As the old saying goes, you can’t win a fantasy baseball league in the early rounds of the draft, but you can lose it there. Many fantasy managers prefer to anchor their teams with surefire picks at the beginning of the draft process and then target boom-or-bust picks in the second half of the draft. For those players whose goal in the first few rounds is to chase high floors with high ceilings, here are the target players. Please note that players are divided into rounds according to the 10-team league.
Round 1: Juan Soto, OF, New York Mets
Although Soto trails Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani and Bobby Witt Jr. in ADP, he’s a better safety than all of them. The outfielder has a lifetime OPS of .948 and is one of the best hitters in baseball. He is in the midst of his age-27 season and his career injury history includes brief stints on the injured list in 2019 and 2021. According to Yahoo Fantasy Plus data, Soto’s 58.3% relative range (highlighting the narrowest range between floor and ceiling projections) is the second-best of any hitter, behind only Judge.
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Round 2: Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 1B, Toronto Blue Jays
Guerrero’s recent power numbers have been a bit disappointing, but there’s no doubt that he’s a great hitter who can rely on a high batting average and big counting stats. He also finished third in an efficient lineup and has never visited Illinois in his seven-year career. According to Yahoo Fantasy+, Guerrero has the narrowest range between his floor and ceiling behind Judge and Soto.
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Round 3: Pete Alonso, 1B, Baltimore Orioles
Alonso has hit 34-46 home runs in each of the past five seasons. The career .253 hitter is arguably baseball’s most consistent power producer and has spent a total of 21 days on the IL during his seven-year career. Moving to Baltimore won’t affect Alonso at all. Along with Soto and Guerrero, Alonso ranks in the top 10 in relative range (62.1%) on Yahoo Fantasy+.
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Fourth round: Logan Webb, SP, San Francisco Giants
The first pitcher in this article is the definition of an innings eater, having thrown 61.1 more innings than any other pitcher over the past three seasons. Weber used his heavy grounder slant to limit damage with a mediocre WHIP, and he took a step forward last year, raising his strikeout rate to 26.2%.
Round 5: Mason Miller, RP, San Diego Padres
Admittedly, I had a hard time finding the pitching position in this article due to the injury-prone nature of the position. But Miller deserves a spot because he’s probably the most talented reliever in baseball (career 2.81 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 13.8 K/9 rate) and has all the saves after Robert Suarez left in free agency.
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Round 6: Edwin Díaz, RP, Los Angeles Dodgers
Diaz is the first guy who can challenge Miller for the most coveted fantasy reliever spot. The soon-to-be 32-year-old is in his prime, with 253 career saves and has put up stellar statistics over the past five seasons (2.36 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 14.6 K/9). As a bullpen anchor for baseball’s best team, he has a save ceiling of 50 and a save minimum of 35.
Round 7: Wyatt Langford, OF, Texas Rangers
Langford wasn’t that impressive in his rookie season, but still hit 16 homers and 19 steals in 134 games. His second season was slightly better (.775 OPS), as he threw 22 deep balls and 22 sweeps. The 24-year-old’s fantasy-friendly power-speed combination keeps his floor at a high level while his overall skill set continues to develop.
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Round 8: Framber Valdez, SP, Detroit Tigers
A heavy ground ball tendency and four consecutive seasons with at least 28 starts have given Valdez a high on-base hit. He posted four straight seasons with an ERA below 3.70 and a FIP below 3.50, while amassing 169-200 hits in each season.
Round 9: CJ Abrams, SS, Washington Nationals
Abrams has been pretty much the same player for three consecutive seasons, and while the player isn’t a game-changer for the Nationals, he’s valuable in fantasy circles. After three years of 18-20 home runs and over 30 steals, the 25-year-old has built a foundation that he hopes to improve upon as he enters his prime.
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Round 10: Nico Hoerner, 2B, Chicago Cubs
Hoerner is similar to Abrams, but has a slightly higher batting average and less power. The 28-year-old has hit between .273-.297 in each of the past three seasons with 7-10 homers, 29-43 steals, 86-98 runs scored and 48-68 RBI.
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Round 11: Will Smith, center, Los Angeles Dodgers
Honestly, I wouldn’t draft Smith at his ADP (107.2) due to the mediocre ceiling created by the Dodgers’ insistence on limiting his workload. But there’s no doubt that he’s a capable hitter in a high-scoring lineup and can be relied upon for about 20 home runs, 75 RBIs, and 70 runs scored.
Round 12: Luis Castillo, SP, Seattle Mariners
If you believe Castillo can maintain his skills into his age-33 season (which I do), then he’s one of the safest mid-round starters available. The right-hander has made 95 starts over the past three seasons and has six more 30-start seasons on his resume. In each of the past four seasons, Castillo has an ERA below 4.00, a FIP below 4.00, and a WHIP below 1.20. Castillo is the 27th-best safety starter in baseball, according to Yahoo Fantasy Plus’ relative range data.
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Round 13: Willson Contreras, 1B, Boston Red Sox
Although Contreras has spent most of his career blocking baseballs behind the plate, he has been a fantasy asset who has hit 20-24 home runs in six seasons. Now, the 33-year-old has established himself as a first and fourth baseman on a team with a rock-solid floor on a team that has home fields that are good for hitters.
Round 14: Ian Happ, OF, Chicago Cubs
The mid-round selection doesn’t get much more consistent than Happ, who has batted .243-.248 with 21-25 home runs, 79-86 RBI and 86-89 runs in each of the past three seasons. He also has only made at least two stops in Illinois during his seven-year career.
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Round 15: Ryan Pepiot, SP, Tampa Bay Rays
Pepiot has made 57 starts since joining the Rays two years ago. His 2025 rates (3.86 ERA, 1.16 WHIP) are nearly identical to his 2024 numbers (3.60 ERA, 1.15 WHIP), with last year’s slight uptick likely affected by a temporary switch to a hitter-friendly home field. Finding someone as reliable as Pepiot in a draft is rare, as his relative range percentage on Yahoo Fantasy+ ranks 19th among starting pitchers.