Fantasy Baseball Rankings 2025: Sleepers by model that predicted Willy Adames’ huge season

MLB Spring Training 2025 gets in full swing this week with every team now holding full-squad workouts and the first spring training game coming on Thursday. Then the 2025 MLB regular season will begin with a two-game series in Tokyo between the Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers on March 18-19, and MLB Opening Day 2025 is scheduled for March 27. With some commissioners already scheduling their 2025 Fantasy baseball drafts, that means that the clock is ticking to catch up on another busy MLB offseason and prepare your Fantasy baseball strategy.

The Dodgers spent big to win the 2024 World Series and kept shelling out money to stay on top this offseason, signing Blake Snell, Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki and outfielder Michael Conforto. So how will that trio fare in the City of Angels, and who are some of the 2025 Fantasy baseball sleepers that you need to keep an eye on? Before finalizing your 2025 Fantasy baseball draft prep, be sure to see the 2025 Fantasy baseball rankings and cheat sheets from the proven computer model at SportsLine.

Last season, SportsLine’s Projection Model identified several top Fantasy baseball sleepers, breakouts and busts, including Brewers shortstop Willy Adames.

Adames was a known quantity as a power hitter, but he took advantage of the new MLB baserunning rules to add speed to his game and had his most complete offensive season to date. Adames finished with 32 home runs, 112 RBI and 21 stolen bases while slashing .251/.331/.462 and finished as a top-five Fantasy baseball shortstop despite a Fantasy baseball ADP of 173.82. Anybody who followed the model’s advice and picked up Adames late in their Fantasy baseball drafts received a huge power/speed boost in their Fantasy baseball lineups.

The SportsLine model is engineered by the same people who powered projections for all three major Fantasy sites. And that same group is sharing its 2025 Fantasy baseball rankings and cheat sheets over at SportsLine, helping you find Fantasy baseball sleepers, breakouts and busts long before your competition. Their cheat sheets, available for leagues on many major sites, are updated multiple times every day.

Any time more MLB news comes out about free agency signings, trades or Fantasy baseball injuries, the team at SportsLine updates its projections. Go to SportsLine now to see these proven Fantasy baseball cheat sheets.

Top 2025 Fantasy baseball sleepers

One of the Fantasy baseball sleepers 2025 the model is high on: Rangers first baseman Jake Burger. A former first-round pick who battled multiple season-ending injuries while coming through the Chicago farm system, Burger finally had a breakout season in 2023 when he posted an .828 OPS with 34 home runs and 80 RBI while playing for both the White Sox and Marlins. He followed that up by slashing .250/.301/.460 with 29 home runs and 76 RBI in his first full season with the Marlins. 

Now he’ll join a much better lineup after being traded to the Rangers earlier this offseason. Burger was 80th percentile or better in expected slugging, average exit velocity, barrel rate, hard-hit contact rate and bat speed and that power should translate nicely to a more homer-friendly ballpark. That’s a big reason why the model ranks him ahead of Paul Goldschmidt and Vinnie Pasquantino even though they are both drafted at least six rounds earlier on average.

Another of the 2025 Fantasy baseball sleepers the model advises targeting: Royals starting pitcher Seth Lugo. The 35-year-old right-hander pitched primarily out of the bullpen over the first seven years of his Big League career, but finally found some success as a starter with the Padres in 2023 and then broke out with a huge season for Kansas City in 2024. Lugo made his first all-star team and went 16-9 with a 3.00 ERA and 181 strikeouts over 206 2/3 innings to finish second in AL Cy Young voting.

Now Lugo is an established top-of-the-rotation guy for the Royals, but the model thinks there might be even more in his arsenal this season. He utilized a staggering nine-pitch mix according to StatCast last season and his curveball was a major element of his success. His whiff rate on that pitch climbed from 26.8% to 33.9% from 2023 to 2024. Now the model thinks Lugo finishes as a top-10 starting pitcher even though he the 33rd starter off the board on average in early 2025 Fantasy baseball drafts. See more sleepers at SportsLine.

How to find proven 2025 Fantasy baseball rankings

SportsLine’s model is also high on a surprising shortstop who bounces back from injury to finish in the top 10 of its positional rankings. This player is going well outside the top 100 picks but is projected to outperform shortstops like Oneil Cruz and Matt McLain going well inside the top 100. This pick could be the difference in winning your league or going home with nothing. You can only see who it is here.

So which 2025 Fantasy sleepers should you target in your upcoming drafts? Visit SportsLine now to get 2025 Fantasy baseball rankings for every single position, all from the model that called Willy Adames’ big season, and find out.