MLB: First NFBC Draft of 2025

MLB: First NFBC Draft of 2025

On Wednesday night, 15 high-stakes fantasy baseball managers drafted the first 11 rounds of a 50-round NFBC Draft Champions over Zoom. Before getting to specifics, here's the board:

This is the third year in a row that Rob DiPietro got the 15 of us together in mid-August to start the Too Early Meatball DC, but the first two years we only did seven rounds in August. This year we did 11, and it still felt like it went by too quickly. The league consists of some decorated high-stakes players like Steven Weimer, Jason Duponte and Michael Mager and seemingly half the league either has a podcast, writes for a fantasy site or both. Here's the top half of this year's standings:

We went in order of this year's standings to select draft order and I elected the No. 4 spot, which was the highest spot available, without much thought. After doing my prep, I regretted that selection, and if I couldn't pick in the top three, I'd prefer to pick seventh or eighth, as I don't view Elly De La Cruz or Kyle Tucker as a drop-off at all from Gunnar Henderson, and I do view Austin Riley as a slight step down from Bryce Harper in the second round.

My Approach

I had a long list of players I wasn't going to draft because I thought they were too risky from an injury standpoint. It's perfectly fine if you disagree about the risk level with any of

On Wednesday night, 15 high-stakes fantasy baseball managers drafted the first 11 rounds of a 50-round NFBC Draft Champions over Zoom. Before getting to specifics, here's the board:

This is the third year in a row that Rob DiPietro got the 15 of us together in mid-August to start the Too Early Meatball DC, but the first two years we only did seven rounds in August. This year we did 11, and it still felt like it went by too quickly. The league consists of some decorated high-stakes players like Steven Weimer, Jason Duponte and Michael Mager and seemingly half the league either has a podcast, writes for a fantasy site or both. Here's the top half of this year's standings:

We went in order of this year's standings to select draft order and I elected the No. 4 spot, which was the highest spot available, without much thought. After doing my prep, I regretted that selection, and if I couldn't pick in the top three, I'd prefer to pick seventh or eighth, as I don't view Elly De La Cruz or Kyle Tucker as a drop-off at all from Gunnar Henderson, and I do view Austin Riley as a slight step down from Bryce Harper in the second round.

My Approach

I had a long list of players I wasn't going to draft because I thought they were too risky from an injury standpoint. It's perfectly fine if you disagree about the risk level with any of these players or the strategy of avoiding these types of players. I know injuries will find my team, especially in a draft that takes place over seven months before the start of the season, I just don't want to knowingly steer into injury risk in this draft. I will warm up to the idea of drafting many of these players either in the offseason or once I see them healthy in spring training. Here are the players who were not on my board that went in the first 11 rounds:

DO NOT DRAFT
Fernando Tatis
Royce Lewis
Yoshinobu Yamamoto
Joe Ryan
Spencer Strider
Grayson Rodriguez
Luis Robert
Gerrit Cole
Max Fried
Zac Gallen
Matt McLain
Jazz Chisholm
Christian Yelich
Jacob deGrom
Luis Gil
Michael King
Taj Bradley
Carlos Rodon
Jared Jones
Andres Munoz
Mason Miller
Tyler Glasnow
Hunter Greene
Garrett Crochet
Gavin Williams

I thought outfield was going to be really deep in the middle rounds and I thought the opposite would be true with the infield spots, so I knew I would be going heavy on infielders. I also planned on getting one relatively "safe" closer and at least one catcher. I knew I'd either have two or three starting pitchers, no more, no less. I also wanted to get at least one multi-position player. Here are the players who went in the first 11 rounds who are already eligible for multiple positions:

Ceddanne RafaelaOF/SS
Jordan Westburg2B/3B
Jake Burger1B/3B
Spencer Steer1B/OF
Matt McLain2B/SS

If McLain makes it back this season, he'll very likely only be eligible at second base next year. It's also quite possible that by the end of the season Mookie Betts will be eligible in the outfield and/or at second base in addition to shortstop. Let me know in the comments if there's another player who went in this draft who will likely gain multi-position eligibility that I didn't mention.

