With spring training on the horizon, the Rotoworld crew put out the call – picture Ron Burgundy’s iconic news team, assemble moment – and 15 fearless industry experts answered the call to participate in a startup dynasty mock draft. Despite its self-deprecating name, there’s nothing comical about a mock draft. It’s serious business and that’s why we brought in some of the biggest names out there to join Rotoworld’s robust fantasy roster for this exercise.
Armed with unique research, insights and strategic approaches, this loaded group of experts’ selections should help fantasy managers prepare for the upcoming season by providing a table-setting look at the dynasty landscape.
Basics: 15 teams. 28 rounds. Standard 5×5 roto categories. Rosters: C (1), 1B (1), 2B (1), 3B (1), SS (1), CI (1), MI (1), OF (5), UT (1), P (9), Bench (6).
Draft Order
1) Nick Shlain (Rotoworld)
2) Geoff Pontes (Baseball America)
3) Dave Shovein (Rotoworld)
4) George Bissell (Rotoworld)
5) Jorge Montanez (Rotoworld)
6) D.J. Short (Rotoworld)
7) Shelly Verougstrate (Pitcher List)
8) Chris Welsh (FantasyPros)
9) Dylan White (Baseball America)
10) Eric Samulski (Rotoworld)
11) Matthew Pouliot (Rotoworld)
12) Chris Blessing (BaseballHQ)
13) Chris Clegg (The Dynasty Dugout)
14) Christopher Crawford (Rotoworld)
15) James Schiano (Rotoworld)
Without further delay, let’s dive into the results!
Round 1
1.1 (1) Bobby Witt Jr., SS, Royals (Shlain)
1.2 (2) Shohei Ohtani, UT/SP, Dodgers (Pontes)
1.3 (3) Gunnar Henderson, SS, Orioles (Shovein)
1.4 (4) Elly De La Cruz, SS, Reds (Bissell)
1.5 (5) Fernando Tatis Jr., OF, Padres (Montanez)
1.6 (6) Juan Soto, OF, Mets (Short)
1.7 (7) Jackson Chourio, OF, Brewers (Verougstrate)
1.8 (8) Corbin Carroll, OF, Diamondbacks (Welsh)
1.9 (9) Paul Skenes, SP, Pirates (White)
1.10 (10) Kyle Tucker, OF, Cubs (Samulski)
1.11 (11) Ronald Acuña Jr., OF, Braves (Pouliot)
1.12 (12) Aaron Judge, OF, Yankees (Blessing)
1.13 (13) Julio Rodríguez, OF, Mariners (Clegg)
1.14 (14) Tarik Skubal, SP, Tigers (Crawford)
1.15 (15) Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 1B, Blue Jays (Schiano)
There’s a legitimate debate between Bobby Witt Jr. and Shohei Ohtani for the top overall spot in start-up dynasty leagues heading into spring training. We’ve given Witt the slight edge over the Dodgers two-way superstar in our latest Rotoworld Top 500 Dynasty Rankings based almost entirely on a six-year age gap.
A whopping eight outfielders came off the board in the opening round with Paul Skenes and Tarik Skubal representing the lone pitchers taken. The pathway exists for every player drafted in the first round to finish as a top five caliber fantasy performer this upcoming season. There are zero real surprises here unless you consider grabbing Fernando Tatis Jr.’s power-speed ceiling over rock-steady generational masher Juan Soto a mild upset. Entering his age-33 campaign, Aaron Judge, who has eclipsed the 58-homer mark in two of the last three seasons, was the oldest player off the board by a considerable margin. Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s sizzling-hot second half, which included a .376 batting average and 16 round-trippers over his final 63 contests, puts him back squarely in first-round territory.
The opening round’s complete unknown is Ronald Acuña Jr. in the wake of his recovery from last year’s knee surgery to repair a torn ACL. The 27-year-old power-speed tornado is less than two years removed from a historic 41-homer, 73-steal campaign, but his long-term outlook is foggier than a Dagobah swamp. The fact that he’s unlikely to be ready for Opening Day further clouds his immediate outlook. He’s absolutely worth the risk in the back-half of the opening round in all startup dynasty drafts, but there’s a shortlist of quality alternatives – Witt, Ohtani, Soto and Elly De La Cruz – that represent safer building blocks entering the 2025 season.
