducing a few new things in 2025:

Custom Rankings Tool (early February debut)

• Create a rankings list for your league with a few inputs and clicks! Default options include CBS, ESPN, Yahoo! H2H Points leagues, Cutline, Underdog and standard roto. Input your league-specific roto categories like OBP and Holds or specific custom points scoring and create your rankings. Rankings are pre-loaded with our industry-best FTN VDP Projections. 

Relievers on the Rise Tracker

• A frequently updated data table/tool that grades all 250-plus ADP relief pitchers to identify the ones who have the best chance of earning save opportunities during the season. Perfect for 50-round formats. This Tracker is the jumping-off point for Rob Orr’s Bullpen Tracker during the season.

Daily Projections 

• In addition to our popular Weekly Projections, we will have Daily Projections with hitters and pitchers ranked to help daily league players. The Weekly Projections will be released earlier in the day every Sunday of the regular season.

There is so much more in store! I hope you enjoy this initial wave of Draft Guide articles and that your journey with FTN Fantasy Baseball is pleasant and profitable. We will do everything in our power to ensure that it will be both.

I wish you a safe, healthy, joyous and baseball-filled holiday season. Soon, we play ball!

Rotospectfully,

Vlad Sedler

FTN’s Fantasy Baseball Subscriptions

We offer two fantasy baseball subscriptions:

Fantasy Baseball+

Fantasy Baseball+ is our base offering, which includes all content and tools during the preseason (draft season) and the regular season. The Draft Guide kicks off Dec. 17 with 15-plus strategy articles then continues with preseason content from New Year’s Day through 2025 MLB Opening Day. The content shifts to in-season mode once the regular season starts.

High Stakes Fantasy Baseball

High Stakes Fantasy Baseball includes everything in the standard package, plus:

• 30-minute video phone/video call with Vlad Sedler to discuss your teams and answer questions
• One-on-one assistance from Vlad throughout the preseason and regular season
• Dedicated email access to Vlad all season for your personalized questions
• Our High Stakes Discord channel with Vlad and Mike Mager

We cover the gamut of roto, auction, H2H Points, dynasty and best ball with an expert focus on mid- and high-stakes NFBC. Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned veteran, our expert content, tips, tools, rankings, projections and strategies will help you draft winning teams and crush the competition.

2025 FTN Fantasy Baseball Content Plan

Preseason Columns 

• Spring Training Roundups: Lucas Biery and Jake Kutcheck review notable ST nuggets
• Dynasty & Prospects: Guidance from prospect and dynasty guru, Eric Cross
• Auction Strategy: Learn from 2024 NFBC Auction overall champion, Mike Mager
• H2H Points Strategy: In-depth focus specifically for Y!, CBS, and ESPN leagues
• ADP Market Reports: Preseason coverage of the ever-shifting NFBC ADP/market
• Mager’s Musings: High Stakes draft recaps, KDS theory, draft strategy, and more
• Sink Your Battleship: Lucas Biery’s series focusing on busts/fades in each draft round
• Hot Pockets: Todd Whitestone’s 3-part series breaking down value pockets in drafts
• NFBC Positional Tiers: Vlad Sedler’s annual 8-part preseason series focusing on NFBC
• This Year’s Yelich: Vlad’s annual Breakout Player prediction piece in mid-March

Preseason Tools

• FTN VDP Projections (Jan): Fueled by Vlad, Frank Brank (CDO) and Russ Prentice
• Uploadable Roto Rankings: Vlad Sedler’s VDP: Top 500, sort, up/download; updated weekly
• Underdog Rankings: Best Ball points-based rankings fueled by VDP Projections
• Biery’s Offseason Tracker: Transactions and fantasy implications, managed by Lucas Biery
• FILTH Leaderboard: Leaderboard for FTN’s FILTH metric which quantifies SPs’ pitch quality
• 12-Team Grid Rankings (Jan): Vlad’s famous 12-team grid rankings by position 
• NFBC Cutline Rankings (Jan): Points contest ranking fueled by VDP Projections
• NEW: Relievers on the Rise Tracker (Jan): Tracking all draft-worthy RPs > 250 ADP
• NEW: Custom Rankings Tool (Feb): For your league format, built-in with our projections

