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Fantasy Baseball Draft Strategy: Positional Scarcity (2025)

To write the most useful positional scarcity article for you, we have to understand where the scarcity is. To do that, I used FantasyPros’ average draft position (ADP) data to examine the different positions to find which positions are being drafted and when. It should be noted that I did take Yahoo’s ADP out of the data sets because some of their numbers are drastically skewing players’ value at this point.

You’ll see the different positions broken up into different sets of 100. The corresponding numbers are how many players are going within those data sets, per the fantasy baseball ADP. Some players are multi-eligible, which can skew numbers a bit. Therefore, we’ll use that data to determine how to approach each position and give you some ideas about where the value lies.

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Fantasy Baseball Position Scarcity Draft Strategy & Advice

Catchers

  • Top 100: 6
  • Top 200: 6
  • Top 300: 9

Catcher is a difficult position to talk about scarcity because so much of the value of catchers depends on whether or not you start one or two catchers. If it is a two-catcher league, it’s nice to have at least one catcher in the top 100 of ADP you can rely on. If it’s a one-catcher league, you can wait until the end and stream the position with options such as Ryan Jeffers, Jonah Heim, Ivan Herrera or others who all have ADPs outside the top 250.

First Base

  • Top 100: 12
  • Top 200: 8
  • Top 300: 15

Traditionally, first base has been a position where you have to get in early or find yourself with a power deficit. Of the 12 names in the top 100, two will likely be played at catcher, leaving only 10 names in the top 100.

The only player with a first-round ADP is Vladimir Guerrero Jr. with an ADP of 15. While he offers no speed, that category is much more prevalent than it used to be. If you want elite production in the other four categories, he’s a great value in the back half of the first round.

If you want to wait on the position, the value lies between picks 150 and 250. In that range, you find names such as Paul Goldschmidt, Michael Toglia, Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Nate Lowe. Goldschmidt and Lowe find themselves in new situations. Toglia plays in the most beneficial ballpark for batters in baseball. Encarnacion-Strand was hurt most of last season but has shown plus power.

Second Base

  • Top 100: 5
  • Top 200: 12
  • Top 300: 13

Mookie Betts‘ eligibility needs to be specifically mentioned. In some leagues, he will still carry second base eligibility, along with shortstop and outfield. In others, it will be only shortstop and outfield. If you can play him at second base, he is the only second baseman with a first-round ADP.

While the data shows that five second basemen are going in the top 100, the truth is they are all going in the top 70. If a player such as Marcus Semien or Ozzie Albies starts to slide into the value range off of down seasons, be ready to pounce. Otherwise, the range between picks 100 and 150 is the target zone.

Jordan Westburg, Brice Turang, Luis Garcia and Matt McLain all fall in that target zone. Each offers a different but valuable skill set for fantasy baseball.

2024 FantasyPros Fantasy Baseball Discord Community Home Run Call Contest

Shortstop

  • Top 100: 10
  • Top 200: 11
  • Top 300: 8

Shortstop is tied with first base for the most infield selections in the top 100 picks. Interestingly, all 10 of the players with ADPs in the top 100 have ADPs in the top 65, so you have to be aggressive to get one of them.

After Willy Adames at pick 62, the next shortstop, per ADP, is Anthony Volpe at 126. That’s a substantial gap. If you choose to wait, you are missing the top-end talent and reaching question marks already. The 100-200 ADP range still has high-upside options including Bo Bichette and Bryson Stott, but they also have warts.

If you choose to wait even longer, there are still strong options outside the top 200, including Masyn Winn, Tommy Edman and Carlos Correa.

What you should notice about shortstop is the depth of the position. If you play in a league with a middle infielder, chances are very high that you will be plugging a shortstop into that spot as opposed to a second baseman.

My approach to the position is to take one of the top shortstops early. Then wait until outside the top 200 for the next pick at the position.

Third Base

  • Top 100: 7
  • Top 200: 9
  • Top 300: 14

One of the seven third basemen in the top 100 is Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who we already covered at first base. That means there are only six going inside the top 100. The unique aspect of the third base position is that five of them are going in the top 35. If you want a top player at the position, you need to spend a top-two-round pick.

Because the position is so top-heavy, you can wait till after pick 150 and still find good players, if you miss out on the top talents. Some third basemen with ADPs outside the top 150 who have proven track records include Alec Bohm, Max Muncy and Isaac Paredes.

Finally, if you are willing to wait until the end of your draft, there are high-upside options at third base. Both of the Cincinnati Reds’ third base options, Jeimer Candelario and Noelvi Marte, have ADPs outside of the top 280.

Outfielders

  • Top 100: 29
  • Top 200: 25
  • Top 300: 27

Similar to catcher, it’s hard to give value to outfielders because different leagues start a different number of them. If you are in a three-outfielder league, you want difference-makers at the position. If it is a five-outfielder league, there is something to be said for just having consistent performers.

The outfield has the most first-round talent of any position. If you play in a 15-team league, half of the first round is going to be outfielders, with seven having a top-15 ADP. Selecting one is fully dependent on the draft spot.

Based on the ADP data, you need at least two outfielders in the top 100 selections. Ideally, I want three that early. It’s a position that thins out in a hurry.

If you end up waiting until the 200-300 range to fill your outfield, each player comes with a question mark. Let’s just look at the players between 240 and 250 as an example. The outfielders in that range are Evan Carter and Jake McCarthy. Carter is a former top prospect but also has a career .231 OPS versus lefties. McCarthy had a scorching month of August with five home runs and five stolen bases. The rest of the season he hit only three home runs.

Starting Pitchers

  • Top 100: 29
  • Top 200: 30
  • Top 300: 34

If you don’t count Shohei Ohtani, there are only three pitchers with top-30 ADPs. If you want Paul Skenes, Tarik Skubal, Zach Wheeler or Logan Gilbert, you are going to pay a steep cost. Based on data, the more common approach is to target pitchers in rounds 3-6.

It makes sense to target your first pitcher in that range because so many of the options could return top overall pitcher value. We’ve seen Corbin Burnes, Chris Sale, Garrett Crochet, Dylan Cease, Gerrit Cole, Blake Snell and Jacob deGrom all be the best pitchers in stretches before in their careers.

A theme with pitchers this year is the depth at the position. You certainly don’t want to wait until after the top 200 to get your first pitcher, but look at some of these names. Between pick 200 and 220 in ADP are Taj Bradley, Ronel Blanco, Nick Pivetta, Tanner Houck and Bowden Francis. Each player carried substantial value at a time in 2024.

Relief Pitchers

  • Top 100: 7
  • Top 200: 8
  • Top 300: 15

The top reliever, per ADP, is Emmanuel Clase at pick 45. Then, it is over 20 picks until we see the next reliever (Josh Hader). That means if you want one of the top relief pitchers you can typically wait until the fifth round in even a 15-team league.

The issue with relievers is that there isn’t a lot of depth at the position as shown by only having eight selected between picks 100 and 200. In an ideal world, you would have selected two by the time you have reached pick 200. The reliever whose ADP stands out as being a value is Raisel Iglesias as the seventh reliever off the board at pick 90.

Once you get outside the top 200 in ADP, drafting a reliever is planting a flag. Some will hit, but many will not. Right now, Trevor Megill stands out as a value at an ADP of 236. However, that is being suppressed by early offseason drafts when Devin Williams was still on the Brewers.

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