Fantasy baseball dynasty rankings: Rotoworld’s Top 500 players for 2025 MLB season
Where should rising stars like Paul Skenes, Jackson Chourio, and James Wood be drafted in dynasty formats?
Round 2
2.1 (16) Yordan Alvarez, OF, Astros (Schiano)
2.2 (17) James Wood, OF, Nationals (Crawford)
2.3 (18) Wyatt Langford, OF, Rangers (Clegg)
2.4 (19) Jackson Merrill, OF, Padres (Blessing)
2.5 (20) Logan Gilbert, SP, Mariners (Pouliot)
2.6 (21) Rafael Devers, 3B, Red Sox (Samulski)
2.7 (22) José Ramírez, 3B, Guardians (White)
2.8 (23) Mookie Betts, SS/OF, Dodgers (Welsh)
2.9 (24) Bryce Harper, 1B, Phillies (Verougstrate)
2.10 (25) Francisco Lindor, SS, Mets (Short)
2.11 (26) Austin Riley, 3B, Braves (Montanez)
2.12 (27) Junior Caminero, 3B, Rays (Bissell)
2.13 (28) Jarren Duran, OF, Red Sox (Shovein)
2 .14 (29) Ketel Marte, 2B, Diamondbacks (Pontes)
2.15 (30) Roki Sasaki, SP, Dodgers (Shlain)
Here’s an oversimplification: If you’re looking to roster Roki Sasaki in a startup dynasty format, you’re going to have to draft him in this range. The 23-year-old pitching prodigy – 25th overall in Rotoworld’s latest Top 500 Dynasty Rankings – will be off the board by the conclusion of the third round in most dynasty leagues. He’ll obviously be the top player off the board in first-year player drafts this spring for existing dynasty leagues and it’s not remotely close. He’ll face an adjustment period as he acclimates to life in the majors with the Dodgers as part of a loaded six-man rotation, but his raw talent is undeniable, and his long-term upside appears virtually unlimited. There’s a possibility he’s not an upper-echelon fantasy contributor right away, but his undeniable talent and future ceiling makes him worthy of a pick in this range.
If you’re searching for future fantasy superstars with astronomical ceilings, this is the prime territory where they start to really come off the board with James Wood, Wyatt Langford, Jackson Merrill and Junior Caminero all fitting that description to a tee. The quartet all reached the majors last year as highly touted prospects and project as potential franchise cornerstones for dynasty managers for the next half-decade, if not longer. Their inclusion amidst a group of current veteran fantasy stalwarts – Yordan Alvarez, Rafael Devers, José Ramírez, Mookie Betts, Bryce Harper, Francisco Lindor and Ketel Marte – reflects their stratospheric long-term impact potential.
Logan Gilbert was the lone starting pitcher off the board in this round with his combination of elite performance, durability and age make him the logical choice to bridge the gap between Skenes, Skubal and the rest of the starting pitching pool. We didn’t see another ace come off the board until 13 picks later when newly minted Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet was picked. The fact that Jarren Duran went from relative obscurity to a second-round dynasty selection in less than a calendar year speaks to the merits of continuing to roll the dice from a roster construction standpoint on supremely athletic former top prospects that have fizzled out in their first taste of the big leagues on the microscopic chance that things finally start to click at the highest level.