In-Season Columns

• Trust the Gut FAAB: Vlad Sedler’s renowned free agent/waivers column
• Drops & Disasters: Mike Mager’s unique weekend column on who to drop and avoid
• Crossed Up: Eric Cross’ weekly focus on prospects, dynasty and keeper formats
• Bullpen Report: Rob Orr’s weekly recommendations of closers and relievers
• The Week Ahead: Lucas Biery’s breakdown of hitters/pitchers to start and sit
• Waiver Watch: Todd Whitestone’s in-depth weekly NFBC Main Event breakdown
• Small Ball Game Theory: Adam Young’s bi-weekly strategy piece focusing on theory

In-Season Tools

• Weekly Projections: powered by the FTN model; lineup projections: Vlad/Jenny/Dream
• Daily Projections: powered by the FTN model developed by Chief Data Officer, Frank Brank
• FILTH Leaderboard: Leaderboard for FTN’s FILTH metric which quantifies SPs’ pitch quality
• 12- & 15-Team FAAB: weekly updated chart, Vlad Sedler’s accompanying column
• 12- & 15-Team Drops: weekly updated chart, Mike Mager’s accompanying column
• Disaster Starting Pitchers: weekly updated chart, Mike Mager’s accompanying column
• Bullpen Report: frequently updated chart, Rob Orr’s accompanying column

Media (Video, Audio, Social)

• FTN Fantasy Baseball Podcast: with Vlad Sedler, Jason Anthony, expert guests
• YouTube Livestream NFBC Drafts: live, with the FTN team in February and March
• Fantasy Baseball Discord: Join the high-level discussions in one of our four channels

Connect to the FTN Fantasy Baseball Discord

Sign up for an FTN subscription today!

2025 Fantasy Baseball Rankings (VDP)

Our fantasy draft rankings are based on extensive research and analysis of player performance, injury history, our VDP projected stats, roster construction balance and optimization, game theory, ADP market analysis, and a propriety formula that utilizes the perfect blend of specific advanced metrics which we believe are most meaningful within Fangraphs, Baseball Savant (Statcast) and Pitcher List.

Here are the top five players for 2025 (standard 5×5 roto scoring):

1. Shohei Ohtani, UT/P, Los Angeles Dodgers
2. Bobby Witt Jr., SS, Kansas City Royals
3. Aaron Judge, OF, New York Yankees
4. Elly De La Cruz, SS, Cincinnati Reds 
5. Gunnar Henderson, SS, Baltimore Orioles

Check out our fantasy baseball rankings to see a larger list from Vlad Sedler.

2025 FTN Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide Articles

Articles from the FTN staff:

• Mager’s Auction Primer, Part One, Mike Mager
• NFBC Draft Champions Strategies, Lucas Biery
• Building the Bench: Strategies from the Pros, Jenny Butler
• Prospects to Target or Fade in the Top 450 ADP, Eric Cross
• Prospect Breakouts: Archetypes, Tools & Targets, Jake Kucheck
• H2H Points Primer: Navigating CBS, ESPN, Yahoo!, Adam Young
• The Streakers: Opening Day Lineups Around the League, Daniel Kelley (free)
• Late-Round Profitable Hitters, Vlad Sedler
• Closers: 2024 Lessons & 2025 Strategies, Rob Orr (release date: Friday, December 20)

Articles from our special guest industry analysts:

• How to Value Risk, Justin Mason
• Lessons Learned: Jumping into the NFBC, Joe Orrico
• League-Benders: A New Era of Legendary Performances, Brendan Tuma
• The Impact of Changing Park Factors, Part One, Sara Sanchez
• The Injury Bug: Key Injuries to Monitor, Corbin Young
• Breakout Pitchers: The Power of Peripherals, Thomas Nestico

New columns and tools will resume in early January.

• Two more articles from special guest analysts; to be announced
• Identifying Breakout Relievers with FTN’s FILTH, Vlad Sedler
• Late-Round Profitable Pitchers, Vlad Sedler
• Utilizing Fantasy Baseball for MLB Betting, MLBDream
• The Impact of Changing Park Factors, Part Two, Sara Sanchez
• Intro to Fantasy Baseball, Lucas Biery
• Dynasty Overview/Primer, Eric Cross
• Hot Pockets, Part One, Todd Whitestone
• The Ultimate Auction Primer Part Two, Mike Mager