2025 Fantasy Baseball ADP: Best Draft Steals (Part 1)

The first set of fantasy players to cash in on come 2025, revealed.

After ranking the top outfielders for fantasy baseball in 2025, I’ve decided to make the offseason the time for ADP. And when it comes to ADP, value is the single most important thing you should be looking for.

Before we dive into the list of players, let’s first take a minute to answer some questions you might have as to what ADP is in Fantasy Baseball, and how we can leverage it to help you win you drafts this season.

ADP stands for Average Draft Position, which reflects where players are typically selected in drafts. This is a useful tool that gives you an understanding of when the top targets you have on your draft boards are typically selected on average.

This will give you a chance to not only land the top players you are targeting on your draft board but to land them at the opportune times instead of drafting them too early, while not waiting too long.

You might wonder, how do I use ADP Values to win?

As we will show you through this exercise, the goal is to focus on players with upside at their ADP, whether it’s an unproved young player who has become a breakout candidate, one of MLB’s top prospects, or if it is a longtime veteran coming off a rough year that is due for a bounceback.

This isn’t a sleepers list, nor a busts list. This is identifying which guys are lower than they should be according to the National Fantasy Baseball Championship rankings. 

For this first set of players, I will be selecting five players from spots 300-250. Let the discounts run wild! 

Kumar Rocker: ADP Steal at #300 in 2025 Fantasy Baseball

There’s a reason many were calling Kumar’s slider the ‘death ball’. It’s rude to rank someone with this kind of upside at exactly #300, but I digress. I don’t think this will hold because Rocker is simply too talented to be drafted this late.

Everyone freaks out when a pitcher can touch 100 mph with the fastball. But when that same hurler introduces nasty secondary stuff, that’s when he has true potential to impress. Rocker also possesses an effective changeup and curveball but his slider has the potential to be one of the best singular pitches in all of MLB come 2025.

The high ceiling of Rocker will be hard to pass up on come draft season. In this range of 50 players, listen to some of the starters being taken before Rocker: Trevor Megill, Merrill Kelly, Reese Olson, and Michael Wacha. All very productive arms but let’s face it, none of them have flashed the thrilling wipeout stuff which Kumar can bring to your team. 

One of the most important lessons which many fantasy managers forget when entering later rounds; don’t choose safety, select upside and take chances. That’s one of the only ways to separate yourself from the competition. Rocker is your ticket to doing so.

Matt Wallner: Underrated ADP Power Bat at #285

It may come as a shock, it may open your eyes, it may even convince you to invest with confidence. Matt Wallner’s career OPS sits at .866, a mark which was anything but underwhelming. 

The main issue with Wallner has continually been playing time. However fear not because manager Rocco Baldelli seemed to be giving him a longer leash as the season went on, often starting Wallner against lefties. 

We often hear how difficult it is to find power in drafts let alone discovering it in the later rounds. You may be able to find speed or impactful starting pitchers while power is a different story.

At this spot we often see contact-oriented players being taken much like Evan Carter at #277, Jonathan India at #261, or Jung Hoo Lee at #259.

Fine players if you are constructing the roster in a certain way. For me though power will always remain the most vital statistic to build a team around. It makes for a less stressful counting stats life.

And another underrated characteristic about this powerful lefty – he’s not a total zero when it comes to batting average. We often see power hitters put up 30 long balls with a .210 average. Not Wallner.

He sports a career .251 mark in this category. Not to mention his insane raw power. At one point back in July he was a part of the same list containing Shohei Ohtani, Giancarlo Stanton, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and Oneil Cruz. All of these players, plus Wallner, hit multiple balls 116 mph or harder in the first few months of 2024.

Wallner deserves your attention when filling out the back half of your outfield slots. It’s not crazy to claim he could reach 25 home runs in 120 games of action. And at #285, I’d gladly pay such a cheap price for that kind of production. 

Roman Anthony: Top Prospect to Draft at #282

It is a wonder the Red Sox were able to land Garrett Crochet without giving up Roman Anthony (or another outfielder we’ll talk about in a second) in the deal.

He’s got potential to be a major power/speed threat while playing an aggressive style of baseball. He’s ranked lower for a reason; we don’t know how he’ll handle big-league arms while not exactly being sure when his call-up will take place.

Yet if you’re willing to sacrifice the early months of the season and hope his spring training is solid, Anthony is one of the best investments out there. Will Jo Adell or Lars Nootbaar really be worth it at this point in the draft? I don’t think so, take the young potential.

We are talking about the top overall prospect in all of baseball here.

One major reason why I like Anthony in 2025 is simple; team context.

This Boston team is shaping up to have a scary lineup. And what do pitchers do when trying to get through lineups? Attack the rookies!

I’d love to see manager Alex Cora slot him in the lower half of the order and watch him work. Sure, there could be some growing pains at first. Overall, however, the good will outweigh the bad.

Ryan Mountcastle: New Left Field, New Value Pick at #274

His own team sabotaged him! How dare they move the left field wall way back? For those who invested in 2024, I sympathize with you. I did not expect only 13 home runs in 124 games out of Mountcastle. 

The good news is that those fences will be coming back in a bit. Plus, I believe this Orioles offense simply showed their young age this past season. After hearing Mountcastle’s name in trade talks, I don’t think he’s going anywhere. He will be an important piece of this core moving forward. 

Many ask why I have confidence. Well, let’s start with the 90th percentile bat speed. Or the fact that he’s eligible to be a solid corner infielder. Or the wildly cheap ADP price. 

I don’t think Mountcastle will be the 30-home run threat he once was in 2021. Nevertheless, 25 long balls with first base eligibility at the age of 28? I’ll take it. Especially after seeing other first basemen Andrew Vaughn and Jake Cronenworth taken in the same area. No thanks, I’ll stick with Mounty. 

Wilyer Abreu: Hard-Hitting ADP Sleeper at #265

Yes, I’m aware I have two Boston outfielders on this list. Am I ashamed of it? Not at all. 

Abreu impacts the ball so much that he’s in the 94th percentile of hard-hit data while landing in the 86th percentile for average exit velocity. He doesn’t discriminate in terms of pulling the ball and has the ability to hit to all fields, one skill I love seeing out of my possible investments. 

Also, don’t let him fool you on the base paths. Let’s not forget that he stole 31 bags in his 2022 minor league season. I’d like to see Boston utilize this part of his game more after taking just 8 bags in 2024. And 22 homers in 86 games at Triple-A Worcester in 2023? Keep this man in an everyday role and enjoy the show.

I like most everything about Abreu’s profile, even his chase rate shows that he can be aggressive when he needs to be. At only 25 years old, he has the natural hitting instincts to be a quality big leaguer come 2025. And at ADP #265, I couldn’t be more exhilarated to swipe him up.

Continue to Part 2 for players ranked 250-200.