Round 3
3.1 (31) CJ Abrams, SS, Nationals (Shlain)
3.2 (32) Matt Olson, 1B, Braves (Pontes)
3.3 (33) Garrett Crochet, SP, Red Sox (Shovein)
3.4 (34) Roman Anthony, OF, Red Sox (Bissell)
3.5 (35) Oneil Cruz, SS/OF, Pirates (Montanez)
3.6 (36) Jazz Chisholm Jr., 3B/OF, Yankees (Short)
3.7 (37) Michael Harris II, OF, Braves (Verougstrate)
3.8 (38) Spencer Strider, SP, Braves (Welsh)
3.9 (39) Corey Seager, SS, Rangers (White)
3.10 (40) Trea Turner, SS, Phillies (Samulski)
3.11 (41) Dylan Crews, OF, Nationals (Pouliot)
3.12 (42) Cole Ragans, SP, Royals (Blessing)
3.13 (43) Riley Greene, OF, Tigers (Clegg)
3.14 (44) Freddie Freeman, 1B, Dodgers (Crawford)
3.15 (45) Jackson Holliday, 2B, Orioles (Schiano)
This is where it gets interesting. Roman Anthony and Dylan Crews are universally regarded as top five dynasty prospects entering next season and they both went off the board within a handful of third-round selections. Clearly, I’d prefer Anthony given his potent power-speed combination upside and proximity to hitter-friendly Fenway Park. Meanwhile, Crews took home the top spot in my Rotoworld colleague Chris Crawford’s outstanding Top 100 Prospect Rankings. This is one of those proverbial Choose Your Own Adventure situations from a roster building standpoint where a preference either way between Anthony and Crews is probably going to turn out just fine.
There’s an interesting mix of consistently reliable, but aging, veteran contributors – Matt Olson, Corey Seager, Trea Turner and Freddie Freeman – sprinkled in amidst a bushel of younger up-and-coming power-speed contributors – CJ Abrams, Oneil Cruz, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Michael Harris II, Riley Greene – throughout this range. The real early-round X-factor here is Braves dynamo Spencer Strider, who is expected to make his highly anticipated return from Tommy John surgery at some point in the early stages of the 2025 campaign. The durability concerns are real following multiple arm surgeries, but he’s the most impactful strikeout artist in the game, when healthy.
Let’s salute Schiano here for rolling the dice on Jackson Holliday. Sure, he was a massive let-down last year in his first exposure to the majors, but it’s critical to remember that he was only 20 years old at the time. The former first-overall pick enters next season in a prime position to succeed as a key component of Baltimore’s incredible young nucleus. It might take him some time to figure things out at the highest level, but there’s no question he remains worthy of a top 50 range selection in dynasty leagues.
Round 4
4.1 (46) George Kirby, SP, Mariners (Schiano)
4.2 (47) Jasson Domínguez, OF, Yankees (Crawford)
4.3 (48) Corbin Burnes, SP, Diamondbacks (Clegg)
4.4 (49) Manny Machado, 3B, Padres (Blessing)
4.5 (50) Kristian Campbell, 2B/SS, Red Sox (Pouliot)
4.6 (51) Zack Wheeler, SP, Phillies (Samulski)
4.7 (52) Pete Alonso, 1B, Free Agent (White)
4.8 (53) Ozzie Albies, 2B, Braves (Welsh)
4.9 (54) Yoshinobu Yamamoto, SP, Dodgers (Verougstraete)
4.10 (55) Coby Mayo, 3B, Orioles (Short)
4.11 (56) Dylan Cease, SP, Padres (Montanez)
4.12 (57) Leodalis De Vries, SS, Padres (Bissell)
4.13 (58) Matt McLain, 2B/SS, Reds (Shovein)
4.14 (59) Hunter Greene, SP, Reds (Pontes)
4.15 (60) Tyler Glasnow, SP, Dodgers (Shlain)
Nearly half of the fourth-round selections, a whopping seven starting pitchers – George Kirby, Corbin Burnes, Zack Wheeler, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Dylan Cease, Hunter Greene and Tyler Glasnow – came off the board after just seven total ace-caliber arms were chosen in the opening three rounds. It feels like Clegg and Samulski are getting the strongest values with Burnes and Wheeler, respectively, who feel like guaranteed top 10 starting pitchers for at least the next three seasons, if not longer, to anchor their rotations.
