2025 Topps Rookie Cards to Chase

As we embark on another baseball season, how good or deep the rookie class is ultimately determines the value of sealed product or break spots. With Series One already out we got an early look at some of the names garnering the ‘RC’ logo this year, but there will be more, so who will be the cream of this year’s crop?

Dylan Crews / James Wood – Washington Nationals

I lumped these two together for a few reasons. One is that they are far and away the main chase out of Series One, making Washington Nationals spots in case breaks very pricey.

Wood has logged more big league games and is a physical freak. Crews has the top pick pedigree with his Bowman 1st autos fetching a pretty penny.

Two is that one of them will eventually cannibalize the other. The hobby as a whole eventually gravitates towards one superstar or one rookie per team.

Last year Wyatt Langford sold for more than Evan Carter despite Carter being a key for the 2023 Texas Rangers World Series team. Jackson Holliday stole the spotlight from 2024 Rookie of the Year finalist Colton Cowser.

One of them will eventually distance themselves from the other even if both are producing at a high level. Regardless of who it is, the Nationals will be a big chase for those who enjoy breaks and if you’re a collector of the one who is eventually cheaper, then there’s your chance to get into him for cheap.

Roki Sasaki – Los Angeles Dodgers

Outside of the Juan Soto sweepstakes, there wasn’t a more talked about name in free agency this past winter. When Sasaki signed with the Dodgers, it was reminiscent to when Yoshinobu Yamamoto did the same just a year ago. And much like Yamamoto, I expect the same hype and chase for his fellow countryman.

Sasaki likely won’t have a rookie card until Topps Series 2 releases sometime in May as he signed too late for them to get him into Series 1.

If Topps sticks to the same release schedule as they did in 2024, then we won’t see many big releases between now and when Sasaki will see his first RC shield. He should be in every major product and will only make Dodgers’ spots in breaks even more pricey than they already were.

Jackson Jobe – Detroit Tigers

Another guy who will likely get his true rookie in Series 2, Jobe was called up late in 2024 and pitched a total of four scoreless innings.

A likely candidate to break camp with Detroit this season, the #2 prospect on the Just Baseball Top 100 will be a hobby favorite now that pitchers are becoming more collectable. Plus why not add another ‘Jackson’ to your collection after we had Merrill, Chourio and Holliday last year.

His stuff is just as electric as Paul Skenes, but he has a few things holding him back from reaching that level of pricing despite pitching in a similar market. He doesn’t have the hype of being a #1 overall draft pick and he isn’t dating someone who keeps him in the public eye. As weird as that is, that stuff matters. Still should be a fun chase at a more affordable price tag.

Brooks Lee – Minnesota Twins

Lee doesn’t have the prospect hype that Dylan Crews had or the production that James Wood had after being called up in July, but Lee has done nothing but hit at every level. I’m confident he’ll figure it out this year and there’s going to be plenty of opportunities to do so within this Minnesota lineup.

He’s not going hit 30+ home runs every year, but he’s an extra base machine due to his speed. If the Twins are going to make a push for a playoff spot this season, Lee will figure into that equation and his pricing among early 2025 rookies already reflects that.

Roman Anthony – Boston Red Sox

The #1 prospect on our Top 100 list is a bit of longshot to get a rookie card in 2025. Then again, so was Wyatt Langford last year and he became one of the biggest chases in 2024. Anthony is looking every bit of major league ready player this Spring and even if he doesn’t get called up to start the year, there’s plenty of time for Topps to get him into products.

Paul Skenes didn’t receive his flagship rookie until Topps Update which comes out in September. Most of the bigger products don’t start rolling out until late in the season anyway so if he does get the call mid-summer expect him to be added quickly unless they want to make him the chase for Topps Series 1 in 2026.

Either way, there’s no denying the Roman Empire is coming and collectors will be racing to add him to their collections.