1.4 Gunnar Henderson, SS, BAL

2.27 Austin Riley, 3B, ATL

3.34 William Contreras, C, MIL

This was my anticipated first three picks. I was between Henderson and Elly De La Cruz at pick No. 4. I could have made myself uncomfortable with an Elly build — I've got zero recent experience trying to build around a first-round hitter who probably won't help my batting average. Additionally a lot of my favorite hitter targets in the early and middle rounds project to be significant sources of speed, so starting with a great batting average, runs and RBI base was the comfortable way for me to go. Riley should return to peak form for his age-28 season — he played at that level in 57 games from mid-June to mid-August (.292 AVG, 16 HR) after getting off to an uncharacteristic poor start. Contreras is the clear No. 1 catcher, leading all catchers with 542 plate appearances — next closest is Salvador Perez at 508. Contreras is also tied for second among catchers with five steals (Connor Wong has six), and in 360 games since 2022, he has a .286 batting average.

4.57 Robert Suarez, RP, SD

5.64 Zach Neto, SS, LAA

6.87 Manny Machado, 3B, SD

Steve took Emmanuel Clase with the first pick of the third round, so I knew I'd have to use the 34th pick on a closer (I would have taken Josh Hader there) if I wanted to make sure I really felt good about that first closer. I opted to see who came back to me in the fourth round, and in Suarez I got the last closer I was willing to take in the first 11 rounds (Clase, Devin Williams, Hader, Edwin Diaz, Felix Bautista, Raisel Iglesias were the others). Suarez doesn't rack up the strikeouts like some of those other options, but given how well he has pitched this year and the fact he is under club control next year, it seems pretty likely to me that he's at least the Padres' closer heading into next year. Neto has been on a 25/25 full-season pace since the start of May, and I could see him flirting with 30/30 in his age-24 season. Machado got off to a slow start this year — recall he wasn't even a lock to be ready for the start of the season as he was working his way back from elbow surgery. But he is hitting .297 with 15 home runs and four steals in his last 77 games, essentially classic Machado production. We'd gotten to the point where he was the last infielder on the board who I felt good about being a 4.5-category force.

7.94 Hunter Brown, SP, HOU

8.117 Brandon Pfaadt, SP, ARI

I know Rob was between Jack Flaherty and Machado in the sixth round, and if he had taken Machado, I would have take Flaherty (if he made it to me). Brown had a 7.06 ERA and 1.78 WHIP through his first 10 starts and he has a 2.27 ERA and 1.13 WHIP in 15 starts since. He is 23rd in the league with 145 strikeouts and he was the 32nd starting pitcher off the board. Pfaadt is 15th in the majors in innings (150) and he has a 1.15 WHIP this season to go with a career 5.5 percent walk rate. Once the draft resumes, I'll be pounding starting pitching while mixing in some outfielders.

9.124 Spencer Steer, 1B/OF, CIN

10.147 Marcus Semien, 2B, TEX

11.154 Lawrence Butler, OF, SAC

Steer was the last first baseman on my board, so I jumped at him with this pick. This season isn't over yet and he already has a 21-homer/18-steal average over the past two years. His dual eligibility fits my needs perfectly. I was stunned that this room let Semien last this long. He wasn't a target per say, but this was an easy pick. Among second basemen, only Ketel Marte (162) has more runs+RBI than Semien's 140. Butler is slashing .274/.314/.554 with 11 home runs, seven steals (on seven attempts) and a 23.6 percent strikeout rate in 52 games since getting recalled from Triple-A and he'll be playing in a more favorable home park next year in Sacramento.

Here's the full breakdown of the players selected in these first 11 rounds by position:

CATCHER (11)

44William ContrerasMIL
61Adley RutschmanBAL
67Logan O'HoppeLAA
75Yainer DiazHOU
81Salvador PerezKC
95Will SmithLAD
96J.T. RealmutoPHI
104Willson ContrerasSTL
121Cal RaleighSEA
137Francisco AlvarezNYM
148Tyler StephensonCIN

FIRST BASE (12)

16Vladimir GuerreroTOR
22Freddie FreemanLAD
24Bryce HarperPHI
48Pete AlonsoF.A.
55Matt OlsonATL
92Christian WalkerARI
100Vinnie PasquantinoKC
109Josh NaylorCLE
111Triston CasasBOS
122Jake BurgerMIA
124Spencer SteerCIN
131Christian Encarnacion-StrandCIN

SECOND BASE (9)

30Ketel MarteARI
65Ozzie AlbiesATL
71Jose AltuveHOU
103Matt McLainCIN
118Jordan WestburgBAL
127Luis GarciaWAS
135Xander BogaertsSD
146Nico HoernerCHC
147Marcus SemienTEX

THIRD BASE (12)