The two picks that I really appreciate in this round are Jasson Domínguez and Kristian Campbell. There’s part of me that feels like both guys are flying a tad under-the-radar in the sense that they’re being massively overshadowed by Sasaki’s arrival and the fact that both Crews and Anthony seem like sure things. If we write off last year as a strange aberration due to variables beyond his control, there’s no reason to think Domínguez won’t make a significant fantasy impact for years to come as a central component of New York’s nucleus. Meanwhile, Campbell’s meteoric rise has him on the doorstep of the majors as a versatile middle infielder with the talent to make some serious five-category noise.
2025 MLB prospect rankings: Top 100 players list with Dylan Crews, Roman Anthony at the top
A look at the top MLB prospects who have a chance to make a fantasy impact in the coming seasons.
Round 5
5.1 (61) Luis Robert Jr., OF, White Sox (Shlain)
5.2 (62) Zach Neto, SS, Angels (Pontes)
5.3 (63) Mark Vientos, 3B, Mets (Shovein)
5.4 (64) Sebastian Walcott, SS, Rangers (Bissell)
5.5 (65) Lawrence Butler, OF, Athletics (Montanez)
5.6 (66) Michael King, SP, Padres (Short)
5.7 (67) William Contreras, C, Brewers (Verougstraete)
5.8 (68) Blake Snell, SP, Dodgers (Welsh)
5.9 (69) Adley Rutschman, C, Orioles (White)
5.10 (70) Triston Casas, 1B, Red Sox (Samulski)
5.11 (71) Bo Bichette, SS, Blue Jays (Pouliot)
5.12 (72) Royce Lewis, 3B, Twins (Blessing)
5.13 (73) Eury Pérez, SP, Marlins (Clegg)
5.14 (74) Bryce Miller, SP, Mariners (Crawford0
5.15 (75) Jose Altuve, 2B, Astros (Schiano)
If you’re pivoting full-stop into a long-term dynasty roster build that prioritizes under 25 hitters, this is one potential blueprint. After grabbing Elly De La Cruz, Junior Caminero and Roman Anthony to open the draft, I decided to go all-in when I was able to pick up top prospects Leodalis De Vries and Sebastian Walcott in consecutive rounds (with fellow teenage standouts Walker Jenkins and Zyhir Hope following immediately afterwards). The key to making this strategic approach work is being the only team doing it, so you don’t get constantly undercut in the early rounds, and swing for the fences with some massive-upside elite prospects and wide range of outcome teenage talents. De Vries and Walcott remain a few hyperspace jumps away from the majors, but they have a chance to be early-round impact fantasy contributors for a decade, if they reach their stratospheric potential. We’re going to take our lumps for at least a few years while waiting for at least one (or two) of the De Vries, Walcott, Jenkins or Hope quartet to blossom into a franchise cornerstone while also acknowledging that history tells us at least a couple of them aren’t going to match these lofty expectations.
It feels like a virtual lock that Pontes got the best value of the entire draft by scooping up a free-falling Zach Neto after he slipped at least a round or two further than he probably should’ve in a long-term format due to lingering uncertainty surrounding his recovery timetable from offseason shoulder surgery. The 24-year-old might miss some time at the outset of next season, but he’s coming off a 20-homer, 30-steal breakthrough campaign and probably should be a top 50 pick in all dynasty drafts.
Round 6
6.1 (76) Jordan Westburg, 2B/3B, Orioles (Schiano)
6.2 (77) Kyle Schwarber, UTIL, Phillies (Crawford)
6.3 (78) Willy Adames, SS, Giants (Clegg)
6.4 (79) Gerrit Cole, SP, Yankees (Blessing)
6.5 (80) Emmanuel Clase, RP, Guardians (Pouliot)
6.6 (81) Joe Ryan, SP, Twins (Samulski)
6.7 (82) Grayson Rodriguez, SP, Orioles (White)
6.8 (83) Shane McClanahan, SP, Rays (Welsh)
6.9 (84) Pablo López, SP, Twins (Verougstraete)
6.10 (85) Bryce Eldridge, 1B, Giants (Short)
6.11 (86) Tanner Bibee, SP, Guardians (Montanez)
6.12 (87) Walker Jenkins, OF, Twins (Bissell)
6.13 (88) Jackson Jobe, SP, Tigers (Shovein)
6.14 (89) Brent Rooker, UTIL, Athletics (Pontes)
6.15 (90) Chris Sale, SP, Braves (Shlain)
The closer seal was finally broken with Emmanuel Clase coming off the board at pick 80 overall. Setting aside his unexpected postseason collapse, Clase remains firmly entrenched as one of the most consistent ninth-inning arms in the game, even if he lacks the strikeout upside to claim most-dominant status. The fact that he’s roughly a half-decade younger than the rest of the elite stoppers, except for A’s fireballer Mason Miller, makes him worthy of an aggressive pick in dynasty formats.
