It’s already the middle of March, and Opening Day will be here before you know it. Fantasy baseball managers all over the world are getting ready for those ever-crucial drafts in order to stock their fantasy rosters with the talent that they hope will end up with a championship.
They say that practice makes perfect — and you can certainly practice your drafting skills in our Mock Draft Lobby — but that saying raises the question: What would a “perfect” draft even look like?
Tristan H. Cockcroft and Eric Karabell weighed in on each of their ideal picks from each of the 10 draft positions in an ESPN standard league in both of our primary fantasy baseball formats (points-based scoring and rotisserie). Additionally, Tristan and Eric have offered up the perfect second-round complements to these first-round selections.
Draft slot No. 1
Cockcroft (points-based leagues): Round 1 – Shohei Ohtani, Round 2 – Ketel Marte
“Sho-time” is back! At least it will be once baseball’s unicorn formally returns to the mound as projected in May. As a hitter, Ohtani has averaged the third-most fantasy points over the past three seasons, making him a viable pick out of this slot even if he wasn’t expected to throw any pitches in 2025. But consider that he has averaged 14.5 fantasy points per start over his MLB career, so even if he makes his 2025 pitching debut in mid-May and works only every sixth game, that’s still 19 gravy-like outings to pour on top of his already stellar production. ESPN’s daily-lineup flexibility grants Ohtani a huge advantage relative to the field.
Marte, meanwhile, is one of the game’s most underrated hitters, having made substantial gains in terms of contact quality while grading out as one of the most selective players at the plate. Second base, too, is one of the thinner positions entering 2025. Marte should not escape the second round of any points league.
Karabell (rotisserie leagues): Round 1 – Ohtani, Round 2 – Trea Turner
We may not agree on much, Tristan. I mean, how can you still hate mustard so much that you won’t apply any to hot dogs? But yes, Ohtani is the first pick for roto/categories formats as well. Over here, however, it is close, and many roto analysts consider a certain AL Central shortstop (and it isn’t Trey Sweeney) instead. It’s debatable in roto. Ohtani doesn’t have to be No. 1, depending on the rules of your league concerning utilizing Ohtani for all appearances hitting/pitching, whether the format is daily versus weekly, etc. After all, there’s no way he’s going 50/50 again, right? Right?!?
Turner typifies one of the biggest differences in formats. You won’t find Philadelphia’s shortstop and new leadoff hitter anywhere near this valuable in a points format, because he doesn’t offer big power numbers or pile on the walks, and the stolen bases carry negligible value. In fairness, Turner didn’t have his best season in 2024, as he missed more than a month due to injury and stole fewer than 20 bases for the first time over a full season, but we think he bounces back nicely as a top roto investment in 2025.
Draft slot No. 2
Cockcroft: Round 1 – Juan Soto, Round 2 – Corbin Burnes
What’s not to love about Soto in points leagues? He has had 68 more walks than anyone else over the last three years, 99th-percentile hard contact rates in both of the last two campaigns and a contact rate 3% better than league average in 2024 — an elite combination for the format. If not for Ohtani, Soto would be a perennial points league No. 1 pick and well worth the blank-check caliber investment that the New York Mets made in him in real life.
Assuming none of the players selected before pick nine of the second round makes it this far, here is a spot where you can go with your gut. Getting a proven staff ace like Burnes, even with the concerns about his declining strikeout rate, is a wise move for a team that secured such a high-floor first round pick in Soto.
Karabell: Round 1 – Bobby Witt Jr., Round 2 – Jackson Chourio
Witt is the other reasonable choice for No. 1 in roto formats, after another 30/30 campaign in which the Kansas City Royals shortstop raised his batting average more than 50 points. He also drew more walks and struck out fewer times than in his prior seasons. No, Witt will not offer value as an occasional pitcher (like Ohtani does), but Witt can match the Dodgers star offensively.
Chourio starred in his rookie season for the Milwaukee Brewers and expectations are high for him to reach even greater statistical heights in 2025. Again, you won’t find Chourio, who drew only 39 walks as a rookie, this valuable in points formats, but five-tool players who offer stolen bases along with their power are coveted options in roto. He is already a top-20 player.
Draft slot No. 3
Cockcroft: Round 1 – Aaron Judge, Round 2 – Francisco Lindor
Judge has two of the four 600 fantasy point seasons among hitters over the past four seasons (2022, 2024), his combination of power and patience making him one of the soundest point-league picks. Those years represented two of the five best single-season Offensive Wins Above Replacement (oWAR) numbers of the rotisserie era (1980-present), with Barry Bonds accounting for the other three (2001-02, ’04).
Why not couple Judge with the face of his crosstown rivals? Having the aforementioned Soto hitting behind him might only vault Lindor’s fantasy profile from 2024’s ninth-best (among hitters) 465 points. Lindor’s stability in the injury department — he has missed only 13 games combined over the last three seasons — also helps balance out what’s a hint of injury concern with Judge.