6Jose RamirezCLE
21Rafael DeversBOS
27Austin RileyATL
38Royce LewisMIN
87Manny MachadoSD
101Junior CamineroTB
108Alec BohmPHI
118Jordan WestburgBAL
122Jake BurgerMIA
132Josh JungTEX
143Alex BregmanF.A.
144Mark VientosNYM

SHORTSTOP (16)

2Bobby WittKC
4Gunnar HendersonBAL
7Elly De La CruzCIN
10Mookie BettsLAD
15Francisco LindorNYM
19Corey SeagerTEX
25Trea TurnerPHI
28CJ AbramsWAS
42Oneil CruzPIT
64Zach NetoLAA
68Willy AdamesMIL
107Bo BichetteTOR
112Ceddanne RafaelaBOS
114Ezequiel TovarCOL
126Anthony VolpeNYY
158Tyler FitzgeraldSFG

OUTFIELD (38)

3Aaron JudgeNYY
5Juan SotoF.A.
8Kyle TuckerHOU
11Ronald AcunaATL
13Julio RodriguezSEA
14Fernando TatisSD
17Yordan AlvarezHOU
18Corbin CarrollARI
20Jarren DuranBOS
36Jackson ChourioMIL
45James WoodWAS
47Michael HarrisATL
49Jackson MerrillSD
56Jazz ChisholmNYY
72Luis RobertCHW
83Brenton DoyleCOL
93Randy ArozarenaSEA
112Ceddanne RafaelaBOS
115Bryan ReynoldsPIT
116Anthony SantanderBAL
119Riley GreeneDET
120Teoscar HernandezF.A.
123Cody BellingerCHC
124Spencer SteerCIN
128Jake McCarthyARI
129Steven KwanCLE
130Jasson DominguezNYY
134Seiya SuzukiCHC
136Brandon NimmoNYM
142Adolis GarciaTEX
149Christian YelichMIL
151Wyatt LangfordTEX
152Ian HappCHC
154Lawrence ButlerSAC
157Pete Crow-ArmstrongCHC
159Colton CowserBAL
162Josh LoweTB
163Wilyer AbreuBOS

UTILITY (4)

1Shohei OhtaniLAD
58Marcell OzunaATL
82Kyle SchwarberPHI
138Brent RookerSAC

STARTING PITCHER (52)

9Paul SkenesPIT
12Tarik SkubalDET
23Zack WheelerPHI
26Corbin BurnesF.A.
29George KirbySEA
33Logan GilbertSEA
37Jacob deGromTEX
40Chris SaleATL
41Dylan CeaseSD
44Blake SnellSF
52Tyler GlasnowLAD
54Joe RyanMIN
59Framber ValdezHOU
60Pablo LopezMIN
62Aaron NolaPHI
66Yoshinobu YamamotoLAD
69Bailey OberMIN
70Cole RagansKC
73Gerrit ColeNYY
74Grayson RodriguezBAL
76Garrett CrochetCHW
77Freddy PeraltaMIL
78Luis CastilloSEA
79Logan WebbSF
80Shane McClanahanTB
84Jack FlahertyF.A.
86Tanner BibeeCLE
88Shota ImanagaCHC
89Michael KingSD
90Sonny GraySTL
91Robbie RaySF
94Hunter BrownHOU
97Hunter GreeneCIN
98Bryce MillerSEA
99Spencer StriderATL
102Brandon WoodruffMIL
105Kodai SengaNYM
106Bryan WooSEA
110Jared JonesPIT
113Justin SteeleCHC
117Brandon PfaadtARI
125Max FriedATL
133Taj BradleyTB
141Spencer SchwellenbachATL
145Zac GallenARI
150Carlos RodonNYY
153Yusei KikuchiF.A.
155Jeffrey SpringsTB
156Luis GilNYY
160Ryan PepiotTB
161Sandy AlcantaraMIA
165Reynaldo LopezATL

RELIEF PITCHER (15)

31Emmanuel ClaseCLE
32Devin WilliamsMIL
35Edwin DiazNYM
39Felix BautistaBAL
43Josh HaderHOU
46Raisel IglesiasATL
50Ryan HelsleySTL
51Jhoan DuranMIN
53Mason MillerOAK
57Robert SuarezSD
63Andres MunozSEA
85Alexis DiazCIN
139Clay HolmesNYY
140David BednarPIT
164Kenley JansenF.A.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
James Anderson
James Anderson is RotoWire's Lead Prospect Analyst, Assistant Baseball Editor, and co-host of Farm Fridays on Sirius/XM radio and the RotoWire Prospect Podcast.
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