I’ll tip my cap to Welsh here for gobbling up Shane McClanahan as one of the better values on my draft board. We still need to see how he looks in Grapefruit League outings, but the 27-year-old southpaw isn’t too far removed from being one of the most impactful starters in the fantasy landscape. There’s a chance he’s closer to the Yamamoto, Cease, Greene and Glasnow range by the time Opening Day rolls around.
Historically speaking, veterans tend to be undervalued by dynasty managers, but that wasn’t happening in this draft with four of over-30 stars – Kyle Schwarber, Gerrit Cole, Brent Rooker and Chris Sale – all coming off the board within the top 100 selections. Shlain paired Sale with Jacob deGrom at the turn forming one of the most intriguing starting rotation duos imaginable. The injury concerns are real, but they’re going to dominate for at least a couple more years, when healthy, before hanging up their spikes.
There’s a strong possibility that Bryce Eldridge and Walker Jenkins are among contenders for top overall dynasty prospect status in a few months as they both combine tremendous raw athleticism with immense raw power. Jenkins boasts the much stronger hit tool and won’t match Eldridge’s over-the-fence pop ceiling, but he has a chance to be a special fantasy contributor if it all comes together.
Round 7
7.1 (91) Jacob deGrom, SP, Rangers (Shlain)
7.2 (92) Teoscar Hernández, OF, Dodgers (Pontes)
7.3 (93) Josh Naylor, 1B, AZ (Shovein)
7.4 (94) Zyhir Hope, OF, Dodgers (Bissell)
7.5 (95) Spencer Schwellenbach, SP, Braves (Montanez)
7.6 (96) Sandy Alcantara, SP, Marlins (Short)
7.7 (97) Bailey Ober, SP, Twins (Verougstraete)
7.8 (98) Travis Bazzana, 2B, Guardians (Welsh)
7.9 (99) Matt Shaw, 2B/3B/SS, Cubs (White)
7.10 (100) Bryan Reynolds, OF, Pirates (Samulski)
7.11 (101) Framber Valdez, SP, Astros (Pouliot)
7.12 (102) Anthony Volpe, SS, Yankees (Blessing)
7.13 (103) Yainer Diaz, C, Astros (Clegg)
7.14 (104) Ezequiel Tovar, SS, Rockies (Crawford)
7.15 (105) Hunter Brown, SP, Astros (Schiano)
It’s a bit perplexing that Yainer Diaz continued to tumble in this draft as both he and Cubs top prospect Matt Shaw were the highest-ranked players left on my Rotoworld Top 500 Dynasty Rankings by a considerable margin for at least a round (or two) before finally coming off the board right around pick 100. They stand out as extremely strong values relative to where they probably should’ve gone. Shaw has a wide-open avenue to Chicago’s starting third base role in spring training and projects to supply the power-speed combo goodness that fantasy managers crave.
It’s notable to see several older fantasy stalwarts come off the board in this range in addition to deGrom with Teoscar Hernández, Sandy Alcantara, Bryan Reynolds and Framber Valdez in this range. I’m convinced that Montanez got a potential steal in Braves emerging ace Spencer Schwellenbach, who rapidly evolved into one of the most dominant forces in the fantasy landscape last year and looks like an upper-echelon ace for years to come.
We’ll continue to update this article as the results flow in. Stay tuned.
