All-Value Fantasy Team: Position Players

With the regular season in the rearview mirror, it's time for a look back. We're going to go position-by-position identifying the players who provided the most value relative to their draft slot. I'll be using RotoWire's preseason ADP numbers and earned auction values.

Catcher: Shea Langeliers, Oakland Athletics

ADP: 312.36, 24th among catchers
EAV: 4th among catchers

Langeliers clubbed 23 home runs in 2023 but slashed just .205/.268/.413 on the year while striking out at a 29.2 percent clip. There were also questions, at least early on in draft season, as to how much of the catching workload he would receive with Tyler Soderstrom around. Soderstrom, though, didn't even make the Opening Day roster and all of his starts with the A's came at first base. Meanwhile, Langeliers finished seventh among catchers with 534 plate appearances and trailed only Cal Raleigh with his 29 long balls. Langeliers again hit the ball very hard with an average exit velocity in the 84th percentile and barrel rate in the 87th percentile. He also improved his strikeout rate to a more digestible 27.2 percent. Langeliers has hit just .198/.261/.382 in his career at Oakland Coliseum, so a move to Sutter Health Park in Sacramento in 2025 — while pitcher-friendly as far as Pacific Coast League parks go — should help, as should the A's offensive group taking baby steps forward this season.

Runner-up: Connor Wong, Boston Red Sox

First Base: Josh Naylor, Cleveland Guardians

ADP: 131.33, 12th among first basemen
EAV: 3rd among first basemen

Unlike Langeliers, Naylor was drafted in all mixed leagues this spring following a nice 2023 campaign. He had some legitimate questions, however, which was why he was viewed by many as more of a corner infield option than starting first baseman. Due to injuries and periods where he often sat against left-handed pitching, Naylor entered 2024 having never reached 500 plate appearances in a season. He also had shown less-than-ideal power at the position with just 20 homers in 2022 and 17 in 2023. Well, Naylor nearly doubled that latter home run total this season with 31, which trailed only Pete Alonso among first basemen. Also, while the left-handed hitting Naylor wasn't great versus lefties in 2024 with a .715 OPS, he was deployed as an everyday player and also stayed healthy, helping him to reach 633 plate appearances. Naylor is pretty average when it comes to batted-ball data, but he makes a lot of contact for a power hitter and will remain in a great run-producing situation in 2025.

Runner-up: Alec Burleson, St. Louis Cardinals

Second Base: Brice Turang, Milwaukee Brewers

ADP: 359.79, 28th among second basemen
EAV: 3rd among second baseman

As you can see from the ADP above, Turang was a relative afterthought in fantasy drafts this spring, getting plucked only in the later rounds by fantasy managers who needed a little jolt of speed. Turang slashed an ugly .218/.285/.300 during a rookie season which saw him demoted back to the minors at one point. He also had the anemic batted-ball data to match, recording an average exit velocity in the second percentile. Turang did not improve by leaps and bounds as a hitter in 2024. His wRC+ of 87 ranked 14th among 16 qualifiers at second base. However, what Turang lacked with his bat he made up for with his legs, stealing 50 bases (on 56 attempts) to rank third in baseball. I do think there's a risk of Turang being a fantasy bust next season. His counting stats were buoyed by him hitting leadoff against righties, but he's really not a strong enough hitter to be at the top of the batting order. He'll probably start off 2025 back in the leadoff spot versus right-handed pitching but isn't a safe bet to stay there.

Runner-up: Luis Garcia, Washington Nationals

Shortstop: Willy Adames, Milwaukee Brewers

ADP: 164.92, 15th among shortstops
EAV: 5th among shortstops

Yes, both Brewers middle infielders delighted fantasy managers who were lucky enough to use a draft selection on them. While Adames popped 24 homers in 2023, he was a relative disappointment that year on the whole, slashing only .217/.310/.407. He had also never been a stolen-base threat before with a high of eight in his first six seasons. Adames was a beneficiary of the Brewers upping their aggressiveness on the bases in 2024, as he swiped 21 bags while being caught just four times. He also set career highs with 32 home runs, 112 RBI and 92 runs scored. Adames will be a free agent this winter and it seems unlikely the Brewers pay him, so the stolen bases could go away. He's also not going to help you in the average department. Adames is an established power threat at this point, though, and that shouldn't change in 2025 regardless of which uniform he's wearing. Also noteworthy is that he's averaged 148.2 games played in his five full seasons (excluding 2020).