Karabell: Round 1 – Judge, Round 2 – Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
No need to debate Judge, the pre-eminent power source in the sport who, incidentally, barely missed any games in 2022 and 2024. We now view his truncated 2023 as the outlier.
Guerrero doesn’t produce on the level of Judge (and who does?), but the Toronto Blue Jays first baseman has established himself as a consistent power hitter. We expect little will change in his free agent season. In fact, Guerrero has every motivation to get his numbers back to 2021 levels.
Draft slot No. 4
Cockcroft: Round 1 – Jose Ramirez, Round 2 – Fernando Tatis Jr.
A captain of consistency, Ramirez joins Soto as the only players with three 500-point fantasy seasons across the last four years. Ramirez’s combination of contact, power, speed and patience makes him a certain top-four overall pick, with a case to be made that he should go ahead of Judge.
Tatis is one of the few remaining players on the board at this point with a genuine chance at first-round value, so long as he can remain healthy. Teams in this position can probably hope that a solid starting pitcher like Garrett Crochet, Cole Ragans or Chris Sale is there in the third round.
Karabell: Round 1 – Ramirez, Round 2 – Zack Wheeler
Indeed, it is a simple case to make for Ramirez to rank higher on this list as well, for only the great Ohtani produced a higher combination of home runs and stolen bases in 2024 — and Ramirez has been doing this for a while.
Wheeler (and other top hurlers) warrant first-round attention in points formats, for few starting pitchers can match his consistency over the past five seasons. In roto, we tend to wait a bit longer on our rotations. Perhaps Wheeler earns his first Cy Young award during a future season.
Draft slot No. 5
Cockcroft: Round 1 – Bobby Witt Jr., Round 2 – Dylan Cease
Though slightly more of a building block in rotisserie than points-based play, Witt’s five-tool ability and 24 years of age make him a compelling pick among the first five in the format, as there’s a small step down in talent after this selection. One could make the case he could go as early as No. 3 overall, even in points leagues. After all, other than Ohtani, he’s baseball’s best bet for a .300-30-100 season with 30-plus steals.
The second tier of fantasy starters took a hit this month with the news that Gerrit Cole had season-ending Tommy John surgery, heightening somewhat the demand for top-tier starting pitchers. Cease might begin an effective “Tier 2” for me at the position, but he’s close enough in value to the Tarik Skubal/Wheeler/Paul Skenes/Logan Gilbert group that a second-round pick is warranted for him.
Karabell: Round 1 – Gunnar Henderson, Round 2 – Tarik Skubal
While Henderson may miss Opening Day due to a mild intercostal muscle strain, it may be premature to drop him in the rankings. After all, do we expect other five-category providers ranked behind Henderson to suit up for all 162 games? You have my answer with this ranking. Henderson can still blast 35 home runs, steal 20 bases and score 100 runs while missing a week or two.
Skubal was the easy AL Cy Young choice and there is little reason to question whether he can duplicate his wonderful numbers again in 2025. Starting pitching is deeper than hitting, so while we don’t recommend entering the 10th round of a roto draft with five hurlers, it rarely hurts to build around an ace.
Draft slot No. 6
Cockcroft: Round 1 – Mookie Betts, Round 2 – Logan Gilbert
Betts might not feel this valuable, playing 2025 at the age of 32 and coming off a 2024 in which he played his fewest games in any full major league season (116), but there’s a lot to be said for both his consistency and dual-position eligibility (SS/OF). He has averaged 3.5 fantasy points per game over the last three years, meaning he’d need to play 143 games in order to reach the coveted 500-point plateau. That’s reasonable considering his 2024 injury was of the fluky variety (a fractured hand as a result of an HBP). Besides, his is a rare, plenty-handy positional combo.
Gilbert’s well-rounded skill set gives him arguably the highest statistical floor of any top-10 pitcher for 2025, and he made noticeable gains last season that could set him up for a Cy Young-caliber follow-up. It’s not outrageous to call him a viable pick at the back end of Round 1 or with a sooner second-round pick than this.
Karabell: Round 1 – Elly De La Cruz, Round 2 – Paul Skenes
De La Cruz led baseball with 67 stolen bases, and again, he is far more valuable in a roto context than for a standard points format. We don’t cringe about his 31% strikeout rate in roto. Sure, De La Cruz may never contend for a batting title, but his batting average isn’t a Joey Gallo-level of bad, and the added advantage from dominating stolen bases to this degree is critical.
Skenes is the first choice for pitcher (other than Ohtani, of course) off this roto draft board, buoyed by his incredible 2024 debut campaign where he posted a 1.96 ERA and an 0.95 WHIP. Perhaps some are concerned about volume (which is far more important in points than in roto), but Skenes may approach 200 IP.
Draft slot No. 7
Cockcroft: Round 1 – Skubal, Round 2 – Gunnar Henderson
One could consider Skubal as soon as the No. 6-overall pick, which is the earliest spot where I’d legitimately consider the No. 1 non-Ohtani pitcher. However, this is the optimal point to select the defending AL Cy Young Award winner.
Points leagues tend to be more pitcher-heavy in the first two rounds than rotisserie, so a hitter of Henderson’s caliber should remain available on the backswing. The 23-year-old is coming off an 11th-best 483 point fantasy season, and that’s in spite of his so-so finish (.254/.329/.439 rates across his final 48 games).
Karabell: Round 1 – Mookie Betts, Round 2 – Yordan Alvarez
Betts missed 46 games in 2024, most of those due to an errant pitch breaking his wrist. That may scare off prospective investors, but he was every bit a five-category provider when on the field. There is no reason for concern here. Reasonable minds can debate the value of multi-positional eligibility (especially in ESPN’s shallow standard formats), but it sure doesn’t hurt having the option.
Alvarez tends to get overlooked in the discussion for top power hitters and fantasy options, but this makes four consecutive seasons of desirable numbers in four categories. Playing in under 150 games in each of those years has not impacted his exceptional value, so do not let him slip too far from the first round in drafts.
Draft slot No. 8
Cockcroft: Round 1 – Kyle Tucker, Round 2 – Skenes
I’m a big believer in Tucker’s rebound potential, despite the downgrade in ballparks going from Houston to Chicago. His metrics remained excellent after returning from a fluky leg injury and he has one of the most balanced skill-sets in the game.
Pairing Tucker with Skenes, a candidate to go as early as the first non-Ohtani pitcher off the board in any league (perhaps even as high as the late first round of points leagues) is a dream scenario. It’s also very realistic, considering the names rounding out a “perfect” first round.
Karabell: Round 1 – Tucker, Round 2 – Julio Rodriguez
There should be few worries about Tucker, who was so awesome during his first three full seasons in Houston prior to a freak injury truncating his 2024 campaign. Now a member of the Chicago Cubs, remember that Tucker is playing for a lucrative, free agent contract somewhere. He has much to prove.
Similarly, Rodriguez has much to prove, although he isn’t leaving Seattle. Rodriguez disappointed for much of 2024 before a standout finish, reminding us of his innate talent. Rodriguez, 24, was one of fantasy’s top players in 2023, registering a 32-HR, 37-SB campaign, and he can certainly regain that status.
Draft slot No. 9
Cockcroft: Round 1 – Alvarez, Round 2 – Corbin Carroll
One of the two outfield stacks, an Alvarez-Carroll start to your draft raises concern only in who might be there come Rounds 3-4. (Corey Seager, George Kirby, Bryce Harper and/or Pablo Lopez, perhaps?) Alvarez, despite his injury history, has one of the soundest batting average/power skill-set combinations, right there with Ohtani and Judge as best bets for a .300-40 stat line.
Carroll, meanwhile, recovered what was a seemingly lost sophomore season with a fine final four months, making him nearly as attractive a fantasy pick now as he was a year ago at this time. His skill set is slightly less impactful in points leagues than rotisserie, but he also finished tied for 13th among hitters in fantasy points (425).
Karabell: Round 1 – Lindor, Round 2 – Tatis
Few figured the first Met they would see in the roto rankings would be Lindor, but he has averaged 32 HR, 95 RBI, 30 SB and 108 runs over the last two seasons. Soto’s stats don’t quite measure up to Lindor’s, who stolen bases are a big differentiator here. We love them in roto far more than gaudy walk totals.
Tatis, still only 26, continues to tease fantasy investors with the lure of top-five fantasy numbers, much like his 2021 season. Alas, Tatis missed all of 2022, as well as 60 games of 2024. Perhaps this is the year we get five-category greatness and durability.
Draft slot No. 10
Cockcroft: Round 1 – Guerrero, Round 2 – Wheeler
Has Guerrero been somewhat overrated in fantasy across his first six big-league seasons? Perhaps, but he also delivered 500-plus points in both 2021 and 2024, and exceeded 400 in the two seasons sandwiched in-between. He’ll also play 2025 at a prime-aged 26, with his sights set on a new contract. Plus, he has shown enough growth in the line-drive and contact quality departments to maintain peak-level performance.
If a pitcher of Wheeler’s caliber, one universally projected for a top-five IP total as well as similarly ranked performance stat lines, remains on the board at this draft slot, snatch him up quickly. The same goes for Skubal or Skenes or Gilbert. What will still be out there at the Round 3/4 swing won’t compare.
Karabell: Round 1 – Soto, Round 2 – Carroll
Soto remains an outstanding four-category roto option. He is young, patient, durable, powerful and likely a bargain this late in the first round. Still, those awesome numbers in his lone Yankees season landed him “only” the No. 8 spot on the ESPN Player Rater, just a shade ahead of his teammate Lindor. Ranking them back-to-back to finish off the first round — in either order — is hardly outrageous.
Carroll, much like Rodriguez, disappointed his investors well into the 2024 season, but he finished strong and reminded everyone of his immense upside. Carroll can’t match most of the others on this list in terms of pure power, but the stolen bases set him apart.