Runner-up: Zach Neto, Los Angeles Angels

Third Base: Mark Vientos, New York Mets

ADP: 453.52, 33rd among third basemen
EAV: 15th among third basemen

There are a number of directions I could have gone here, but I ultimately settled on Vientos, who didn't make the Mets' Opening Day roster and who didn't become an everyday guy until late May. Vientos finished with a wRC+ of 133, which trailed only Jose Ramirez and Rafael Devers among third basemen with at least 400 plate appearances. He slugged 27 home runs, which tied for the sixth-best mark at the position. Out of everyone above him on that list, Jake Burger had the fewest plate appearances with 579. Vientos had just 454. Vientos ranked in the eighth percentile in strikeout rate, the fourth percentile in whiff rate and the 24th percentile in chase rate, giving him obvious batting average risk. However, he also ranked in the 82nd percentile in average exit velocity and the 92nd percentile in barrel rate. He's probably more of a .240-.250 hitter, but the power is legitimate.

Runner-up: Eugenio Suarez, Arizona Diamondbacks

Outfield: Brent Rooker, Oakland Athletics

ADP: 267.91, 59th among outfielders
EAV: 3rd among outfielders

Rooker smacked 30 home runs in 2023, but he was essentially a one-category contributor and you can see from the ADP above that fantasy managers weren't terribly interested in the late bloomer. Well, Rooker is now sure to receive AL MVP votes after hitting 39 home runs, driving in 112 and finishing seventh in baseball with a wRC+ of 164. He even contributed a bit in fantasy in the stolen base department with 11 pilfers. Rooker had a better (but still high) 28.8 percent strikeout rate and an xBA of .269. Expecting him to hit .269 in 2025, let alone the .293 he actually hit in 2024, might be a bit much. It's virtually impossible not to buy into the power, though, as Rooker finished in the 89th percentile in average exit velocity, the 97th percentile in barrel rate and the 96th percentile in xwOBA.

Jarren Duran, Boston Red Sox

ADP: 160.51, 41st among outfielders
EAV: 4th among outfielders

Duran was plenty good in 2023 in essentially half of a season, but questions seemed to linger over how much power he would provide and whether he would play against lefties. He was also coming off toe surgery, which could have theoretically impacted how much running he'd do. Duran wasn't great for the first two months of the 2024 campaign, but then he went on a three-month tear which saw him slash .322/.377/.601 with 18 home runs and 21 stolen bases over 76 contests. He finished fourth in baseball with 83 extra-base hits, trailing only Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge and Bobby Witt. Duran did have just a .665 OPS versus left-handed pitching, so perhaps manager Alex Cora might consider moving him down in the order against southpaws. Even if that happened, Duran still looks like a good bet to remain a fantasy stud in 2025.

Jackson Merrill, San Diego Padres

ADP: 334.25, 73rd among outfielders
EAV: 11th among outfielders

Merrill's ADP did start to tick up by late March after he started both games in center field for the Padres during their two-game series in Korea. He still went undrafted in many leagues, which was understandable given that he was 20 on Opening Day and had good-not-great numbers between High- and Double-A in 2023. It took Merrill a bit to get going, but he hit .299/.330/.571 with 21 home runs and nine stolen bases from June on, all while instantly becoming an elite defender in center field, a position he'd never played. Merrill even underperformed relative to his expected stats, with a .373 xwOBA that was 21 points higher than his .352 wOBA. If I wanted to nitpick, I'd note that Merrill had just a 4.9 percent walk rate and a .646 OPS against left-handed pitching. That said, it's scary to think he's probably not a finished product yet heading into what will be his age-22 season in 2025. The sky's the limit.

Runners-up: Brenton Doyle, Colorado Rockies; Jurickson Profar, San Diego Padres; Lawrence Butler, Oakland Athletics